A Doula is a non-clincal labor support and postpartum professional who recognizes birth as key life experience. Her role is to provide physical, emotional and informational support to women and their partners before, during and following birth.
How a Doula helps during labor:
- Offers help and suggestions for comfort measures such as breathing, relaxation, movement and positioning.
- Provides continuous emotional and physical support.
- Allows the partner to share in the birth at the level with which they feel most comfortable.
- Empowers the partner to become more confidently involved.
- Facilitates communication between the laboring woman, her partner, and clinical care providers.
Research has shown that having a Doula can give you a:
- 50% reduction in
the cesarean rate - 25% shorter labor
- 60% reduction in
epidural requests - 40% reduction in
oxytocin use - 30% reduction in
analgesia use - 40% reduction in
forceps delivery
Information was obtained from Mothering the Mother; How a Doula Can Help You Have a Shorter, Easier and Healthier Birth, Kennell, Klaus, and Kennell (1993)
