How Does a Doula Help?
A doula’s main job is to provide continuous emotional and physical support throughout labor. As a doula, I’m here to serve as a soothing voice of experience, be a source of encouragement, help you with pain management, and guide you through the stages of labor and positions to help ease the pain. As your doula, I am an advocate for you, here to run interference with hospital staff and to help you understand medical terms and procedures.
A doula is your on-call information hub from the moment she’s hired and throughout labor. I’ll help educate you in the process of labor, and answer common questions about your pregnancy and birth. Doula’s are trained in when to know when you should seek advice from your caregiver, and are not a medical personnel. As a doula, I cannot perform cervical exams, check blood pressure, perform fetal monitoring, prescribe medications or give herbal supplements.
If you're wondering why you should have a doula in addition to a midwife or a doctor (after all, a doula can’t perform any medical tasks), the answer is simple. A doula is there for YOU. Your midwife or OB may not have the time to get to know you personally. But a doula is committed to learning about what kind of birth experience you want, and will do everything she can to help you achieve it. Your doula is there to help make birth seem less scary and more comfortable. She’ll help you take the lead in your own birth, so that you feel empowered and knowledgeable in the decisions that you make. Your doula has an arsenal of non-medical pain management techniques to help you relax during your birth.
Clinical Studies Have Found That a Doula’s Presence At Birth Can Lead To:
60% less use of an epidural
40% decrease in the use of pitocin
50% reduction in cesarean rates
25% shorter length of labor
Studies have shown that having a doula to support you in labor cuts back on the overall time you spend in labor, they help lower the rate of medical interventions including need for epidurals and cesarean, improve the odds of breastfeeding, reduce postpartum healing time, increase the chance of spontaneous labor and they decrease the baby’s risk of a low Apgar score. Having a doula is especially helpful for a mother who is on her own, either by choice or because her partner cannot be present. A doula is perfect for every kind of mother, whether that be a first time mom, a seasoned birther, someone who's confident in their ability to birth or someone who’s scared. I as a doula am there to support you and your decisions. I will help you to be informed and make choices that will benefit you and your experience.
