A birth, or labor, doula is a person you hire to guide you through the birth process in whatever way is best for you.
A birth doula will meet with you before the birth and will support the pregnant person and the partner during the labor, birth, and the immediate postpartum period. Most birth doulas will meet with you one or more times after the birth to see how you are feeling.
Common myths about birth doulas:
- They are the same as midwives. This is an understandable assumption, but it’s midwives have a very different role from birth doulas. Midwives attend to the medical well-being of the pregnant person and the baby. Doulas are not medical professionals and do not give medical advice. Birth doulas do not check dilation, they do not listen to your baby’s heart, and they do not “deliver” or catch babies except in extreme circumstances!
- They only attend home births. Also, very far from true. 98% of births in the Portland Area take place in a hospital. Working birth doulas do the bulk of their work in hospitals and are familiar with birth in the hospital setting. It can actually be quite rare for a birth doula to have a home birthing client!
- They only attend “natural” unmedicated births. Traditionally, the people most-likely to hire a birth doula are the ones that plan not to take any pain medication, but the truth is that doulas are experts in compassionate care and can be incredible assets whether you need a scheduled cesarean birth, whether you plan to receive an epidural or whether you plan to give birth with as few interventions as possible. Birth doulas are birth professionals. Being well-versed in labor and birth means that your birth doula knows that things do not always (or even often!) go according to plan and if and when plans change, your doula can help you and your partner process the changes and make decisions in the moment.
