What is a Doula?

Leslee with Gail Tully of Spinning Babies

What is a doula? A birth doula is an educated advocate for birthing mothers, as well as a facilitator to her partner. A doula tends to a woman’s physical and emotional needs throughout childbirth as well as offering suggestions and support to partners. A doula is a person who supports a woman and her family through labor and the early postpartum period. It can be a friend or family member who have experience with birth or not, but I believe that a doula who has been trained in providing emotional and physical support can be invaluable to a laboring woman and her loved ones.

Study after study has shown significant reductions in all medical interventions including inductions, epidurals and cesarean births, improvement in breastfeeding rates, and the increased satisfaction or positive view on the birth experience of mothers who had a doula attend to them during birth.

As a birth doula, I provide a range of support from the time I arrive at the mother’s side to the time I leave after her baby is born. During all of these stages I provide emotional and physical support, teach pain-coping techniques during labor, and finally assist with breastfeeding, newborn care, postpartum recovery, and the transition to parenthood.

To book your due date, please email me at Leslee@BoldBirth.com.