Dosta Doula Care

Benefits of a Doula

Birth Services

What is a Doula?

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.


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 decisions
  
• 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.
  

 

What effects does the presence of a doula have on birth outcomes?
 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
  

 

What effects do the presence of doulas have on babies?

Studies have shown that babies born with doulas present tend to have shorter hospital stays with fewer admissions to special care nurseries, breastfeed more easily and have more affectionate mothers in the postpartum period.

 

Statistics that Make the Case for Doulas:

According to a Cochrane Review published in 2012 by Hodnett and colleagues, when continuous labor support is provided by a doula, women experience a:

• 31% decrease in the use of Pitocin
  
• 28% decrease in the risk of a C-section
  
• 12% increase in the likelihood of a spontaneous vaginal birth
  
• 9% decrease in the use of any medications for pain relief
  
• 14% decrease in the risk of her newborn being admitted to at special care nursery
  
• 34% decrease in the risk of being dissatisfied with the birth experience
  

(taken from:  improvingbirth.org  - Doulas and Health Care Providers:  Working Together for Better Maternal and Infant Outcomes)

 

Does a doula replace nursing staff?

No, doulas do not replace nurses or other medical staff. Doulas do not perform clinical or medical tasks such as taking blood pressure or temperature, monitoring fetal heart rate, doing vaginal examinations or providing postpartum clinical care.  They are there to comfort and support the mother and to enhance communication between the mother and medical professionals.

 
Does a doula make decisions on my behalf?  

A doula does not make decisions for clients or intervene in their clinical care.  She provides informational and emotional support while respecting a women’s decisions

Will a doula make my partner feel unnecessary?

No, a doula is supportive to both the mother and her partner, and plays a crucial role in helping a partner become involved in the birth to the extent he/she feels comfortable

                                                                                 (taken from:  www.dona.org)