A Doula is a woman that serves women in pregnancy, birth and postpartum on a physical, emotional, spiritual and informational level.
We are not medical professionals. This means that we do not offer medical advise, nor do we perform any medical checks. Some people say a Midwife cares for you from the waist down and a doula is from the waist up! While this is not entirely true, it does help get the idea of how the roles differ. The meaning of “Midwife” is to be “With Woman” whereas the meaning of Doula is “in service of woman."
Can I deliver your baby?
No. Although I have spent years training and becoming very well educated about medical procedures, I leave the medical work to the midwives that I am honoured to work alongside. I may support your decisions and encourage you to remember why you made them but the fact remains is that a Midwife is a trained medical professional with both the knowledge and skill to safely care for both the birthing woman and her baby. A Midwife is also very capable of offering gentle, motherly support during labour but she will need to be focused on your baby as well during the whole process. As a doula, I am devoted entirely to the support of both the mother and her birth partner during the whole process without needing to focus on the medical well being of mother and baby.
Doulas are proven to improve both birth outcomes and the experience of the woman birthing.
And when we work alongside a midwife, the statistics only improve.
If you would like to learn how I may be of service please feel welcome to reach out
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