Why You Deserve a Doula
Women have complex needs during childbirth and the weeks that follow. In addition to medical 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.
DONA International doulas are educated and experienced in childbirth and the postpartum period. We are prepared to provide physical (non-medical), emotional and informational support to women and their partners during labor and birth, as well as to families in the weeks following childbirth. We offer a loving touch, positioning and comfort measures that make childbearing women and families feel nurtured and cared for.
DURING YOUR LABOR AND BIRTH A DOULA WILL PROVIDE:
-consistent, continuous reassurance, comfort, encouragement and respect.
- individualized care based on your circumstances and preferences.
- someone experienced in childbirth who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to you before, during, and immediately after the birth.
-support to both the mother and her partner, and plays a crucial role in helps a partner become involved in the birth by giving ideas and suggestions to help the partner support the mother as well. Having a doula and your partner at your birth also means that if your partner or your doula needs to leave to get food or some sleep, you will not be left alone.
-a loving touch, positioning and comfort measures that make you feel nurtured and cared for.
A birth doula is a person trained and experienced in childbirth who provides continuous non-medical physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after childbirth.
Numerous clinical studies have found that a doula’s presence at birth
- tends to result in shorter labors with fewer complications
- reduces negative feelings about one’s childbirth experience
- reduces the need for pitocin (a labor-inducing drug), forceps or vacuum extraction and cesareans
- reduces the mother’s request for pain medication and/or epidurals
- Feel more secure and cared for
- Are more successful in adapting to new family dynamics
- Have greater success with breastfeeding
- Have greater self-confidence
- Have less postpartum depression
- Have lower incidence of abuse
