What is a doula?

 

A doula is a labor support woman, who assists women in labor. The word doula comes from Greek and means “woman’s helper”.

In the old days, women were assisted in birth by their midwife and often other women who had given birth before; their grandmothers, mothers, aunts and sisters. Birth was seen as something common and normal, and something you shared with other women.

As birth became more and more of a medical issue and was moved from a home setting to the hospital, birth also became isolated and a lot lonelier. In the beginning, women were forced to labor all alone with only the hospital staff, who would leave her all by herself for hours on end. In those days, fathers were not allowed to be present in the delivery room.

Slowly things began to change, and it became common for the fathers to be present at the births of their babies. It became their role to be the main support person, and to assist their wives in coping with the contractions and pushing the baby out.

 

For many fathers-to-be, this is a great responsibility that not all of them are eager to take upon themselves. Just like the mothers-to-be, fathers-to-be have their fears and doubts about the mysterious and unfamiliar birthing process. A father-to-be sees his beloved wife like he’s never seen her before. He sees her go through contraction after contraction, making noises and faces, and shifting positions all the time. She may tremble and shake or even throw up. One moment she’s hot, the next moment she’s freezing cold. The new dad is wondering if this is all part of it and often there is nobody around to ask.

It’s a common misconception to think that there will be medical personnel in the room all the time. A midwife usually takes care of two or more laboring women at once, and she also has some administrative obligations. Couples are left on their own for hours; the midwife will just come in every once in a while to check on progress and to hook the woman up to the fetal monitor, and then she will leave again.

 

Here is where the doula comes in.

A doula is a woman who is specially trained to tend to the needs of a laboring woman and her husband. She is sensitive towards the needs of the woman and will do everything to giver her a safe and nurtured feeling all through the birth process.

A doula will stay with the woman throughout the whole birth; she will not come and go like the hospital staff. The presence of the doula is continuous until the baby is born and mother and baby are settled in.

A doula has learned a great deal about childbirth and is familiar with all the medical aspects. Even though she cannot perform any medical actions herself such as checking for dilation or measuring blood pressure, she does have a great deal of knowledge which she shares with the couple so that they can make balanced and informed decisions throughout the whole process.

Doulas are often also trained in alternative treatments such as Reflexology, Herbal Remedies, Shiatsu and others. Those are great tools for easing labor pains and helping labor move along.

The doula also offers ways to speed up labor such as making use of the shower or tub, the birth ball, and several positions and movements.

It is proven that women who gave birth with a doula are more satisfied with their birth experiences!

 

But the most important role of a doula is to be calming and nurturing. If she is a peaceful presence in the room this will influence all other people who attend the birth and will turn everything into a very positive and good experience!

A doula is someone who mothers the mother.