What is a doula?

What is a doula? Doula is an ancient Greek word for female who serves. There are two types of doulas. First I will talk about the birth doula. A birth doula is a woman who will help a laboring parent through the labor and the birth of their baby. Many doulas are certified by DONA International.

What Doula Care Includes

We provide continuous emotional support to the laboring couple, teach you many different physical comfort measures to use during labor, provide information, and help you advocate for yourself during your labor and birth. There are 2 prenatal meetings, the first around 30 weeks and the second around 36 weeks. We are with you for your active labor, for the birth of your baby, and for an hour or two after the birth, to make sure you get your immediate skin to skin contact and that the first breastfeeding session goes well. There is also a postpartum visit after you get home from your birthplace. We are on call for you from 37-42 weeks.

Who Doulas Serve

There is a myth out there that doula will only help women who want to have a natural birth. This is far from the truth! Doulas will help any woman, regardless if she chooses a natural birth, narcotics, epidural, or needs an emergency C-section. We don’t discriminate! We are also not all hippies! Although born in 1960, I don’t consider myself a hippie. I was a little young for that era! A lot of us, myself included, are just regular people who feel very passionate about helping families have the birth of their dreams.