Why Hire A Doula?

I thought doulas were only for home births...I'm planning on a hospital birth; do doulas even help with those?          

Short answer: YES! In fact, while doulas are often associated with home births, their role in a hospital setting is just as valuable. In a hospital, doulas can help you and your partner advocate for your birth preferences, navigate the medical environment, and assist with non-interventive comfort techniques such as breathing exercises, positioning, and massage. A good doula will collaborate with your medical team to support your experience and help you feel empowered and informed the entire time. If medical interventions are desired or deemed necessary, your doula can help ensure you are given informed consent and understand your options every step of the way (no emergency Dr. Google searches!) Research suggests that having a doula present for hospital birth reduces the rate of unwanted interventions, increases satisfaction with the birth experience, results in better maternal and neonatal outcomes, improves coping mechanisms and perceptions of pain/difficulty…all the same benefits of having a doula in home birth settings. We're all about continuous emotional, physical, and informational support during pregnancy and labor, no matter where you choose to give birth!

If I know I want an induction/an epidural/a belly birth, etc., is it helpful to hire a doula?                                          

Short answer again: YES! Piggybacking on the above answer, doulas are for everyone...home, birth center, hospital, vaginal birth, belly birth, surrogate birth, zero interventions, all the interventions, crunchy / scrunchy / silky mamas and birthing parents, single parents, couples...you get the idea :) A doula's support can make a significant difference in your experience regardless of the type of birth. When a birth story involves induction, medical pain management, a belly birth, or other interventions, there can be added uncertainty/discomfort/risks/side effects/recovery needs. Your doula’s presence can help reduce stress, increase your sense of empowerment, and help you feel more confident in your choices, ensuring that your birth experience is as positive as possible (even if things don't go 100% according to your initial plan).

I'm not SURE if I want interventions, but I do know I'm feeling overwhelmed and scared of labor...help!                          

First of all, you are NOT alone...for most people in our culture, the first birth we witness/attend is for our own babies (and representations of birth in movies and TV do not count, trust me). It's normal to feel uncertain or fearful about anything unknown! One of the best parts about working with a doula is having someone there who is an expert in normal...we specialize in evidence-based support, in reassuring you and your partner every step of the way and making sure you feel as informed and in charge as you want to feel, and in being a constant, steadying, and loving presence during your pregnancy and labor. I encourage my clients to take an out-of-hospital childbirth education course to explore the myriad choices surrounding labor and birth and to help them with a general idea of what the process is like, but it's also not reasonable to expect that you'll remember every detail when you're in the thick of it. That's where I come in...during pregnancy we will talk through all of your concerns and uncertainties, and during labor it's my job to help reduce your stress and give you the support you need in every changing moment, whether or not interventions or medical pain management end up being a part of your experience.

I have a doctor, a midwife, a bunch of nurses...I'm not sure I want to add yet another person in the room with me.              

It's completely understandable to feel uncertain about whether you'd want to add yet another person in your birth space…it’s a highly personal decision! That said, the role of a doula is different from your medical team, so it’s important to consider what kind of support you’re looking for. Generally speaking, your doctors/midwives/nurses focus on the medical aspects of your care: monitoring yours and baby’s health, performing procedures, and making clinical decisions (there’s variety in how all this happens depending on the care provider and their modalities, but you get the gist). A doula’s primary role is continuous uninterrupted emotional/physical/informational support (read: in between all your doc appts and throughout your entire labor/birth) that is entirely focused on you and your partner. We don’t replace your medical pros but we DO complement their care and can help you communicate effectively with them. If there’s a situation where you need to make a decision or discuss options, your doula can help clarify things for you and ensure you feel comfortable and informed. My advice? Interview a few doulas! Get a sense of their individual approaches, ask them how they work with other members of your birth team, and see if you “mesh well” (where my Clueless fans at?) It’s about what works for YOU, because your birth team makes a huge difference in how you feel about your childbirth experience.

My partner and I took childbirth ed; we feel pretty informed. What benefit would adding a doula have?              

First of all, way to go! Feeling confident in your knowledge and understanding of childbirth is a great foundation for a positive experience. Even with that prep, there are many ways a doula can still provide value, particularly when it comes to hands-on, personalized care during labor. By this point you’ve probably heard me say we offer evidence-based emotional, physical, and informational support a bazillion times :) but it’s still true! When labor starts, it’s a live, unpredictable experience and a doula helps you understand and adapt to the unfolding situation. We can navigate real-time adjustments to your birth plan, be an extra set of experienced hands, help you communicate with your medical team, offer a judgment-free risks/benefits explanation of potential procedures, guide your partner in how best to support you in individual moments, and generally take the pressure off of both of you to feel like you have to know/remember it all. My job is to keep the experience as positive, calm, and empowering as possible for you, allowing you both to focus on what you need to…birthing your beautiful baby!

I don't want to know or think about childbirth! I just want a healthy baby at the end of it. Why bother with a doula?

