What Is a Doula?
A Brief History
Throughout history women have been cared for and supported by other women during childbirth. It is an ancient practice still honored today in most cultures. However, in modern
industrialized society, when childbirth moved from one's home to the hospital, we lost the
element of a woman's nurturing touch and guidance as the demands of the nursing staff
grew. While introducing fathers onto the scene did improve matters, it is unrealistic to
expect him to provide all the skills necessary to ensure fewer interventions and safer
outcomes as they have little prior experience with birth and medical procedures.
As more and more women are seeking alternatives to medicated births and wanting fewer
interventions, the role of the doula has grown. The word "doula" is a Greek word meaning"woman's servant". It has been adapted to now refer to a supportive companion (not a
friend or loved one) experienced and professionally trained to provide continuous physical,
emotional and informational support before, during and after childbirth. As recent studies
show, the presence of a doula not only improved the bond between mother and child, but
helped to reduce the incidence of interventions and complications.
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What Does A Doula Provide?
The doula offers help and advise on comfort measures such as breathing, relaxation,
massage, movement and positioning. She also provides families with evidence-based
information so that they may be better informed about their options and can decide the
course of their labor. The doula helps the mother and father become informed about various choices,
including associated risks, benefits and accompanying precautions or interventions for safety. The doula's presence offers support and reassurance to both the mother and her
partner and works with the midwife or doctor and nursing staff to complete the birth team.
Doulas do not perform medical tasks such as fetal heart tone monitoring, vaginal exams, or monitor blood pressure. She does not diagnose or give medical advise or second opinions. Doulas do not operate medical equipment. Most importantly, doulas do not make decisions for the laboring mother or her partner.
Information above adapted from DONA International's position paper: "The Doula's Contribution to Modern Maternity Care"
Dora Ramirez , C.E. ~ Doula and Educator
My name is Dora Ramirez, I am a wife, and a mother to three beautiful children. I trained through ALACE and have been a practicing doula for 8 years. I am a certified childbirth instructor trained under the AAHCC and I also serve as a lactation consultant. It is my mission to provide women with the knowledge to make educated choices on one of the most important endeavors they will ever engage in, the carrying and delivery of their babies.
The body of the human woman is designed to carry and deliver babies with minimal intervention. When a woman learns to read the signs her body is giving she can progress through her pregnancy with confidence and serenity. With a combination of education and research woman can choose the birth environments which they feel comfortable with, based on their specific needs and desires. No two pregnancies and/or deliveries are exactly alike; therefore, why should woman allow themselves to be treated and directed through their pregnancies as if they were all alike? Well, they shouldn't, and it is my goal to guide women to strive for and to customize their pregnancy and delivery to the greatest extent that they can.
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Common Misconceptions
I do not need a doula, I am planning a home birth(or a hospital birth) with a
midwife. Although midwives usually provide more mother and baby-centered
care than most physicians, they are still unable to provide the continuous
emotional and physical care from early labor through childbirth that a doula will
provide.
If I have a doula, that means I have to have an all natural childbirth, and I don't
know if I can do that. A doula's role is to provide support and reassurance for
you regardless of your birth choices or use (or refusal) of pain medication. Often
times women find they go much longer into the labor than expected before the
use of analgesics, and many times they make it through delivery without any at
all! This is due to the reduction of stress and the increased relaxation provided by
the doula.
"What do we need a doula for? I'll be there"! (says the Dad, partner, friend or
relative) Doula's do not replace the father, partner, friend or relative. They
complement each other's role in providing support for the mother.
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