Questions about doulas and doula services
Who is a doula?
A doula is a trained birth companion who:
- Recognizes birth as a key life experience that the mother will remember all her life
- Understands the physiology of birth and the
emotional needs of a woman in labor - Assists the woman and her partner in preparing or and carrying out their plans for the birth
- Stays by the side of the laboring woman
throughout the entire labor - Provides emotional support, physical comfort
measures, an objective viewpoint and assistance to the woman in getting the information she needs to make informed decisions - Facilitates communication between the laboring woman, her partner and clinical careproviders
- Nutures and protects the woman’s memory of her birth experience
What are the benefits?
Studies have shown these results when a
doula is present:
- Fathers participate with more confidence
- Greater success in breastfeeding
- More maternal satisfaction
- Fewer neonatal admissions after birth
- Less pre- and post-natal stress
- Less likelihood of post-partum depression
- Overall cesarean rate decreased 50%
- Length of labor decreased 25%
- Pitocin use decreased 40%
- Mother’s request for pain medication decreased 30%
- 40% less need for a forceps delivery






