What is a doula?

A doula is a non-medical trained health care professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to a expectant families throughout your pregnancy. Doulas provide peer support and can work together with medical providers, like doctors and midwives. We offer education to help you better advocate for yourself and truly understand the birthing process. We prepare you for what to expect in labor and after you have your baby.

I already have my spouse/ partner/ mother. Why do I need a doula?

A loving partner can be a calming influence on the birthing person. This can be the baby's other parent, a mother, best-friend or other close person in your life. Having a doula to gently guide the partner can allow the birthing person to receive exactly the support they need at the right time. The doula can feed the partner information during the birth so that it can be delivered in a loving and caring way by a person they have a deep connection with.

Doulas also provide the partner with rest periods. Birth is an endurance event, mainly for the individual giving birth but for full-time participants in the birth team too. Having a strong partner can be incredibly useful if they need to rely on the partner's body for support. If the partner is also the baby's parent then my role is to honor this incredible moment in your family's life and do everything possible to ensure that this day will be a positive experience in your memories.

What are the benefits of having a doula?

It can be helpful to have doula whether you’re birthing in a hospital environment, birth center, or at home. Having doula support during labor has also been shown to reduce the need for interventions:

• 31% decrease in use of Pitocin (medically induced labor)

• 28% decrease in cesarean section

• 12% increase in likelihood of spontaneous vaginal birth

• 9% decrease in the use of any medications for pain relief

• 14% decrease in the risk of newborns being admitted to a special care nursery

You can read more about the benefits of doulas during pregnancy here.

What if I need support after the baby arrives?

Doulas can support you then too! Postpartum defines the period of time after the birth and can last up to a year or even longer. This is a time when the birthing person is not only healing physically from the birth and the exhausting tasks that come with a new baby but also they are defining the structure of their new life with their child and evaluating their identity and close relationships.

For women and birthing people of color, this postpartum period is critical, as we generally experience complex social and health disparities more frequently than other women.