What a Doula Does

A doula perinatal mentor is like your best friend. Remember that love you had growing up with a friend that would listen to all your stories, ideas, and imaginary worlds you snail-mailed to each other? Remember when you were sad, and she gave you a hug? Remember when you had a question, and she'd help you find the answer? A doula is your best friend through the childbearing years with an inside scoop about the modern birth industry and your amazing body. Not every doula practices the same way, but an Esali Birth Perinatal Mentor strives to encompass all of the needs of the childbearing years through knowledge, skill, and networking.
What does a doula do? What DOESN'T a doula do?
What a Doula Does
- Tells you her personal abilities to support YOU through whatever stage of birth you're experiencing
- Doesn't pretend to be superwoman, but offers you love and guidance through your personal birth experience
- Massages your feet, hands, face, and whatever will make you feel better
- Walks with you prenatally providing informational and emotional guidance
- Provides education and support that encourages you to make informed decisions
- Seeks to build your confidence so you can become aware of your personal power, knowledge of yourself, and capabilities as a mother or father
- Understands the birth industry and hurdles you may have to cross, and helps you navigate these paths
- Offers physical guidance to improve your overall health for a happy healthy birth
- Offers nutritional guidance to improve your overall health for a happy healthy birth
- Helps you find area professionals that can support you through happy healthy birth
- Helps you find area professionals that can support you through postpartum and parenting
- On call 24/7 (not just after 37 weeks and not just for active labor)
- Helps you find answers to questions and may perform many hours of research for clients
- Looks over your food journal to help see where you could improve from timing of eating to what you're ingesting
- Finds time for you and your family's needs
- Goes with you to the grocery store to help select healthy balanced food items
- Help you prep for postpartum by blending herbal baths, stocking your pantry, and packing your labor bag
- Reviews your birth guide (birth plan) for language, efficiency, and necessities to help you communicate with your birth team
- Networks with area professionals to help maintain a positive image in the community that will reflect on your birth experience
- Leads birth comprehensive birth classes that help you become aware of ALL your options for ALL births
- Leads perinatal comprehensive classes that help you become aware of ALL your options from pre-conception through postpartum and early parenting
- Can drive with you to long distance prenatal appointments to chat about what you want to talk about, and help you reflect on your prenatal appointment after it has occurred
- Provides consistent support prenatally, even when you are choosing to birth without a doula or with another doula
- Provides consistent support prenatally for mothers includes those experiencing PTSD from Previous Sexual Trauma while working with your therapist to ensure you have the best support team available no matter when you have your baby
- Supports #ALLthebirths because a doula is supporting YOU
- Supports the birth team's interaction with the laboring mother to improve her experience and memory of the birth
- Guides you and your birth partner on positive communication skills to improve your labor experience
- Provides physical support during labor for comfort
- Provides physical guidance during labor to help a baby move into a more comfortable position
- Provides emotional support during labor for comfort and birth progression
- Communicates with the staff about your needs for quiet and privacy during labor
- Doesn't flinch when your water breaks all over their shoes and the doula is in the middle of counter pressure for your comfort
- Helps you roll from side to side during a medicated birth and you have little feeling from an epidural
- Holds your baby on your breast during the first hours after a cesarean when you're a little in and out from the medication
- Cares for older siblings whether at a home birth, during the hospital, or when you need childcare during a scheduled cesarean
- Meets you at your home, in the woods for a walk, and at your labor facility to support you whenever you need support
- Watch your labor signs to help provide information that helps you decide when to transfer to your birth facility
- Encourages you to listen to your amazing body and all the signals it is providing you to move, breathe, and dance with your baby
- Helps comfort you through transferring to a birth facility
- Can drive you to your birth facility while your birth partner supports you during transfer to a birth facility
- Help setup a birthing tub for hydrotherapy
- Help tear down and cleanup a birthing tub after a water birth
- Get in the birthing tub with you to provide back pressure and position support
- Is comfortable with birth fluids near and on them
- Helps you find the labor noises that opens your cervix and brings baby down
- Reassures your birth partner that all these noises are expected and opening the cervix, bringing the baby down
- Help cleanup the house after a home birth
- Rotates and wiggles your hips to help baby move through the pelvis
- Dances with you during birth for emotional and physical support
- Offers birth ball use guidance
- Offers peanut ball use guidance
- Tells you how amazing you are to build your confidence, and oxytocin, in pregnancy and birth
- Tells your birth partner how amazing they are to build their confidence, and oxytocin, in supporting you through birth
- Takes the lead on supporting you as you desire
- Guides the direction of your birth partner so they can support you in a leading role
- Works alongside your birth partner
- Holds your hair back and a bag for vomit
- Provides support even when there are shift changes at your birth facility
- Turns down the lights to help oxytocin build to its fullest potential
- Encourages privacy to build oxytocin for labor progression and an enjoyable birth
- Encourages intimacy to build oxytocin for labor progression and an enjoyable birth
- Reminds you to listen to your body for positions and movement
- Reminds you to listen to your body for needs of rest and relaxation
- Reminds you to listen to your body for
pushingbirthing - Reminds the facility of your birth guide
- Reminds you to speak up for your desires
- Reminds you of your human rights during labor and birth
- Reminds you that you CAN birth vaginally when others are telling you that you don't have a choice
- Reminds you that you CAN choose a cesarean when others are telling you that you don't have a choice
- Fills up your water bottle, adds a little cucumber and fruit for electrolyte balance
- Reminds you to take sips of water for hydration
- Reminds you to eat light balanced foods, broths, and fruit as desired during labor
- Reminds you to communicate with your provider and staff for your wishes
- Reminds you that, "No Thank You" and "Not Right Now" are powerful words in the labor space
- Gets cooling wash cloths for your face and neck
- Gets warm towels for perineal support
- Provide hip squeezes to allow comfort and room for the baby
- Uses a rebozo for comfort and encouraging baby to rotate through the pelvis
- Works with the rest of the birth team and the staff to ensure you have all the perspectives when needed
- Answers the phone at 3 am to help you find calm in the early hours of labor, and breastfeeding
- Shares area contacts for perinatal services such as breastfeeding or osteopathic therapy
- Makes you a cup of tea and a sandwich while you're nursing your baby
- Brings your family dinner so you all can rest during postpartum
- Listens to your birth story and encourages you to feel all the feels
- Helps you wrap your baby for a more hands-free and connected postpartum
- Guides you on breastfeeding latch and positions for more comfort
- Guides you on when to seek more support for any issues that may arise during postpartum or parenting
- Go-to for perinatal-related information and support
- Connects the dots between birth choices and birth experience to help you process and understand your birth experience
- Checks in on you in the days after birth to ensure you are holistically supported
- Offers LOVE - hugs, tears, laughter and love
I can't say that a doula is right for everyone. I can say that when you have a relationship built with your doula, the ability for better support during labor grows. A doula is that best friend willing to be by your side through every experience, day or night, weekday or weekend, holidays and spur of the moment. If you're looking for labor options, a doula perinatal mentor can be a beacon of light through the childbearing years.