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Doula/ Birthworker

   

    What is a doula/birth worker?

        Answering this question is not as simple as it may seem. A doula/birthworker is more than a birthworker. A doula is a trained professional who assists a mother, partner, or family in many ways, whether it's by educating, supporting, listening, or providing time and resources, and the list goes on.  

 

Why are doulas/birth workers important? 

       Hiring a doula has a plethora of benefits, such as decreasing mortality rates, C-section rates, and preterm birth and decreasing the occurrence of other complications. Maternal mortality is the death of a mother from birth up until the 1st year after delivery.  In 1999 the national mortality rate was 9.9 deaths per 100,000 live births. In 2021 the mortality rate rose to 32.9 deaths per 100,000 births. In 2020 the mortality rate for Black women was 55.3 deaths per 100,000 live births, which is 3x higher than mortality rates compared to white women.  In the state of Georgia, 87% to 89% of the maternal deaths were preventable. This is why it is important to hire a birth worker. Studies have shown that the C-section rate for women who were induced and had a doula present decreased to 12.5%; compared to women who didn't have a doula, the C-section rate was 58.8%. In 1999 the C-section rate was 22 per 100 births. In 2024 that rate rose to 32.4% of all births. The rise in complications, interventions, and maternal deaths sheds light on the importance of birth workers/doulas.  There are several types of doulas, ranging from fertility to death doulas. Today we will be discussing birth, postpartum, death, and full-spectrum doulas. 

 

What is a birth doula?

       A birth doula is a trained professional who assists the family by providing physical, emotional, and educational support/resources about pregnancy/birth. However, a doula does not provide medical tasks like a midwife would. A doula may provide resources like what to eat during pregnancy, help you prepare for the labor process, help prepare a birth plan, and visit you during your pregnancy/labor and postpartum. A birthworker should be hired as soon as possible because she/he (yes, there are male doulas) will support you throughout your pregnancy. They will acquire information from your appointments and tailor your care based off the information received. Hiring a doula early gives you time to see if you all are a good match for each other. In the case that you are not a good match, you will have time to hire a new doula. A doula ensures your voice is heard, because your opinion matters. Many women giving birth in hospitals are not aware of the policies/non-policies and are coerced into interventions that are not needed. A doula can educate the family on the best choice and the outcome of the different choices.

 

What is a postpartum doula?

     Like birth, postpartum is a critical period of transition. During this time a woman's body transitions, her spirit transitions, and her world transitions to a new life. A postpartum doula can help ease the load of this transition. A postpartum doula provides support, information, emotional availability, nonmedical support, etc. A postpartum doula may offer lactation support, coping skills, help with the newborn, light household chores, and assessment for postpartum complications, etc. You can hire a postpartum doula for a few weeks or months; a mother's body takes months to a year to heal from birth. 

 

What is a death/end-of-life doula?

     A death doula provides support to individuals and families who are facing death. Like everything else, such as birth and life, death is spiritual. Death doulas are trained professionals who assist clients and their families through the emotional and physiological process of death. A death doula can provide comfort and ease the transition into death. We often celebrate life, birth, and other aspects of life. We rarely discuss death, although it's divine and spiritual. Death doulas are needed in this society that rarely discusses death. When death does occur, we often suppress those emotions instead of releasing them properly. Hiring a death doula helps us release those emotions and grieve properly. 

 

What is a full-spectrum doula?

    A full-spectrum doula is a birth worker that supports a woman with fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, loss & abortion. Full-spectrum doulas provide support for miscarriage, stillbirth, and abortion. During this time they support you emotionally, physically, and emotionally during the process of loss (depending on your doula). Some women experience complications with conceiving. A full-spectrum doula can provide the education, holistic care, resources, etc., to assist with conceiving. Please refer to postpartum and birth for the information about this aspect of the work of a doula. 

 

Hire a doula!

     I briefly discussed some of the work that doulas do. This is not a full list of the jobs birthworkers commit to. It's important to do your own research and check for pricing, since the price ranges.

 

Until next time...Wombmen are the future...