What is   a Doula?
		"Birth is not only about making babies. Birth is about making mothers...strong, competent, capable mothers who trust themselves and know their inner strength."  ~ Barbara Katz Rothman

A Doula is a person who provides non-clinical care to a woman and her partner before, during and just after the birth of the baby. A certified doula is trained to deliver emotional support from home to hospital, ease the transition into the hospital environment and be there through changing hospital shifts and alternating provider schedules. 

The doula serves as a labour coach and information source to give the mother and her partner the added comfort of additional support throughout the entire labour. There are a variety of titles used by women offering these kinds of services such as "birth assistant," "labour support specialist", labour assistant and "doula".

What Does a Doula Do?
The following is a general description of what you might expect from a CAPPA Canada certified labour doula. Typically, doulas meet with the mom and her spouse/support person/partner in the second or third trimester of pregnancy to get acquainted, to learn about prior birth experiences and the history of this pregnancy. She may help you develop a birth plan, teach relaxation, comfort measures, position changes, visualization and breathing skills useful during labour. Most importantly, the doula will provide comfort, support, and information about birth options, including the risks, benefits and alternatives of medical interventions.
A doula can help the woman to determine prelabour from true labour and early labour from active labour. At a point determined by the woman in labour, the doula will come to her and assist her by:
:: Helping her to rest and relax
:: Providing support for the woman's spouse/support person/partner
:: Encouraging nutrition and fluids in early labour.
:: Assisting her in using a variety of helpful positions and comfort measures.
:: Constantly focus on the comfort of both the woman and her partner.
:: Helping the environment to be one in which the woman feels secure and confident.
:: Providing her with information on birth options.

Women have complex needs during childbirth. In addition to the safety of modern obstetrical care, and the love and companionship provided by their partners, women need consistent, continuous reassurance, comfort, encouragement and respect. They need individualized care based on their circumstances and preferences. 

To this end, a doula works with a woman and her family, physicians, midwives and nurses with an aim to enhance communication and understanding.
With a Doula present, the pressure on the partner is also decreased, allowing participation at an optimum comfort level and increasing the enjoyment of the birth of the baby. Ideally, the Doula and the partner make the perfect support team for the woman, complementing each other's strengths.

What do postpartum doulas do?
What a postpartum doula does changes from day to day, as the needs of the family change. A postpartum doula recognizes the importance and challenges of family adjustment following the birth of a baby. Services are usually customized to meet the specific needs of the family.

Overall, a postpartum Doula will "mother the new mother" so that she, and her loved ones, ease into their new roles confidently and smoothly. The quality of emotional care received by the mother during labour, birth and immediately afterwards is a vital factor that can strengthen the emotional ties between the mother and child. The importance of this relationship cannot be over emphasized, since these early relationships largely determine the future of each family, and also society as a whole. 


Based on information from Mothering the Mother: How a Doula Can Help You Have a Shorter Easier and Healthier Birth, Klaus, Kennell, and Klaus (1993), CAPPA-Canadas website www.cappacanada.ca and Doula C.A.R.E.s website www.doulacare.ca

Research by experts tells us what many have long suspected: that those new parents who have support and feel secure and cared for during this time are more successful in adapting than those who dont. Studies have shown that cultures in which women are cared for by others for a defined period of days or weeks and are expected only to nurture themselves and their babies during that time have superior outcomes in postpartum adjustment. 
~ Jacqueline Kelleher, DONA Postpartum Chair wrote this paper with the assistance of Penny Simkin and the 2002 DONA International Board of Directors.