Birth Doula Services

Birthing Doula services begin with one or more visits before the baby is born to better know the woman and her family, and to begin to understand what the woman would like from her birth experience. It is a time to ask and answer questions, and for the woman to get the information she needs to make good decisions.

Once labor has begun, the doula meets the laboring woman and her family at her place of birthing and stays with her/them until a couple of hours after the baby is born. There is then at least one visit with the mother and baby in the period after the baby is born.

A Doula fills a role as part of the birth team. She offers non-medical support for the new family where she is needed. She assesses each birth separately and finds the areas where she can best serve the woman and her family. Sometimes she is the primary support person but more often she offers a break to the coach or some insight from her experiences and the training she has completed. She can help with information gathering and comfort measures like massage, heat and cold and position changes and can encourage the partner to do the same.

This Doula feels the Doula presence helps the mother recognize and appreciate her link with all other mothers – those who have birthed before and those who have yet to birth. The Doula is their link with time; this link helps the mother to know that she too can birth her baby. She too has the wisdom of the ages.

A Birth Doula:

• recognizes childbirth as a key life experience that the mother will always remember
• understands the physiology of birth and the emotional needs of a woman in labor
• assists the woman and her partner in preparing for and carrying out their plans for the birth
• provides emotional support, physical comfort measures, and an objective viewpoint, as well as helping the woman get the information she needs to make good decisions
• facilitates communication between the laboring woman, her partner, and clinical care provider
• perceives her role as one who is nurturing and protecting the woman’s memory of her birth experience

Postpartum Doula Services

About Ari Deutchman as a Doula

Doula Home