Blog / For Families
Our doulas are dedicated to you! Doulas have a very special role in the lives of the families we support. We’ve collected these articles to help families better understand the role and impact doulas have during labor, birth and the postpartum period.
Over 25 years ago, DONA International put doulas on the map and has long been the world leader in defining, training and certifying professional doulas. Our doulas balance professionalism with passion. We practice with deep respect for the families we support and the doctors, midwives and nurses who care for you.
DONA International Celebrates Black Breastfeeding Week 2017
Sharon Muza, BS, CD(DONA), BDT(DONA), LCCE, FACCE, CLE August is all about breastfeeding and chestfeeding. The first week of August is World Breastfeeding Week, all of August is National Breastfeeding Month in the United States, and the last week of August is Black...
DONA International Celebrates World Breastfeeding Week 2017 (en Español too)
By Sharon Muza, BS, CD(DONA), BDT(DONA), LCCE, FACCE, CLE August 1-7, 2017 is World Breastfeeding Week. This year's theme is Sustaining Breastfeeding – Together. The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action champions World Breastfeeding Week every year during this time...
One in Three is Too Many – DONA International Recognizes Cesarean Awareness Month
By Sharon Muza, BS, CD(DONA), BDT(DONA), LCCE, FACCE, CLE April is Cesarean Awareness Month (CAM) and if you are a doula, odds are you will have a birth or postpartum client who has given birth by cesarean at some point (or many times?) during your professional...
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...
Hospital Cesarean Rates: What You Should Know
Does the hospital where someone gives birth impact their chances of having a cesarean birth? Consumer Reports has raised this very question following an investigation into the c-section rates at hospitals across the country. We talked with Doris Peter, PhD, Director...
ACOG’s Update on Optimizing Postpartum Care Leaves Doulas Out
The contributions of doulas and the value of the support we provide has been recognized in 2014 in a joint statement by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and this year by the California Maternal...
6 Ways Doulas Can Support Families Planning VBACs
By Jen Kamel, Founder/Director VBAC Facts Vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) rates have been slowly rising in America the last few years as more and more women become familiar with the option. (1; 2) However, our latest statistics reflect still that only 11% of women...
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...
ACOG: OBs Can Prevent Lacerations During Vaginal Births
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has released a new Practice Bulletin “Prevention and Management of Obstetric Lacerations at Vaginal Delivery” providing guidelines and recommendations for care providers. This new Practice Bulletin replaces a...
Is Homebirth Safe?
The safety of homebirth has been much discussed in the birth community over the last few months following the publication of a study in the New England Journal of Medicine at the end of 2015. At the upcoming DONA International Annual Conference, Dr. Michael Klein, a...
Best of the International Doula: What Women Want … in a Doula
Do you ever wonder what clients are really looking for in a doula? In this essay titled “What Women Want…In a Doula,” Anna Merrill shares her observations from her busy career. As the owner of a successful birth business in New York City, she’s seen a lot of...
ACOG: OB-GYNs to be a Resource for Breastfeeding Women
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has issued an updated Opinion from their Committee on Obstetric Practice on the role of obstetric care providers in supporting breastfeeding. In it, ACOG states that the offices of obstetric providers such as...
New ACOG Opinion on Exercise in the Childbearing Year
There have been a number of articles around the Internet lately about exercise during the childbearing year. They have come as a result of a recent Opinion by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Committee on Obstetric Practice on Physical Activity...
ACOG to OBs: Consider Operative Vaginal Delivery to Reduce Cesareans
The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) issued an updated practice bulletin to their members supporting the use of operative vaginal delivery, which is birth using forceps or vacuum extraction, to reduce cesareans and improve outcomes. The full...
Celebrating Attachment Parenting Month: Parental Presence: Birthing Families, Strengthening Society
By Lysa Parker, CEIM How Doulas Can Support Parental Presence When I think about my own birth experiences over 30 years ago, I had no clue as to what a doula was or how important a doula could be in the trajectory of a family until I began reading the work of Marshall...
Breastsleeping – New word, Old concept
Changing the Conversation On Infant Sleep to Keep Babies Safe For many in the birth community, the name James J. McKenna is well recognized. An anthropologist, Dr. McKenna has served as the Director of the Notre Dame Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory since 1994....
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...