Doulas Improve Birth Outcomes

Woman to woman support during labor reduces the chance of having a cesarean by 50%

Photo by buzzanimation

The word doula is derived from ancient Greek, and it means a “woman caregiver of another woman.” Dana Raphael first used the term to mean someone who supports a breastfeeding mother in her 1973 book, The Tender Gift.

Today, the word doula signifies a woman, hired by the expectant mother and her partner, to “mother the mother.” Specifically, a doula is a trained professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to a mother during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. There are several doula specialities:

• Birth Doulas
• Postpartum Doulas
• Full-Spectrum Doulas
• Full-Circle Doulas
• Loss Doulas

A birth doula, as the name implies, helps a woman during pregnancy and throughout the process of labor and birth at home, in a birth center, or in a hospital. A postpartum doula helps after the birth. A full-spectrum doula works with preconception, pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, miscarriage, abortion and infant loss. A full-circle doula works with pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. A loss doula supports a family in the event of a miscarriage…