What does a doula do?
Birth and Postnatal Doulas
Doula service packages may include...
- Provide you with comprehensive childbirth preparation that is informative, evidence-based, and practical.
- Guide you in exploring your options, needs and desires for your baby’s birth - and assist you in communicating these preferences to your caregivers.
- Listen to and support your decisions, without judgement, and ensure those decisions are communicated.
- Preserve the intimacy of your birth experience, by ensuring a positive, calm and nurturing environment, as defined by you.
- Provide you with attentive and professional support for the duration of your labour and birth, both practical and emotional, utilising their training, skills, and experience, to fulfill this role.
- Ensure your partner/other support persons are reassured and encouraged in their role as your birth journey unfolds.
- Offer you breastfeeding and attachment/bonding support and guidance, birth debriefing and practical and emotional postnatal support - ensuring you and your baby are off to the best possible start.
Doula service packages may include...
- Prenatal visits that explore your individual needs and desires for your birth, assist you with personalised preparation, and offer suggestions on coping techniques/natural and nutritive therapies for pregnancy discomforts.
- Birth preferences consultations that assist you to clarify and document your preferences for labour and birth, exploring the many options that are available to you, and providing you with clear information to put you in a confident, informed position.
- 24 hour on call service assures you your doula is contactable and available whenever you need them.
- Continuous physical, emotional, and informational support throughout labour and birth, offering expertise on various coping techniques, natural therapies, guidance in working efficiently with your body, your instincts and your baby. Doulas explain medical jargon if unexpected circumstances arise, remind you to ask important questions to clarify your options, and ensure you are supported wholly throughout your birth journey.
- Continuous breastfeeding support in the critical first hours after birth to facilitate skin-to-skin and baby’s instinctive breast crawl, ensuring your baby is attaching well and mother and baby are comfortable, and getting your breastfeeding relationship with your new baby off to a strong start.
- Postnatal visits to debrief your birth experience, provide breastfeeding support and guidance, share baby sleep and settling tips and general baby care information and guidance, and assist in your physical and emotional recovery and transition, providing appropriate information and referral.
- Access to resources including lending libraries of books/audio/media and also a range of selected products.
"Doula care should be as individual as the woman who seeks it."