if a doula were a drug

"it would be malpractice not to use it."

This strong endorsement of the doulas' influential role by Dr. John Kennell has been widely quoted, as it should be!

If you could do something to help protect yourself and your baby from perinatal complications, to help shorten your labor, lessen your need for anesthetic pain releif, lower your risk for synthetic augmentation and cesarean surgery, increase the chances of your infant not needing NICU time, boost your breastfeeding success and feel a greater sense of self-esteem and satisfaction after your baby's birth and decrease risk for postpartum depression, would you do it?

Why not right?

Who couldn't use a cheerleader, a massage therapist, a friend to talk to, support from someone who's been there, help finding the information you seek, another head to bounce ideas off of, an advocate, a hand to hold, an errand runner, a buffer for your in-laws, compassionate eyes to notice the little things, unconditional encouragement, full attention and empathy. On like, any given Monday I could use all of that. Couldn't you?

During pregnancy, in birth and through postpartum a doula does all these things as she performs her primary task, which is to mother the mother. In turn she elevates the fathers' role as partner by placing importance on his involvement, supporting the entire family. DONA International breaks down the daddy/doula relationship while Birth Activist explains it to the guys in golfing terms. Nicely done!

Find a doula near you through DONA, and if you're near me Get Babied at Austin's doula collective or give GALS a chance to give you labor support. If you need it, you can find a doula for free as new doulas who are working toward certification volunteer their services (raising hand and waving wildly) and most doula collectives have volunteer programs to serve their community.

Whether you feel a birth at home is right, if you want an intervention-free birth in a hospital or an epidural-aided experience with your trusted OB, whether you purposefully plan or suddenly find yourself facing cesarean surgery the processes of pregnancy, labor, birth and newborn bonding are incredibly sensitive and challenging times in your womanly life. These are transitions that will influence your maturation and experiences that will have effect on your lifelong emotional and physical health. The role of a caring female companion for support is ideally filled by family, as it has been historically but modern times gives too many of us distant fragmented relationships in a culture largely ignorant of biological norms in birth and breastfeeding. The need for a mother to be mothered remains and a trained doula by your side can make all the difference in having a birth you feel blissed out over and giving you the best start possible in your new life with your baby.

Do You Doula?

Please click above for a short & sweet video of parents and doulas talking about their roles, expectations, the reality and their refelctions on working together. My favorite comment from the YouTube peanut gallery is this one:
"what impacted their feelings about their birth was how powerful they felt... like they were supported...what they said mattered, those were the things that made their birth a positive or negative" I didn't do natural childbirth and felt isolated from the natural childbirth community, but this resonated with me so much. This video was educational, inspiring, and non- judgmental. It's a must see for all expecting mothers."

Birth as a feminist frontier is nothing new, but we are finally getting to the heart of what elevates a human no matter their sex.

Respect. Support. Autonomy. Freedom. Responsibility.

(Paraphrased from the video ) "In studies of over 45,000 women what they found was that how they felt about the pain in their labor did not impact their feelings about their births. What impacted them was how powerful they felt, whether they felt like they were in control, like they were in the driver's seat, that they were supported, like what they said mattered. Those were the things that mattered and made a difference in whether their birth was positive or negative for them, it's not what we've been taught."


Continuos labor support bridges the gap the usual care provider whether a midwife or obstetrician cannot fill for responsibility of duty to many laboring mothers. A support person who is not clinical in scope but emotional and psychosocial offers a deep level of comfort, satisfaction and safety.