Only with trust, faith, and support can the woman allow the birth experience to enlighten and empower her. Women's strongest feelings [in terms of their birthings], positive and negative, focus on the way they were treated by their caregivers. ~Annie Kennedy & Penny Simkin
The word "doula" comes from the ancient Greek meaning "a woman who serves" and is now used to refer to a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth; or who provides emotional and practical support during the postpartum period.
Studies have shown that when doulas attend birth, labors are shorter with fewer complications, babies are healthier and they breastfeed more easily.
A Birth Doula
- Recognizes birth as a key experience the mother will remember all her life
- Understands the physiology of birth and the emotional needs of a woman in labor
- Assists the woman in preparing for and carrying out her plans for birth
- Stays with the woman throughout the labor
- Provides emotional support, physical comfort measures and an objective viewpoint, as well as helping the woman get the information she needs to make informed decision
- Facilitates communication between the laboring woman, her partner and her clinical care providers
- Perceives her role as nurturing and protecting the woman's memory of the birth experience
- Allows the woman's partner to participate at his/her comfort level
Research evidence shows that the quality services of a postpartum doula can ease the transition that comes with the addition of a baby to a family, improve parental satisfaction and reduce the risk of mood disorders.
Numerous clinical studies have found that a doula’s presence at birth
- tends to result in shorter labors with fewer complications
- reduces negative feelings about one’s childbirth experience
- reduces the need for pitocin (a labor-inducing drug), forceps or vacuum extraction and cesareans
- reduces the mother’s request for pain medication and/or epidurals
Research shows parents who receive support can:
- Feel more secure and cared for
- Are more successful in adapting to new family dynamics
- Have greater success with breastfeeding
- Have greater self-confidence
- Have less postpartum depression
- Have lower incidence of abuse
Source: DONA International
www.dona.org
Labor can be very stressful for mothers as well as partners and families. These emotions can make anyone feel helpless or even shut out. The role of the Birth Doula is to devote her attention and skill to the laboring mother while supporting the partner too.The objective is to make the mother comfortable as possible using learned techniques so she can focus all her energy within her body to deliver her baby.
Culturally, the United States has lost touch with typical pregnancy and birth and turned it into a medical procedure instead of a natural process. Most all other cultures have advanced labor support systems and families will even move in with each other for months after the birth to support the new family.
The Birth Doula's role with medical providers
- A Doula helps to protect the integrity of every mother's birth plan.
- Hospitals are busy places. Nurses often have more than one patient which spreads emotional and physical support thin. A Doula helps to bridge this gap in care by being the one constant beginning to end.
- A Doula's role is to facilitate knowledge with the mother and her medical provider so she understands the intention of procedures.
- It is the mother's role to express permission and willingness for any procedure suggested.
