Does a Doula Really Help?

Many women wonder why they should hire a doula.  What's the point?  What do they really have to offer?  Will they get in the way or somehow replace my partner?   These are excellent questions and I thought I would address them in further depth here on my blog. 

First consider these statistics and research discoveries showing some of the many benefits of hiring a birth doula. 

Recent studies found the following benefits for women who enlisted the help of a doula...

• 25% shorter labor
• 33% less likely to be dissatisfied with their birth experience
• 36% reduction in use of pain medications
• 40% reduction in pitocin use
• 50% reduction in forceps delivery
• 52% reduction in cesarean rate
• 60% reduction in epidural requests

And six weeks postpartum, mothers were...

• less anxious and depressed
• more confident with baby
• 23% more likely to be breastfeeding

Second, let's look at the role of the father/partner & the doula...

I think these excerpts from the DONA article titled Dads & Doulas sum it up well. 

When it comes to pregnancy, birth, and parenting, today's father/partner wants to share
everything with his partner. He wants to be actively involved; ease his partner’s labor pain,
welcome his baby at the moment of birth and help care for his newborn at home. A labor doula
can help a father experience this special time with confidence.

With doula support, fathers tend to stay more involved with their partner rather than pull away in times of stress.
Today, a father's participation in birth preparation classes or his presence at prenatal
visits and in the delivery suite is a familiar occurrence. Yet, we sometimes forget that the
expectations of his role as a "labor coach" may be difficult to fulfill. Sometimes it is also
culturally inappropriate for an expectant father to be so intimately involved in the process of
labor and birth.

The father-to-be is expected among other things to become familiar with the process and
language of birth, to understand medical procedures and hospital protocols and advocate for his
partner in an environment and culture he is usually unfamiliar with. A doula can provide the
information to help parents make appropriate decisions and facilitate communication between
the laboring woman, her partner and medical care providers.

At times a father may not understand a woman’s instinctive behavior during childbirth
and may react anxiously to what a doula knows to be the normal process of birth. He may
witness his partner in pain and understandably become distressed. The doula can be reassuring
and skillfully help the mother to cope with labor pain in her unique way. The father-to-be may
need to accompany his partner during surgery should a cesarean becomes necessary. Not all
fathers can realistically be expected to "coach" at this intense level.

Many fathers are eager to be involved during labor and birth. Others, no less loving or
committed to their partner's well being find it difficult to navigate in uncharted waters. With a
doula, a father can share in the birth at a level he feels most comfortable with. The doula’s skills
and knowledge can help him to feel more relaxed. If the father wants to provide physical
comfort such as back massage, change of positions, and help his partner to stay focused during
contractions, the doula can provide that guidance and make suggestions for what may work
best.

So hiring a doula not only tends to shorten your labor, reduce your need for interventions & medications, and lower your chances of needing a Cesarean section, but it can also be a crucial aspect of having the best possible experience for you, your spouse/partner, and your baby.  What do you all think?  Have you given birth with a doula present?   Without?  What was the experience like for you?