Top 10 Reasons To Hire A Doula
- A doula can help you to feel better about your birth experience. A group of researchers in California found that women who had the support of a doula during their babies’ births were more likely to feel positive about their birth experiences (82.5%) than women who did not have the benefit of such support (67.4%)
- A doula can leave your partner free to focus more fully on his or her key role during the birth: providing you with the emotional support. Doulas have knowledge of birth that partners, who may have no prior experience with birth, simply may not have.
- A doula can help to take some of the pressure off your partner. Having someone else on hand to support you can allow him or her to take a guilt-free dinner or bathroom break. (It’s hard for your partner not to feel like the world’s biggest heel if he or she has to take a bathroom break just as your contractions are starting to peak.)
- A doula can help to reduce the likelihood that you will require an epidural. A study conducted at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, found that 7.8% of women using doulas requested an epidural as compared to 55.3% of women laboring without a doula.
- A doula can offer helpful suggestions on ways to cope with the labor when you’ve pretty much run through your own repertoire of coping strategies.
- A doula can help breastfeeding get off to the best possible start. A study conducted in South Africa found that women who have support from doulas during labor are more likely to be breastfeeding exclusively when their babies are six weeks old than other moms.
- A doula can help to answer your questions about the birthing process and provide on-the-spot reassurance when you need it – something that can be truly invaluable if you find yourself with a lot of questions and concerns.
- A doula can help you advocate for yourself with the hospital staff and ensure that your voice is heard.
- A doula can promise to be there, even if your partner can’t. If there’s a chance that your partner isn’t going to be there at the birth (possibly because he or she is scheduled to work out of town around your due date) or if you’re going to be giving birth without a partner, a doula can provide you with some much-needed support.
- A doula can act as your cheering section. When you’re trying to weather the storms of transition, sometimes you just need someone to tell you that you’ve got what it take to get through this – and to say it with enough conviction that you actually believe her. (That’s an important part of the doula job description, by the way.)
Thank you to Ann Douglas for the copy of her newly released 2nd edition copy of The Mother of All Pregnancy Books! We are grateful for the donation to our lending library.