What does a Doula do?
A doula is a trained and experienced labor companion who provides women and their partners continuous emotional support, physical comfort and assistance in obtaining information before, during and after childbirth.
A birth doula…
- …Recognizes birth as a key life experience that a mother will remember all her life…
- …Understands the physiology of birth and the emotional needs of a woman in labor…
- …Assists women and their partners in preparing for and carrying out their plans for birth…
- …Stays by the side of the laboring woman throughout the entire labor…
- …Provides emotional support, physical comfort measures, an objective viewpoint, and assistance to women in getting the information they need to make good decisions…
- …Facilitates communication between the laboring woman, her partner and clinical caregivers…
- …Perceives her role as one who nurtures and protects a woman's memory of her birth experience…