Now Accepting Iowa Families!
Now Accepting Iowa Families!
A birth doula is a trained professional who provides emotional, physical, and informational support to expectant mothers before, during, and after childbirth. The word "doula" is derived from a Greek word meaning "a woman who serves." Birth doulas are not medical professionals, but they work alongside healthcare providers to ensure that expectant mothers receive the best care possible. They provide support in various ways, including helping expectant mothers create birth plans, providing comfort measures during labor, and offering postpartum support.
While both doulas and midwives work in the field of childbirth, they have different roles. A midwife is a healthcare professional who is trained to provide medical care to expectant mothers. They are responsible for monitoring the health of the mother and the baby throughout pregnancy, providing prenatal care, attending to the mother during labor and delivery, and providing postpartum care. Midwives can also prescribe medication and perform medical procedures such as vaginal exams and episiotomies.
On the other hand, a doula is not a medical professional and does not provide medical care. Instead, they provide emotional and physical support to expectant mothers. Doulas do not perform medical procedures or make medical decisions; instead, they work alongside healthcare providers to ensure that the mother receives the best care possible.
Birth doulas offer a wide range of services to expectant mothers. These include:
The number of times one may expect to see their doula during and after pregnancy varies depending on the package chosen. Most doulas offer different packages that include different levels of support. The most common package includes prenatal visits, attendance at the birth, and postpartum support. The number of prenatal visits can vary from one to four or more depending on the doula's package. During labor and delivery, the doula will be present until the baby is born. Postpartum support may include one to three visits during the first few weeks after birth.
Birth doulas play a critical role in providing emotional, physical, and informational support to expectant mothers before, during, and after childbirth. They work alongside healthcare providers to ensure that mothers receive the best possible care. While doulas do not provide medical care, they offer a wide range of services, including prenatal support, labor and delivery support, postpartum support, and informational support. The cost of hiring a birth doula varies, but most doulas offer different packages that include different levels of support. The number of times one may expect to see their doula during and after pregnancy depends on the package chosen.
Most, but not all of our clients have a partner supporting them throughout this process. Our clients find that their partner is more involved in the process when they have a Doula there to guide them on how to best provide support. It is difficult for partners and even family and friends to know how to help us during this time. They can take the classes and read the books but it is hard for them to retain all that information. When we are in labour we also don’t seem to listen to our partners suggestions as readily as a Doula who we are not as emotionally attached to.
There are many tools available to a labouring mom and the epidural is one of them. Your doula team supports all birthing options and make sure you have all the information you need to decide what feels right to you at the time. Before an epidural there are sensations that require focus to work through. Your doula helps to keep you comfortable with providing comfort measures such as breathing, positions, massage and other tools until an epidural is available to you. An epidural reduces some sensations in labour but not always all, your doula aids in your comfort and keeping you as calm as possible throughout your birth process.
Some people believe that you only hire a Doula if you are having a vaginal birth. The reality is that babies are born in many different ways and there is no right or wrong way to go through this process. In the event of a scheduled cesarean section we help you plan for the birth by knowing your options and what to do if you go into spontaneous labour before your scheduled date. Your doula is there the day of the c-section to make sure things run smoothly and help with bonding and baby’s first feed after delivery. When you get home from the hospital we are there to help you understand what to expect with your recovery as well as learning about taking care of your baby.
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.