The definition of a doula is a woman who is trained to assist another woman during childbirth and who may provide support to the family after the baby is born. The ancient greek meaning for the word doula means female slave, or a woman who serves.

A doula is someone, commonly a woman, who give emotional support throughout a woman and her family’s journey of becoming a parent. Doulas have been around since ancient times and help create birth plans, provide tactics for dealing with labor pains, assist or act as the birth partner, and can provide care to the new family after the birth has occurred. There are birth, postpartum, abortion, and bereavement doulas. Doulas come in a variety of forms, some act as a shield from the tech savvy medicinal world, others are silent supporters of the mother and partner. Either way, doulas are amazing; they are truly worth their weight in gold.

As the graph indicates, the use of doulas is back on the rise and I am stoked about that! Now, lets discuss choosing a doula. The only time I have ever heard something bad about a relationship with a doula was a situation in which both parties went against their personal feelings that the match was unfit and worked together despite the fact. Which leads me to stress the importance of the interview. Both parties need to represent their true selves at the interview, and feel out each others vibes. If it feels right within, go for it! Now I have a question (as usual), do you find it necessary for a doula to be certified? Many are not informed on the fact that doulas do absolutely nothing medical. Everything learned in a certification is what one would learn in apprenticeship in my opinion. Certification simply gives clients and the doula a piece of mind that some type of training has occurred. My advice is to not disregard a doula who was not certified with an organization, doulas obtain knowledge through experience not classes.