.: What is a Doula :.
Giving birth to a baby is a life engaging experience, bringing forth a new family. A doula, which is a Greek word for ‘female servant,’ serves as a support during this amazing time of new beginnings. Birth doulas stay beside a woman in labor in order to help ‘mother the mother,’ providing emotional encouragement, physical assistance, and information about the progress of labor as it is needed. Doulas also provide assistance to the partner of a laboring woman in order to help them be able to more fully experience the birth. A postpartum doula helps a family make a smooth transition into parenthood by providing assistance with newborn care, breastfeeding, household duties and valuable emotional support.Doulas can play a valuable role in the birth experience and research has shown that the skills they use are medically proven to make a difference in birth outcomes. In order to read more in depth about doulas, please visit the DONA International website at www.dona.org where you will find DONA International’s Position Paper on Birth Doulas and Position Paper on Postpartum Doulas, and other evidence-based research. DONA International is an international certifying organization for this field.
What Does A Doula Do?
A doula adheres to a set of standards and provides continuous emotional, educational, and physical support during labor and birth. A doula performs NO clinical tasks but does combine her care and wisdom with the skills and knowledge of nurses, midwives and physicians. Doulas are trained in the use of comforting touch, breathing techniques, relaxation, positioning to enhance labor, as well as the anatomy and physiology of the childbirth process. A doula will also help her client self-advocate and she will support the mother’s partner through the birth process.
What Is NOT Included In Doula Service?
A doula does not speak for her client but does empower the client to make informed decisions about labor and birth. A doula does not work against the better judgment of a woman’s health care provider nor does she encourage or participate in a confrontational environment, pre-natally or during labor and birth. A doula does not make medical decisions, perform vaginal exams, blood pressure checks, monitor or interpret fetal heart rates, nor does she recommend medical treatments. Doulas do not deliver babies.
What Is The Difference Between Doulas, Labor & Delivery Nurses, Midwives and Monitrices?
A doula provides emotional, physical, and informational support during the entire labor and birth. A labor & delivery nurse tends to the clinical considerations during labor and birth in a hospital or birth center and, if she is not too busy, she may provide some emotional support while she is on duty. A midwife provides prenatal care, delivers babies in hospitals, birth centers, or homes, and can prescribe medications. A midwife may or may not provide significant emotional support during labor. A monitrice is someone who has received professional training for clinical skills, such as fetal heart tones, blood pressure checks, and vaginal exams, and provides physical and emotional support during labor.
What Kind Of Training Do Doulas Receive?
There are several professional organizations that train doulas. Many offer certification to doulas who meet the correct criteria. A typical training will involve attending a lengthy workshop, independent study of related books and materials, attending a certain number of births, and participation in a childbirth education class. Certification may require demonstration of knowledge gained in the form of an exam or essay and preparation of papers indicating required experience. While some doulas are mothers themselves and others are not, all have a heart for women and a passion for birth.
Will The Doula Take The Place Of The Partner or Husband?
No. The doula can actually bring the couple closer. By making sure that the partner’s needs are met (food, drink, occasional back rubs, and reassurance), the woman and her partner can become closer during the work of labor. The doula’s presence allows the partner to participate at his/her own comfort level. Some partners prefer to be present only to witness the birth of his/her child and to share this experience with the woman he/she loves. The partner may not want to play an active support role and may not want to be responsible for the woman’s comfort and emotional security. The doula can step in and allow the partner to participate as he/she wishes, without leaving the woman’s needs unmet. When the partner chooses to be the major source of emotional support, the doula can supplement his or her efforts by running errands, making suggestions for comfort measures, and offering words of reassurance and comfort. During a long tiring labor, she can give the partner a break for a brief rest or change of scene. While the doula probably knows more than the partner about birth, hospitals, and maternity care, the partner knows more about the woman’s personality.
Do Women Who Choose Epidural Anesthesia or Require a Cesarean Birth Still Benefit From Doula Service?
Yes. There is a myth that doulas only provide care for women interested in natural, un-medicated childbirth. This is far from the truth! Doulas serve women who labor with or without medication, including those who choose an epidural. The events of a labor and birth may differ from those a mother may have planned or expected and this is where a doula can be of greatest benefit. Since the core of the doula's belief is to help a woman get the most out of her birth experience, the doula can be of benefit regardless of the circumstances surrounding a birth. Therefore, a doula will work with women who have vaginal births and moms who have planned or unplanned cesarean sections. Doulas benefit unaccompanied teen mothers and married women who have had several children already. Doulas are helpful to healthy women and those who have disabilities or complicated pregnancies. Women who are planning a TOLAC (trial of labor after cesarean) or VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) benefit from hiring a doula as well.
How Much Do The Services Of The Doula Cost?
The cost of doula service varies with geography and with the extended expertise of a particular doula. Extended expertise may include training as a certified lactation consultant, childbirth educator, nurse, or perinatal exercise specialist. Doulas who have been practicing for many years and have extensive experience may charge more. Rochester area doulas typically charge between $300 and $600. Some doulas may volunteer services or offer a sliding fee scale.
What Is Included In Doula Service?
Typically a doula will meet with a couple for about an hour 2-3 times during pregnancy. These visits cover getting to know each other, any questions the couple might have and discussing birth plans. Once labor begins the doula will provide continuous support until an hour or two after the birth. This support might begin in the mother’s home before going to the hospital or it might begin at the hospital. Doula service usually includes at least one post-partum visit at the mother’s home in order to touch base with the new family, help out with initial breastfeeding support and discuss the birth experience.
*This information has been provided from the DONA International website.
