Doula What?!?
When I tell someone about my career as a doula, I get lots of questions. If you're wondering just what exactly a doula is, below are a few resources.
Parents Magazine Several articles published on the topic of doulas http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/giving-birth/doula/ |
American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine (March 2014) "Published data indicate that one of the most effective tools to improve labor and delivery outcomes is the continuous presence of support personnel, such as a doula. A Cochrane meta-analysis of 12 trials and more than 15,000 women demonstrated that the presence of continuous one-on-one support during labor and delivery was associated with improved patient satisfaction and a statistically significant reduction in the rate of cesarean delivery (111). Given that there are no associated measurable harms, this resource is probably underutilized." The entire article can be found here http://www.acog.org/Resources-And-Publications/Obstetric-Care-Consensus-Series/Safe-Prevention-of-the-Primary-Cesarean-Delivery |
Do YOU want to become a doula as well? Enlightened Mama offers DONA certified training. http://enlightenedmama.com/doulas/doula-training-2/ |
The Childbirth Collective As a 501c3 nonprofit, the Childbirth Collective is dedicated to enhancing the childbearing year for mothers-to-be and families. By promoting doula support (both birth and postpartum), advocating evidenced based care, and providing bi-weekly education sessions (called Parent Topic Night), the “Collective” is an incredibly rich resource of information and support. Parent Topic Nights have an open door, no preregistration required and the fee is a free-will donation. I am a proud member of the Childbirth Collective. http://www.childbirthcollective.org/ |