The Use of Doulas
Votes: 15
by RachelDoell 8:54am, 1 November 2007
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In the UK the hiring of a Doula for labour and postnatal visits is becoming increasingly popular. They are there to enforce the womans birth plan during labour if Drs try to intervene. Post natally they support the woman during the first few weeks of the baby's life. Is this something that could be encouraged in Australia?
Relates to website: http://www.doula.org.uk/
marion
Nov 02, 2007 10:49am
13
1 
The statistics in the link site are very impressive. Doulas do work in Australia but they are not particularly common. The doulas I have worked with have been hired by low-risk women who tend to be very well educated about childbirth and who are very motivated to achieve a natural birth. i imagine the birth statistics of these women would be very good anyway. I wonder if Doulas are more common in England and if they are used by a wider range of women including high-risk women.
siancurrie
Nov 04, 2007 02:14am
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Doulas are also increasingly common in the US but the cost of hiring a doula ($500+) will always limit their use to a certain socio-economic group. Having used one myself, I would say their remit in the States in not to promote natual child birth particularly but rather to simply be the objective 'voice' during child birth - advising the mother and father on choices they may have to make during that process and then communicating those choices to the medical staff. There is talk of making doulas available through health insurance which will certainly expand the group of people to whom these professionals are available. I would welcome it - it's a great resource to have.
Kath
Nov 04, 2007 05:38pm
13
0
Women have less intervention in labour when they have continuous support from someone they know and trust. I imagine that the use of doulas in the US would therefore be associated with more natural childbirth even if this is not their primary goal. It is interesting that doulas in America would mostly be used by women who would have private obstetric care, and it is these women who tend to have the highest rates of medical interventions. Are these statistics changing since doulas are becoming more common?
Kath
Nov 06, 2007 10:32am
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1
it is common for women to arrange a support person for labour, however many of these 'support' people seem to be there for their own desire to see the baby being born. They very often don't engage with the woman in a meaningful way and often act as a distraction to the woman and her partner. Women are clearly feeling the need for support, buy don't really know how to arrange or access it. It could be that more recognition of the role of doulas would alert women to the fact that labour support can be learned and should not be assumed just by asking someone to be in the room.