The Doula Difference
What does a doula do?
An expectant mother receives medical care and medical management from a health care provider in pregnancy, labor and birth.
HPC doulas training to support a mother in labor
A doula, a Greek word meaning ‘to serve women’, works along side a medical care provider to complement the woman’s pregnancy through therapeutic touch, relaxation practices and stress reduction tools.
Doulas continue to make a difference in improving maternity care.
Doulas do not provide medical or clinical care, and work alongside a laboring woman and her partner and medical caregiver.
In pregnancy, a doula mentors an expectant mother in asking questions at prenatal medical visits, creating healthy food choices, sharing stress reduction practices and being a resource
for other social, emotional and physical needs. During labor, a doula uses comfort measures to support the laboring woman along side the midwife or doctor. Finally, in the immediate postnatal time, a doula assists in breastfeeding support and provides adequate referrals if necessary. She provides normal newborn care education, empowering the mother to make the emotional transition to motherhood.
Doulas Improve Maternity Care
In their book, Mothering The Mother: How a Doula Can Help You Have a Shorter, Easier, and Healthier Birth, Marshall Klaus, John Kennell and Phyllis Klaussummarize scientific studies which have been carried out on the advantages of doula-assisted births:
- Reduced the overall cesarean rate by 50%
- Reduced the length of labor by 25%
- Reduced oxytocin use by 40%
- Reduced the use of pain medication by 30%
- Reduced forceps deliveries by 40%
- Reduced requests for epidural pain medication by 60%
- Reduced incidences of maternal fever
- Reduced the number of days newborns spent in NICU (neo-natal infant care unit)
- Reduced the amount of septic workups performed on newborns
- Resulted in higher rates of breastfeeding
- Resulted in more positive maternal assessments of maternal confidence
- Resulted in more positive maternal assessments of maternal and newborn health.
We make a difference in Hudson County
HPC Community Doulas will systematically work to increase the support system of pregnant women in efforts to positively impact the birth experience:
- access to first trimester prenatal care,
- reduce preterm labor rates,
- improve birth outcomes,
-reduce c-sections,
- reduce perinatal racial disparities in birth outcomes,
- increase breastfeeding initiation and retention,
- reduce postpartum depression and resources for treatment,
-strengthen the bonds of mothers and their newborn babies,
-promote interconception care and family planning.
Promoting culturally competent care, HPC Doulas are honored to be part of the Access to Care Program funded by the NJ Department of Health & Human Services.
We are passionate about using doulas as a tool to improve maternity care for women and infants.
For more information:
Childbirth Connection’s evidence-based review of labor support
The Cochrane Review “Continuous Support for Women During Childbirth”
