If you’re wondering what a Doula is, you’re not the first person to ask this question. A lot of times doulas are confused with midwives, but they play a very different and distinct role in the birth experience.
What is a Doula?
A doula is a trained professional who provides physical, emotional and informational guidance to a pregnant woman during labor and shortly after childbirth. Doulas are trained in understanding the physiological and emotional aspects that goes into giving birth. They hold a wealth of knowledge in the childbirth process and will coach pregnant woman before, during and shortly after giving birth.
While doulas are trained to support their clients during their labor, midwives are healthcare professionals who are trained specifically in the women’s reproductive health and childbirth, and have the ability to deliver babies. This is a key difference in the roles between doulas and midwives.
It is also important to note that there are two types of doulas, a Birth Doula and a Postpartum Doula. Some doulas may be trained in both birth and postpartum. Others may be trained in just one. A birth doula specifically helps support you through the pregnancy and your birth experience up until the delivery of your baby. The postpartum doula is someone who is specifically trained to support you in the first 30-60-90 days postpartum, including taking care of your newborn and/or helping you through postpartum recovery. Some doulas are certified as Lactation Consultants as well, which means they are able to support and guide you with latching and breastfeeding.
Benefits of Hiring a Doula
There are so many great benefits to hiring a birth doula. It’s like having a coach guide you through the most powerful and intense moment of your life. Imagine you are hiking Mt. Everest for the first time. Would you rather do it alone or would you want someone there with you holding your hand and coaching you through each step of the way?
Studies have shown a number of positive birth outcomes as a result of hiring a doula. According to the National Institutes of Health, below are the positive birth outcomes of hiring a doula:
- Reduced use of pain-relief medications such as epidural
- Fewer cesarean births (c-sections)
- Less stressful birth experiences
In addition to these positive birth outcomes, there are additional benefits including:
- Better communication between the pregnant people and their health care providers
- Less anxiety and depression for pregnant people
- Shorter time in labor
With so many benefits, why don’t most pregnant women hire a doula?
If I had to guess, it’s most likely due to lack of information or knowledge about what doulas do or the high cost.
The Cost of Hiring a Doula
One of the biggest downsides and deterrents to hiring a doula is the cost. It can be expensive, especially if you live in a larger city like San Francisco or New York City where the cost of living is high. When we researched different doulas in our area in 2021, the cost of hiring a doula can range somewhere between $1,500-3,000 depending on their experience.
Unfortunately, insurance does not cover the cost of a doula so this can be steep when you’re paying this out of pocket. We spent a total of $2,350 for our doula and both my husband and I feel it was worth every penny!
If you’re not in a place where you can afford a doula and would like to have a doula for your labor, you may want to check around your local hospitals as some hospitals have doula volunteers at no cost to the patient.
My Personal Story with Our Doula
We interviewed with a handful of doulas before deciding on our doula. Our doula came recommended by my obstetrician and I felt the chemistry with them was instant. They were warm, nurturing and full of knowledge. It’s so important to find a doula that you feel 100% comfortable with because they will be there with you at your most vulnerable moment!
Our doula team consisted of two doulas who partnered together for years. They covered each other in the event one is out sick and they split coverage between day and overnight shift so there will always be someone to respond to you at all times of the day.
We absolutely loved our doulas! They worked together really well as a team and they made me feel less stressed, even though I had a million questions during my pregnancy.
They met with us twice before the delivery of our son. In our first meeting, we covered everything in my birth plan, which included my preferences when it came to pain-relief medications, different labor positioning, if I wanted music playing to aromatherapy. There was a lot that I didn’t consider when planning for my birth experience. Having our doulas walk us through all of our options in advance really helped prepare me for my labor. We went into depth about what I can expect the first time going through labor and they shared a lot of helpful resources.
During the pandemic, hospitals were constantly changing their policy on whether they would allow a visitor during labor plus a doula. Unfortunately, our original hospital did not allow additional visitors so I frantically searched for another option when I was 26 weeks pregnant. We really wanted our doula to be with us at the hospital during the labor so this was a priority when choosing a hospital.
