Download Dads and Birth Doulas brochure in PDF format.

Download DONA's International Position Paper on Birth Doula in PDF format.

Our Doula Services

Your birth experience with a OC Doula can include the following:

• A free interview in the comfort of your home
  
• Prenatal visit(s)
  
• 24 hour telephone support
  
• Guaranteed backup
  
• Birth planning and preparation
  
• Labor support in your home, hospital and/or birthing center
  
• Newborn photographs/ video
  

Our rate is flexible and will be discussed on a case by case basis in your free non-obligated interview.

What is a Doula?

A Doula (which may also be called Childbirth Assistants, Labor Support Professionals, Labor Coachs, or Birth Companions.) She does not replace the partner. Instead she helps support the partner so that he or she can love and encourage the laboring woman.

A Doula provides continuous, uninterrupted support throughout labor and delivery. She offers massage, suggestions for position changes, relaxation techniques, reminders to stay hydrated and keep her bladder empty. She also believes in a woman's ability to birth her baby.

Studies have shown that having a doula may decrease:

• Epidural use by 60%
• Cesarean birth by 50%
• Pitocin use by 40%
• Narcotics use by 30%
• Forceps use by 30%
• Length of labor by 25%
• Incidence of Postpartum Depression
• Levels of Anxiety

As well as an increase of:

• Successful Breastfeeding
• A more positive birth experience
• Higher chance of spontaneous vaginal birth
• Having higher regard and increased sensitivity toward baby

Why use a doula?

DONA International doulas mother the mother.

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.

Doula FAQ's

1. Where does the word “doula” come from?
The word “doula” comes from ancient Greek, meaning “Woman’s servant.” Throughout history and in much of the world today, a cadre of women support a woman through labor and birth, giving back rubs and providing continuous emotional support. Like their historical counterparts, DONA International birth doulas know how to help a woman in labor feel better. However, today’s doulas are much more diverse than their predecessors. DONA International membership includes men and women from a wide range of ages and cultural backgrounds.

2. What effects does the presence of a doula have on the mother?
When a doula is present during and after childbirth, women report greater satisfaction with their birth experience, make more positive assessments of their babies, have fewer cesareans and requests for medical intervention, and less postpartum depression.

3. What effects do the presence of doulas have on babies?
Studies have shown that babies born with doulas present tend to have shorter hospital stays with fewer admissions to special care nurseries, breastfeed more easily and have more affectionate mothers in the postpartum period.

4. How do doulas practice?
Doulas practice in three ways: privately hired directly by clients, as hospital employees, and as volunteers in community or hospital programs.

5. Does a doula replace nursing staff?
No. Doulas do not replace nurses or other medical staff. Doulas do not perform clinical or medical tasks such as taking blood pressure or temperature, monitoring fetal heart rate, doing vaginal examinations or providing postpartum clinical care. They are there to comfort and support the mother and to enhance communication between the mother and medical professionals.

6. Does a doula make decisions on my behalf?
A doula does not make decisions for clients or intervene in their clinical care. She provides informational and emotional support, while respecting a woman’s decisions.

7. Will a doula make my partner feel unnecessary?
No, a doula is supportive to both the mother and her partner, and plays a crucial role in helping a partner become involved in the birth to the extent he/she feels comfortable.

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''If a doula were a drug, it would be unethical not to use it.''

~John H. Kennell, MD~