FAQ
What is a Doula?
A doula is a person “experienced in childbirth who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to the mother (birther) before, during, or just after childbirth” (Klaus, Kennell, and Klaus 1993).
There are many types of doulas for many types of life transitions, including birth, postpartum, abortion, loss, and death.
What Exactly Does a Doula Do?
We do a lot! And it really depends on who your unique family is and what your circumstances are. Check out our birth doula support page and our postpartum doula support page. These give a good overview of what each type of doula does, and more specifically how we work as wildflower doulas.
The real question should be: What don’t we do?! The easy answer to that is that we as doulas don’t do anything medical in scope. So that means we don’t do things like listen to your baby with a doppler, vaginal exams, palpate your baby’s position, or make recommendations about what you should do or choose. Our focus is on the non-medical stuff — providing information, options and evidence on different topics, supporting you to find your own values around your choices, as well as physical and emotional support for the birther and their family.
Is a Doula the Same Thing as a Midwife?
No, once again, doulas do not provide medical care. Midwives are medically trained care providers whose primary focus is on monitoring the physical health of you and your baby and are covered by MSP just like GPs and OBs. Midwives and doulas often have similar philosophies and values surrounding birth, and enjoy working side by side to support birthing people.
Does a Doula REALLY Make a Difference?
Ask any friend that has had a doula, and you will most likely be met with:
“GET THE DOULA!”
Don’t believe your pals or are you the trailblazing birther in your circle of friends? Here is the evidence:
When Should I Hire a Doula?
Of course, when you choose to hire a doula is completely up to you. The current standard is to start looking sometime in the second trimester, but we value connection. Any deep and meaningful relationship takes time to develop, so we always say:
“THREE trimesters of doula support is better than one!”
Some clients even hire us before they start their hunt for a care provider. We love assisting families as they walk through the process of finding a care provider that has the birth ideologies and skills that match their unique wants and needs.
Will my Doula Replace my Partner’s Role in our Birth Experience?
Not in the slightest! We believe that partners are the perfect intimate advocate and our intention is to encourage their involvement every step of the way. We like to think that we enhance a birth partner’s role in any given birth experience, and here is why:
1. Doulas remember what a partner learned in their prenatal education
Even if partner attended every class, during the stress of childbirth they may not remember all of the things that they can do to provide their partner with physical and emotional support. Fortunately, doulas are trained to do exactly that. The doula can help the birth partner be the best possible labour coach for their birthing counterpart by providing hints, reminders, and advice during birth.
2. Doulas can give partners a much needed break
You can’t pour from an empty cup. Many labours can stretch over a few days and nights. A doula’s presence allows partners to get a bite to eat, take a break, or take a nap without feeling guilty for leaving the birthing person’s side. These breaks can give the birth partner the chance to recharge, while ensuring that their birthing companion feels supported and cared for through the entire experience.
3. Doulas know their way around a hospital
A doula will be familiar with many of the policies and resources available at specific hospitals. They can inform the birthing team about tools they can request in the hospital that can be helpful in labour, such as hot packs, yoga balls, extra pillows, birthing tubs etc. that the parents may not otherwise know they have access to.
4. Doulas speak the language of labour
Sometimes midwives, doctors and nurses answer questions or explain what’s going on with the birth in complicated medical jargon. A doula can take the time to translate care provider talk in a way that the birthing person and their team can understand, which can decrease anxiety and makes for a more positive experience.
5. Doulas keep partners calm so they can experience childbirth to its fullest
Childbirth can be an overwhelming experience, especially for first time parents. A doula not only provides emotional support to the birther, but also a critical source of reassurance for their parental counterpart or birth support person.
Do Doulas Only Attend Home Births?
In general, doulas attend births in both home and hospital settings. Doulas are sole proprietors and work for themselves, which means that each doula or doula collective will have their own boundaries about where and with whom they work. Our team really loves and values home birth and we always own our bias towards it. We hold this bias not only from our own collective personal birth experiences and those we’ve had working with families, but the evidence shows that where you plan to birth your baby can have a huge impact on your birth outcomes. For this reason, we are committed to having very open discussions with all potential clients about home birth as a safe and normal option.
All that being said, we respect everyone’s right to choose what feels right for them and their unique family and know that home birth isn’t the right choice for everyone. We view hospitals as a tool in the birth toolkit, just like every other medical intervention at our disposal. In certain scenarios, for very real reasons (including a birther’s uninfluenced intuition telling them to go in), the hospital is the appropriate place for people to birth their babies. When this happens, we walk into hospitals with gratitude and appreciation.