What Is A Doula?
The ancient Greek defined the word Doula to mean “Women’s Servant” These were the women that helped the expecting family during labor, birth and immediately following the delivery of the new baby. Providing much needed physical and emotional support to the laboring woman. This was a normal practice back in the day where families and friends lived in communal environments and everyone was nearby to assist in times of birth. Today, our society has changed. We’ve moved away from our families to explore a better life. But by doing so, we’ve also removed ourselves from the community that supported us. Today, women are being trained to be doulas as oppose to it being a woman’s right of passage. Doulas today are defined as an experienced woman trained in childbirth to provide emotional, informational and physical support to the laboring woman.
Why Are Doulas Becoming More Popular Today?
Here is quick history lesson. Back in the day, before there were hospitals, cesareans, epidurals, pitocin and other forms of medicated births, there were caring women (Doulas) whose natural instant of comforting the mother to be eliminated the need for what is known today as assisted births. Yes! A doula would provide the mother to be with the invaluable care needed to move through labor successfully. Her undivided attention, her emotional support along with her physical support gave strength to the woman who may otherwise find it difficult to go through the birthing process. With the birthing process moved to the hospitals and the hospitals policies restricting additional help during labor, doula services was no longer a part of the birthing process. So instead of having a caring family member or friend to give you much needed support, hospitals began replacing this irreplaceable resource with epidural, c-sections and pitocin. Incidentally, Pitocin is a drug that helps the laboring woman push the baby out by forcing the woman’s body to induce mechanical contraction, which was naturally created with the touch or massage from a caring friend or family member or “doula”. This natural drug is called oxytocin.
As childbirth moved more and more into hospitals. The support the birthing woman once received faded to the point where it’s only the woman in the hospital wrapped up in tubes and IVs with doctors checking in on her progress, completely eliminating the most essential part of natural childbirth, the caring friend or family member.
Today, women are taking their birthing rights back. To remove all interventions and going back to the way nature intended. natural childbirth with family and community support. Hence, the Doula movement.
What Do Doulas Do?
There are mainly 3 types of Doulas – all performing varying duties and are beneficial at different times in the pre and post pregnancy cycle.
Birth Doula – Provides emotional, informational, and physical support to the laboring mother.
Postpartum Doula – provides support in the first weeks following the delivery of the newborn. They provide informational support about caring for the baby. In addition they can help with cleaning, cooking and running small errands for the new parents.
Antepartum Doula – provides support to the mother who has been put on bed rest or is experiencing a high risk-pregnancy.
What Are The Benefits of Using a Doula?
The list of benefits of having a doula is long. In addition to being an invaluable asset to the expecting family, providing emotional, physical and informational support, studies have proven other major benefits of having a doula for pre and post childbirth. Some of which are:
50% less chance of a cesarean birth
60% less need for epidurals or analgesics
Higher success rate of VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean)
40% less need for assisted delivery i.e. forceps, vacuum, etc.
Better feelings about the birth experience
More nurturing attitude toward their infant shorter labors
How Do I Become A Doula and Do I need training?
Doulas don’t require any medical training and there are no standardize training or certification to become a doula. Many organizations have created doula training workshops and classes to embody what they believe would enable the aspiring doula to be most effective in assisting the mom pre and post birth.
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