What Is A Doula & What Do They Do?

What Is A Doula?

A doula is a person who provides support to women throughout pregnancy, labour, birth, and sometimes the postnatal period. They’re not medically trained and don’t provide advice, but can help with practical tasks, provide informational support based on their experience, and look after emotional needs. 

Doulas can be appointed at any point during pregnancy or in the weeks or months after the birth of a baby. Some doulas—typically known as birth doulas—will focus on the journey to pregnancy and labour itself, while others—called postnatal doulas—specialise in providing support in the first stage of motherhood. It’s also not uncommon for doulas to take on both duties, working with the same family from the beginning of their pregnancy into the early years of their child’s life. 

It's important to note that they’re not a replacement for medical professionals such as gynaecologists or midwives. Instead, they should be seen as a complementary service—providing additional support above and beyond the basics. 

What do doulas do?

Doulas are typically highly-experienced in maternal matters, although medically untrained. Their experience and expertise means that they can be flexible to the needs of the family they’re working with, taking on a broad range of roles.

Typically, doulas will provide services such as:

• Spend time getting to know the family they’re working with and building strong relationships
• Answer questions about pregnancy, birthing options, and early childhood responsibilities, easing concerns with their experience
• Provide emotional support, wherever it’s needed, during pregnancy and in the postnatal period
• Deliver one-to-one support, encouragement, and reassurance during labour (whether at home or in hospital)
• Help ease the transition into feeding the new-born baby and provide other baby care support
• Give new parents the opportunity to have rest, space, and the chance to talk things through in weeks following birth

Every relationship between a family and their doula is different, and the duties that doulas take on reflect that unique relationship. They’re generally highly adaptable people, capable of doing what’s needed to give families the most positive pregnancy and birthing experience. 

What are the benefits of having a doula?

The experience that doulas bring to the table in their relationship with expectant families can be invaluable in smoothing the bumps on the life-altering journey of having a baby.

Some families will find value in simply having somebody on-hand to provide information and emotional support, but there is also evidence showing that doulas can have tangible practical benefits.

A synthesis study, compiling the findings from 51 other separate medical studies across 22 countries, found that the benefits of having a doula may include:

• Increased likelihood of a vaginal birth, and decreased likelihood of caesarean or instrumental births
• Decreased likelihood of the need for pain medication
• A shorter labour process
• Increased satisfaction with the birthing experience
• The communication gap between the mother and the delivery staff being bridged, resulting in smoother dialogue
• Decreased likelihood of the baby having a low five-minute Apgar score

How much do doulas cost?

There are lots of factors that affect how much a doula will cost. As with any other service, prices will change depending on where in the country they work and how much experience they have. The level of service provided will also factor into the cost, with some doulas playing a more comprehensive role than others.

It’s also important to remember that doulas work in all different ways, including being self-employed, NHS employees, employees of private organisations specialising in doula care, or even volunteers. Where you find your doula will likely also have an impact on how much their services cost. 

As doula costs can vary broadly, it’s always a good idea to get in touch with the ones that you’re interested in learning more about and asking them directly.

There are also some organisations that have networks of voluntary doulas across the country, including Doulas Without Borders, dedicated to providing support to women experiencing financial hardship.

Are doulas insured?

Given that they’re not medical professionals, doulas aren’t regulated or legally required to be insured. However, some will have private insurance for their services. As with cost, the answer to this question varies from doula to doula, so asking individual providers is the best way to find out. 

How to find a doula

You can find doulas in your area with My Health Assistant. You’ll find all the information you need to find a doula who suits you, including a summary of their experience and any training they’ve completed, and you can contact them directly through our platform.