all photography © Julia Chemotti
Why hire a doula?
We’re taking extensive out-of-hospital childbirth classes so that my husband can be prepared to support my needs at the birth. Won’t a doula be unnecessary?
Prepared fathers-to-be are essential in labor support. A doula enhances the support a husband provides, and she brings a unique perspective and experience. Fathers can become emotionally overwhelmed and filled with concern for their wife and the baby during this intense event. A doula’s goal is to support the whole family during a birth.
How do a father and a doula work together?
- Supportive care results in lower rates of medication use, lower cesarean section rates, shorter labors, fewer newborns with low Apgar scores, and increased maternal satisfaction with the birthing process. “Effects of Labor Support on Mothers, Babies, and Birth Outcomes” Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing Volume 31 Issue 6, Pages 733 – 741 November 2002
- "It would appear that continuous support during labour [like that provided by doulas] is an essential ingredient of the labour that has unfortunately been left out when maternity care moved from home to hospital in the early 1930s. Randomised trials of continuous emotional and physical support during labour have resulted in multiple benefits, which include a shorter labour, significantly less medication and fewer medical interventions, including caesarean section, forceps, and epidural anasthaesia" (Klaus et al. 1992). The authors point out other benefits: "They [doulas] have also been associated with positive social outcomes such as decreased maternal anxiety and depression, increased breastfeeding and increased satisfaction with interpersonal relations with partners." Marsden Wagner, M.D. Pursuing the Birth Machine, Ace Graphics 1994
We’re taking extensive out-of-hospital childbirth classes so that my husband can be prepared to support my needs at the birth. Won’t a doula be unnecessary?
Prepared fathers-to-be are essential in labor support. A doula enhances the support a husband provides, and she brings a unique perspective and experience. Fathers can become emotionally overwhelmed and filled with concern for their wife and the baby during this intense event. A doula’s goal is to support the whole family during a birth.
How do a father and a doula work together?
- The mother needs a cool washcloth for her face, her hot pack reheated down the hall, a shoulder massage, and lots of reassurance—at the same time.
- The mother needs to lean on her husband while the doula provides pressure on her lower back.
- Supporting a laboring woman is hard work and can last days, and supporters will need to take breaks. A doula ensures the laboring woman has continuous support. On the other hand, if labor is short, a mother's labor is often extremely intense and she may need extra support and advocacy for her needs in the hospital.
- Before leaving for the birthplace, a doula or the father can help with older siblings while the other supports the mother.
- Two support people make it possible for the mother to be supported during the drive to the birthplace, while the car is parked, and while bags/birth ball are carried into the hospital.
- A doula allows one person to communicate with health care providers while the other focuses on the mother’s needs. For example, the nurse wants to start an IV. The father can point out how the mother has drinking fluids and doing well and remind the nurse that the OB signed off on a hep lock only on the birth plan. Meanwhile the doula is supporting the mother, who remains undisturbed and focused.
