Benefits of a Doula
I am so happy you are interested in using a doula to support you and your partner during childbirth! There are many different ways a doula can assist you.
What is a birth doula?
A birth doula is someone who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to women and their partners before, during, and just after childbirth. Doulas can attend medicated and unmedicated births in hospitals, birth centers, and in homes. We are educated on the physiology of birth and the emotional and physical needs of a woman in labor.
Benefits of a doula
Numerous studies on the use and presence of doulas have been conducted. The findings concluded that the presence of a doula reduces
- Overall caesarean rate by roughly 45%
- Length of labor by 25%
- Oxytocin use by 50%
- Pain medication by 31%
- Need for forceps by 34%
Source: The Doula Book, by Marshall H. Klaus, M.D., John H. Kennell, M.D., and Phyllis Klaus, C.S.W., M.F.T.