Our doulas were so supportive and walked us through our options. They also shared local hospitals where they had a really good experience with. After calling around a few different hospitals and discussing with my husband, we finally decided to change our provider from our obstetrician to a midwife team. We were so happy with this decision as the midwives were very supportive of my natural birth plan.
Fast forward to my labor day, it was game time. And wow did our doulas overdeliver.
On the day I was starting to feel light contractions, our doula instructed me to go out for a long walk and suggested to walk on the sidewalk curb so my legs were walking on uneven pavement. I’m not sure on the science behind this but apparently, this helps to speed up the contractions. And boy did it work! As soon as I got home after my long walk, I had what’s called a bloody show, which is another sign that your body is getting ready for labor.
I continued to send them updates on how my contractions were intensifying throughout the night and they remained on standby to support me. They had provided a TENS unit which is a device that is wrapped around your back that uses low-voltage electrical currents as a natural pain relief. As my contractions intensified, I finally told the doula I was ready for her to come over. She arrived at 4am and insisted that my husband get some sleep while she worked with me through the contractions. Using a birth ball (similar to a yoga ball), she told me to get into all kinds of position which intensified the contractions. She helped me breathe through each contraction. Honestly, it was really hard and there were a few times I just wanted to go to the hospital and fill up on pain-relief medicine but I was reminded by how much I wanted to have the natural birth experience. I stuck it out and labored at home until around 10am, when the doulas switched and the daytime doula came to our home. We decided it was a good time for us to head to the hospital.
I was immediately flooded with a lot of emotions due to all the pregnancy hormones. And both doulas helped me through all the feelings and emotions I was going through by reassuring me that I was going to meet my baby boy soon. I was nervous. I was scared. I wasn’t sure if I could handle all the weird sensations in my body.
Once we arrived at the hospital, I was 7cm dilated! During the intense labor contractions, our doula would give me quick massages as I was having major aches and pain alongside my glutes and lower back. While I fell in and out of consciousness towards the end of my labor, I really appreciated my doula advocating me every step of the way.
I continued to labor until 8pm that night when our baby boy finally came. My husband appreciated her support as well because he was completely at a lost during my labor. Our doula guided him on how to support me and be there for me so he didn’t become overwhelmed.
Overall, we really appreciated our doulas. They were so helpful and if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have had the birth experience I had wanted.
How to Find the Right Doula
If you’ve decided that hiring a birth doula is for you, the next step is finding the right doula. This will be based on a variety of factors and what’s most important to you.
A few things you may consider are:
- Experience level: Typically, more experienced doulas will have more wealth of knowledge and resources to provide you. This is super beneficial because they can help provide you with tips on how to prepare for postpartum recovery and navigate through the different hospital networks and healthcare providers in your area.
- Chemistry with the doula: It’s very important that you feel comfortable with your doula because they will be your guide through your most vulnerable moment. Plan to interview a few different doulas so you can better understand their approach and the way they work with their clients. This will help you decide if they are good fit.
- Cost: More experienced doulas will generally charge more. In my opinion, I believe the more experienced doulas are worth the premium cost. As mentioned above, their experience will be reflected in how they confidently support you through your labor and provide those important resources and tips as you prepare for labor and postpartum.
- Who will be the doula’s backup in the event she/he is with another client or if she/he is out sick? Personally, this was a dealbreaker for me. I didn’t want to be surprised on the day of my labor with a complete stranger as my doula. Some organizations have a team of 5-6 doulas and they do not guarantee that your primary doula will attend to your labor. This helped narrow my choices and decide on a smaller team of two doulas.
- Ask for references. Once you’ve narrowed your list, you can ask the doula for references. Most likely, they will be happy to provide them.
Hopefully this post has helped you decide whether a doula is right for you.
I would love to hear below – how was your birth experience and did you hire a birth doula?
