Blog / About Doulas
Want to learn more about the role and services of birth and postpartum doulas? You’ve come to the right place!
DONA International has been a trusted resource for information about the doula profession for over 25 years. Whether you are a family considering hiring a doula, want to be come a doula or are a care provider working with doulas — these articles provide information about what a doula does and how we support families. Doulas make a difference!
Introducing “Doula Me This!” – A New Series That Challenges Us to Be the Best Doulas We Can Be
By Sharon Muza, BS, CD(DONA), BDT(DONA), LCCE, FACCE, CLE I am proud to be introducing a new occasional series "Doula Me This!" that challenges doulas to consider how they might handle a birth or postpartum situation, in consideration of their training, experience,...
Countertransference – Offering Doula Support Free of Emotional Entanglement
By Kate Causbie Ask any doula why they do the work they do, and odds are that their answer will somehow integrate or reflect their own experiences around conception, birth, and early parenting. While this is a valuable insight into the source of their motivation and...
DONA International Commits to Increased Advocacy Efforts to Improve Maternal-Child Health Outcomes and You Are Invited
By Sharon Muza, BS, CD(DONA), BDT(DONA), LCCE, FACCE, CLE DONA International recognizes that when working in the birth room or with a postpartum family, doulas help clients find their voice and increase their own self-advocacy skills. That does not mean that we feel...
Ten Ideas to Celebrate International Doula Month 2017 and YOU
By Sharon Muza, BS, CD(DONA), BDT(DONA), LCCE, FACCE, CLE International Doula Month 2017 May is International Doula Month and a great time to celebrate the efforts that birth and postpartum doulas have on improving maternal-infant health outcomes. Doulas work hard to...
Meet Samantha Hillstrom of L.A. Delivery Girls – A New Docuseries on Doulas
By Sharon Muza, BS, CD(DONA), BDT(DONA), LCCE, FACCE, CLE Last week a new docuseries-- L.A. Delivery Girls was released by Verizon Media. This show follows three millennial LA-based doulas as they juggle their friendships with one another, their families and personal...
The Best Meal Ever – The Joy of that First Postpartum Meal
By Sharon Muza, BS, CD(DONA), BDT(DONA), LCCE, FACCE, CLE The postpartum meal: an unusual hypothesis Birth can be transformative. I have witnessed that time and time again as I have helped families welcome a small human(s) into the world. After attending births for...
The Doula Difference: Lowering Cesarean Rates
By Jessica English, CD/BDT(DONA), LCCE, FACCE The research on doulas is solid. Doulas improve outcomes for both parents and babies. Over the next six months, this blog will examine the six documented benefits of having a doula at one’s birth. We know that there are...
So You Want to Be a Midwife?
By Sharon Muza, BS, CD(DONA), BDT(DONA), LCCE, FACCE, CLE Many reasons for becoming a doula As a birth doula trainer for many years, I have learned that there are a variety of reasons that people take a birth doula workshop. Some people want to support a friend or...
ACOG Opinion on Limiting Interventions in Labor
The American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ACOG) issued a new Committee Opinion: Approaches to Limit Intervention During Labor and Birth. This Opinion was endorsed by the The American College of Nurse–Midwives and the Association of Women’s Health,...
Ten Reasons I Love Being a Doula
Is it your time to become a birth or postpartum doula? It's an incredible calling! Recently, DONA International asked me to reflect on what doula life has meant to me. We spend so much time thinking about our clients' needs-- as it should be; but this is a sweet...
Best of the International Doula: The Pitfalls of Under-Supporting Early Labor: A Complicated Story of Ethics and Client Emotional Well-Being
By Kim James, BDT(DONA), ICCE, LCCE As a childbirth educator, birth doula, birth doula trainer and owner of DoulaMatch.net, I hear a lot of birth stories from parents about how their doula’s support made a world of difference. More infrequently, I hear stories about...
The Role of Doulas in Reducing the Primary Cesarean
The rise in cesarean birth rates and the effects of cesarean birth on mother and baby have become common themes in articles about birth and medical care. It seems everyone from the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) to Consumer Reports to...
Doulas Reduce Preterm & Cesarean Birth Rates, Reduce Cost of Care
A recently published study evaluating the cost-effectiveness of birth doula care found that women who received doula support during pregnancy and labor had lower rates of both preterm and cesarean birth, compared to those who did not. Not only are these findings...
10 Ways Doulas Support Baby Safety
September is Baby Safety Month, an opportunity to raise awareness and resources for safety of newborns and infants. What role do doulas play in baby safety? We are support professionals, of course, and not medical or emotional health professionals, safety inspectors...
Returning to our Roots: Early Doula Research from Dr. John Kennell
While women have been supporting each other through pregnancy, birth, bonding and breastfeeding long before the term “doula” was used, awareness of the importance such support in recent years has allowed for a great deal of recognition for the role doulas play in the...
Best of International Doula: A doula acts as an important conduit – An interview with Sherry Payne
Note: This article is the first in a new series here at The DONA Doula Chronicles to feature some of the wonderful content in DONA International's quarterly magazine, International Doula. "A doula acts as an important conduit: An interview with Sherry Payne, RN, MSN,...
Doula Support for Early Breastfeeding
Happy Breastfeeding Awareness Month! This month, The DONA Doula Chronicles will provide doulas with a series of articles dedicated to breastfeeding so that we can better inform and support nursing mothers. Look for online resources for doulas and much more in the...
ICAN features postpartum doula support after cesarean
While we doulas know that every woman and every birth is unique, a cesarean birth can create special support needs for families, particularly in the postpartum period. Debbie Young, CD(DONA), PCD(DONA) Past President of DONA International shares some of the ways a...