What's the Deal with Doulas?

You just found out you’re pregnant! Yay! Congratulations! You go to Google and type in “I’m pregnant, now what” and the scroll begins. You get all of the advice to confirm your pregnancy and visit your doctor, but that’s about it, but now your algorithm is showing you all things baby on your socials. You might have even happened upon a doula or two or maybe you saw people in your mom group talking about doulas.

​While the word “doula” has only been used since the 1960s, the role of a doula has been around for centuries. Starting out as a servant woman giving emotional support to now an educational, emotional, and physical support resource.

*The most recent stats show that doulas:

• 39% decrease in the risk of Cesarean
  
• 15% increase in the likelihood of a spontaneous vaginal birth
  
• 10% decrease in the use of any medications for pain relief
  
• Shorter labors by 41 minutes on average
  
• 38% decrease in the baby’s risk of a low five-minute Apgar score (APGAR is a measurement for how baby is doing immediately after birth)
  
• 31% decrease in the risk of being dissatisfied with the birth experience
  

*Evidence Based Birth
So, let’s break it down. What exactly is a doula and what do they do:

• Emotional Support
  
• Physical Support
  
• Educational Resource
  
• Advocacy
  

Emotional Support

If you’re a first-time parent, having a baby is a brand new experience, and that can bring up a lot of feelings. A doula is someone who has been there before and has skills to help calm your nerves.
For some, this means extra information. Others might need meditation or breathing exercises. Some just need reassurance that they are doing everything they need to and that allowing their body to work is okay.
Whatever it is that you need, your doula will be able to personalize your care and bring peace to your pregnancy and birth experience.

Physical

Whether you want to go fully unmedicated, want the epidural, or your planning a C-section, it’s important to learn how to cope with labor because birth is unpredictable and you may go into labor before your planned C-section if you’re not being induced, and there will be a time frame between labor starting and you getting the hospital and the epidural setting in and doing it’s work.
Your doula has hands-on as well as hands-off skills to help you cope with your labor no matter how you plan to do it.

Educational Resource

While your doula is not a medical professional, they are a wealth of knowledge regarding pregnancy, birth, and babies. Your doula is the person you can contact with all of your birth planning and postpartum planning questions, as well as the “Is this normal” question that is bound to come up.
Your doula is obsessed with pregnancy, birth, and babies. If you have a question they have the answer or at the very least know where to find the answer. When you hire me as your doula, and most doulas are the same, aside from your prenatal visits you have my phone number and email to contact me with all of your questions and updates! I love hearing from my doula clients!

Advocacy

Knowing how to communicate with the medical staff in a productive way is critical to ensuring your voice is heard in the birth room. Your doula has experience talking with medical teams and knows how and when to ask the right questions. They also know how to guide you in having a conversation.
These skills are important during prenatal visits, birth and postpartum and can save you from wishing you would’ve known after all is said and done.

Conclusion

Your birth doula is your go-to for emotional, physical, educational, and advocacy support. They are a consistent professional walking with you through pregnancy and childbirth and have the training and experience to help every step of the way.