Well, yeah—childbirth can be overwhelming to think about! For some people, the idea of delving into all the details of birth is stressful or unnecessary, and when you DO ask friends or family to share you often hear lots of “horror stories.” Here’s my take: as my own childbirth ed teacher says, “if you don’t know your options, you don’t have any,” meaning that knowledge is what puts you in the driver’s seat and gives you the tools to cope with any potential overwhelm. You absolutely get to decide how much information you want to consume when it comes to prepping for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, but this information should come from an evidence-based, experienced, and non-judgmental source. Think of a doula as one of the aforementioned “tools;” I support you so that you can focus on birthing your baby. Having a doula can actually simplify your decisions when things come up: they can help ensure that the medical team is aware of your preferences and can offer clear, unbiased information if any decisions need to be made, meaning you can feel more in control of the process. Even if you don’t want to be overly involved in the details, I can manage many of the logistics, guide and support your partner, and keep things calm and smooth so you can simply be in the moment. That peace of mind can go a really long way to lessening stress and anxiety throughout pregnancy and birth, and can absolutely benefit the end goal of “healthy mom, healthy baby”…research shows improved maternal and neonatal outcomes for births that include a professional doula. Less stress = less fear = a smoother experience overall physically AND emotionally! We’re also there post-birth to help in those early moments with the baby when you might be feeling tired, fragile, or unsure.

 

Whether you want a deep dive into birth-nerd territory or a more go-with-the-flow approach, a doula can provide valuable support in a way that allows you to focus on your individual goals. Our job is to take care of the experience for you, making sure you feel supported and safe without needing to handle all the complexities of labor yourself.

My mother/sister/best friend are going to help me during birth and postpartum, so why would I hire someone else?

It sounds like you have a great support system in place with your village already, and that’s wonderful! They will undoubtedly be amazing resources for you during labor and postpartum, so think of a doula as a foundational layer of support: someone who’s there to help make the experience smoother, more positive, and less stressful for everyone involved. A doula offers a unique combination of professional expertise, hands-on support, and unbiased guidance that can complement (not replace) a partner/relative/friend.

 

Labor can be long, intense, and unpredictable, and it’s not unusual for your loved ones to feel exhausted, uncertain, or even overwhelmed at times. A doula is there to provide continuous, hands-on support throughout the entire process—something that can be challenging for family members to do for extended hours, especially if they’re emotionally involved. We can also help manage the physical aspects of labor, like position changes, guiding breathing techniques, and comfort measures—all from a trained eye and tailored to your specific needs as labor progresses. Your loved ones might not always know exactly what to do, especially if it’s their first time supporting someone during birth. A doula can guide them on what’s needed in the moment, whether that’s helping them understand how to support you physically or simply giving them advice on how to be the most helpful emotionally. 

 

When it comes to questions you might have during pregnancy, labor, and postpartum, family members and friends may have strong opinions or advice (often based on their own experiences or preferences) but a doula’s role is to focus entirely on what you want and need. We are trained to be unbiased and non-judgmental, and to provide evidence-based information that helps you make informed decisions while still respecting your choices. Our informational support is also extremely valuable during the unpredictability of childbirth; a doula’s experience with unexpected changes (like an unplanned belly birth, labor complications, or other shifts in your birth plan) can help you navigate those moments without overwhelm…and we can help keep your loved ones calm and focused as well!

 

All of these benefits extend to after the birth as well; postpartum doulas are professionally trained to help with things like feeding, baby care, optimally balanced nutrition, and mental well-being. If family and friends have to juggle other responsibilities (like caring for older children, returning to work, etc.) or if they are expecting to largely spend time with the new baby, having a postpartum doula to manage postpartum needs/expectations and prioritize “mothering the new mother” can be a huge relief.

I mean, birth goes how birth goes, right? My provider team will tell me what I have to do; I don't feel like I have much to choose from in the moment.

Between birth classes, all my books, Instagram accounts, Facebook groups, and all the TikToks I've watched, I feel like I'm already on information overload. I don't know if I can handle yet another person talking at me!

What if I hire a doula and it turns out I didn't end up using them for much during labor?

Sometimes, I'm a "do-ula" in a birth (actively doing comfort measures, fetching water, answering questions, etc.) and sometimes I'm a  "be-la"...which means I'm just BEING. I'm literally doing nothing except sitting there holding space, and often the birthing couple is so in the zone they forget I'm there. Here's the kicker : studies show that even just having a doula existing in your birth space improves birth outcomes (insert mind blown emoji here). I often compare it to the best insurance policy ever: just the peace of mind of knowing that informative, encouraging, valuable, and CONSTANT support is right there if and when you need it can transform the physical and mental state of mama and partner. Plus, even if you're rockin' it without assistance, doulas can provide a lot of hands-off help in the form of water/snacks, maintenance of a calming environment, communication with other members of birth team, and post-birth events like first latch, the golden hour, skin-to-skin, etc.  ​

OK, OK, I get the benefits of birth doulas. But how is a postpartum doula different from just hiring a nanny / housekeeper / baby nurse / lactation consultant / having friends and relatives come visit me after the birth?

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The reason I'm so passionate about what I do is because I see the evidence for it literally everywhere...in the birth outcomes, in the mental health outcomes, in the parents who get to experience their own power and confidence in moments they never could have imagined or expected, in the people whose stories didn't at all go to plan and STILL feel heard and seen and empowered. ALL that said, ultimately the choice to hire a doula is up to you...it's your pregnancy, your birth, your body, and your baby! Only you know what feels authentic for you. If you're still on the fence, reach out to schedule your complimentary consultation and I'd be honored to chat with you further.

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