Ithaca Doulas What is a Doula The Benefits of a Doula. Doula Links
The Ithaca Doulas
What is a Doula??
The word "doula" comes from ancient Greek and is now used to refer to a woman who helps other women. It has been applied to childbirth to refer to a...
"woman experienced in childbirth who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to the mother before, during and just after childbirth." (Klaus, Kennell, and Klaus)
A doula complements the care a woman is already receiving, and adds a caring, nurturing presence to all.
There are two types of doulas. Labor support doulas provide care up to and during child birth, and Postpartum doulas assist women for a short while after the birth.
Labor Support Doula:
  • recognizes birth as a key life experience that the mother will remember all her life
  • 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 preferences for the birth
  • stays by the side of the laboring woman throughout the entire labor
  • provides emotional support, physical comfort measures, an objective viewpoint, and assistance in getting the information she needs to make good decisions
  • facilitates communication between the laboring woman, her partner, and clinical care providers
  • perceives her role as one who nurtures and protects the woman's memory of her birth experience
Post-Partum Doula:
  • provides breast feeding support, advice, and suggestions
  • helps with newborn care
  • performs such tasks as light cleaning, laundry, cooking, running errands, and childcare (for older siblings)
  • provides emotional support and encouragement for the new and adjusting family
  • connects new parents and families with helpful  information and community resources
  • affirms the woman's birth experience
Many Doulas offer both labor support and postpartum doula services.

A labor support doula will meet with a woman and her partner one or two times before the birth to discuss their birth plan and wishes. She will stay with the woman continuously during labor and childbirth, and will leave one to two hours after the baby is born. 

She will then call to schedule a post-partum visit within the first week after the birth to assist the mother in reconstructing her experience, to acknowledge and validate her feelings and to help her integrate her birth experience. 

The doula will also provide information and support for breast feeding, newborn care and new motherhood.

A post-partum doula usually provides care to a family with a newborn baby for 3-4 weeks after the birth.