Offering wholehearted support for mothers to be...

What is a Doula?

Doula is a Greek word that translates as women’s servant. The word has further evolved to mean a woman who is experienced in childbirth who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to the mothers before, during, and after childbirth. A Doula is a non-clinical support system who provides labor support techniques such as movements, positions, and natural pain relief techniques. Doula’s also provide unbiased informational support… what does this mean? Well, throughout your pregnancy questions and concerns may come up. A Doula is trained and can provide you and your partner with evidence based resources, clinical studies, and appropriate referrals if desired.

For centuries women have been serving other women in childbirth and not until the late 1800’s did childbirth start moving into the hospital setting. While childbirth in a hospital setting might be the right choice for you, sometimes unexpected interventions, medications, and inductions can occur. This can often lead to the person birthing to feel unheard, seen, and mistreated. With childbirth moving from home to hospital the continuous care of labor support began to disappear. This is why having a Doula can be so important. Having a Doula can mean fewer cesareans, shorter labors, improved maternal mental health, less need for pain medication, and fewer instrumental deliveries.

A article by ACOG ( American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) and SMFM ( Society for maternal Fetal Medicine) state that “Evidence suggests that continuous one-to-one emotional support provided by support personnel such as a doula is associated with improved outcomes for women in labor” The Article can be accessed here: https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-opinion/articles/2019/02/approaches-to-limit-intervention-during-labor-and-birth

 

One of my favorite studies is concerning laboring patients who were randomized into three groups. One group had no additional support beyond staff and family. The second group was given a trained Doula. The third group was assigned a woman who observed the birth only to make notes on the clipboard ( no talking or touching allowed, simply observing). The shocking results of this study were that the No Doula group had an epidural rate of 55% the Doula group had an epidural rate of 7.8% and the Observer group had an epidural rate of 22.6%. This Study shows that even the most simple form of an observer making nothing but eye contact and holding space can bring the epidural rate down considerably. Holding space is a key component in being a part of the birth team. It is powerful and shows that when one can simply be a witness of another persons emotions it makes an enormous difference. The full study can be found in “The Doula Book” By Marshall H. Klaus, MD, John H. Kennel, MD, and Phyllis H. Klaus, MFT, LMSW .