The Benefits of Hiring a Doula

While women may choose to birth with a variety of attendants from nurses and obstetricians, to family and close friends, to midwives or a small group of experienced women, or even in solitary as freebirthers across the world do, there is one figure who rarely gets the credit she deserves. She is the doula, a supportive sister to an expectant mother. Doulas are also called labor attendants and birth coaches, but they are so much more than that. Doulas are able to make birth safer and more comfortable for mother and baby, and the small fee that they charge is well worth it for the benefits.

The role of the doula greatly depends on the woman for whom she is providing care, but her main purpose is simply to be a friend, a mentor, and a helper to the mother. She does this by listening to her desires, helping her have a comfortable pregnancy, helping her to create the plan for the birth she desires, providing factual and unbiased information to enable her to make choices she can feel good about, keeping her comfortable during the birth while doing all she can to ensure the birth outcome the mother wants, advocating on her behalf and ensuring that caregivers respect her wishes, and even providing lactation counseling after birth to help establish a breastfeeding relationship. She has no agenda, for she has nothing to gain by convincing the mother to make certain choices.

Women who employ a trained doula are 50% less likely to have a cesarean. They typically have a 25% shorter labor. There is a 60% decrease in the number of women who request an epidural, a 40% decrease in her chances of receiving oxytocin, and a 30% reduction in analgesia use. The risk of having a forceps delivery is lessened by 40%. Doulas can make a woman feel more empowered and prepared to make good choices during their delivery, and they even can provide support for the expectant fathers and help the fathers play a bigger role in the birth.