What is a Doula?
Doula is a Greek word meaning a woman who serves another woman.
It has now come to mean a woman experienced in childbirth that provides sustained physical and emotional advice and support to a woman and her partner before, during and immediately after childbirth. There are many women from different cultures around the world who still assist other women in labour. The doula's role is non medical and as such does not make clinical decisions - that is for the midwife and doctor - her role is to offer emotional support and reassurance to the couple.
Why have a Doula?
Each woman's experience of childbirth is unique.
Women who are having their 1st child have the fear of the unknown; women on their 2nd, 3rd, 4th child etc. have the realisation of what is coming, though each birth is different. Women need emotional and physical support; this is exactly what a doula is trained to do.
More and more women are now choosing to have a doula with them during labour and it doesn't mean excluding your partner from the experience; rather it means that your partner doesn't feel he's completely responsible for your wellbeing, as the doula is there to assist with the care, freeing him to participate as much or as little as he wants.
Giving birth is a transformative and enlightening experience. With someone to encourage her innate ability to birth her baby a woman has the greatest opportunity to experience childbirth as an empowering and positive life event.
