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                                 Common Questions
What is a Doula?
A Doula is a trained professional who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to their clients before, during, and in the postpartum period to help them achieve the healthiest, most satisfying experience possible. In short, Doulas help support new families through the life-changing experience of having a baby!

                                 Common Questions
What is a Doula?
A Doula is a trained professional who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to their clients before, during, and in the postpartum period to help them achieve the healthiest, most satisfying experience possible. In short, Doulas help support new families through the life-changing experience of having a baby!

Common Questions

What is a Doula?
A Doula is a trained professional who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to their clients before birth, during labor, and in the postpartum period to help them achieve the healthiest, most satisfying birthing experience possible. In short, Doulas help support new families through the life-changing experience of having a baby!

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What are the benefits of having a Doula?
Throughout history, people have been cared for and nurtured during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. Family, friends, and neighbors from the community would rally around the new family to help guide them through their tender early weeks and months with a new baby.

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Research shows that people who use a birth doula are:

  • less likely to need Pitocin, a form of synthetic oxytocin, commonly used to induce labor by stimulating uterine contractions.

  • less likely to have a cesarean birth

  • less likely to use any pain medication

  • more likely to rate their childbirth experience positively

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What do Birth Doulas offer?

PHYSICAL SUPPORT

Position ideas for comfort and labor progression overlap with hands-on comfort measures, such as comforting touch, counterpressure, breathing techniques, and other “doula magic” for families. A doula’s skilled hands and positioning tools can often help a malpositioned baby find its way through the pelvis and into the birthing parent’s arms.

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EMOTIONAL SUPPORT

Doulas help families feel supported, easing the emotional experience of birth and creating a space where labor hormones can work at their best. Whether a birth is completely unmedicated or medically very complex, every family can benefit from nurturing and connection at this tender, incredible time in their lives.

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PARTNER SUPPORT

Whether it’s a romantic partner, a friend, or another family member like the baby’s grandma, the birth partner’s experience matters in birth. Our doulas are there to support every birth partner in being as involved as they’d like with the birth. Physical and emotional support make a huge difference for everyone involved.

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EVIDENCE-BASED INFORMATION and ADVOCACY

DONA International doulas are trained to help families connect with evidence-based resources, enabling them to ask informed questions and make informed decisions about their births. Our doulas serve as a bridge of communication between their client and their providers, lifting them up to help them find their voices and advocate for the very best care.

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All families benefit from a Birth Doula on their team!

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Source: www.dona.org

What do Postpartum Doulas offer after the birth?

EMOTIONAL SUPPORT
The transition into new parenthood can be vulnerable, and postpartum doulas are experts in emotional support, active listening, and encouraging their clients to follow their hearts. Empathy, a hug, or even a good laugh together can do so much for a new parent!

EVIDENCE-BASED INFORMATION and SUPPORT
Postpartum doulas are trained to understand what new babies – and new parents – truly need. The doula helps with soothing techniques, offers lactation or bottle feeding support, and explains normal newborn behavior and postpartum recovery expectations.

PRACTICAL SUPPORT
It’s all hands on deck with a new baby, and postpartum doulas can help the days go by more smoothly by helping with the baby’s laundry, doing the dishes or preparing simple, nourishing meals.

PARTNER and SIBLING SUPPORT
A new baby means a transition for everyone, including parents, grandparents, little brothers and sisters, and even pets. Postpartum doulas understand what everyone needs, and part of their role is to help the entire family adjust and settle in.

All families benefit from a Postpartum Doula on their team!

WHAT DOULAS DO and DON'T DO
CAPPA Labor Doulas:​

  • Provide non-biased emotional, physical, and informational support during pregnancy, labor and the birth process, and the immediate postpartum period

  • Work closely with the birthing person and family as they explore their values and needs surrounding birth

  • Encourage the birthing person to seek care and a place of birth that reflects their own values and needs

  • Assist in the preparation of birth preferences to facilitate communication with the birth team

  • Model, teach, and encourage effective communication

  • Encourage informed decision-making

  • Provide information on birth options and resources

  • Provide the client with non-medical comfort techniques for labor, such as positions and movement, comforting touch, visualization, breathing techniques, and affirmation

  • Seek to foster a cooperative, respectful, and positive atmosphere with the birth team

  • Provide support to the birthing person's support partner and/or family

  • Support and assist with initial breastfeeding

  • Assist the family in processing their birth experience

  • Answer general questions about newborn care and breastfeeding

  • Refer to healthcare professionals when support requires clinical assessment, a need for prescription, or medical diagnosis

  • Listen as the birthing person processes their birth experience

  • Are required to present the following services as separate from the role of a CAPPA certified professional: Doulas who are trained, certified, licensed, or a recipient of a degree in alternative/complementary therapies, including, but not limited to, essential oils, placenta medicine, herbal treatments, etc.

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CAPPA Labor Doulas do not:​

  • Diagnose medical conditions

  • Perform clinical procedures

  • Interpret medical diagnoses or clinical results

  • Prescribe or administer treatment of medical conditions

  • Make decisions for the birthing client or family

  • Speak for the birthing family

  • Attend births that are intentionally unassisted by qualified medical professionals

  • Transport any family members

  • Prescribe, perform, or provide alternative/complementary therapies, including, but not limited to, essential oils, placenta medicine, herbal treatments, etc. as part of the role of a CAPPA certified professional

Source: www.cappa.net

WHAT IS ORGASMIC BIRTH?​​

  • Orgasmic Birth is about celebrating birth as a loving, empowering, and ecstatic experience

  • Embracing your body's natural rhythms

  • Moving through labor with confidence, connection, and trust

  • It's not just about sexual pleasure; it's about discovering comfort, safety, and joy in the birth process

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WHY DOES ORGASMIC BIRTH MATTER?​​

  • Less fear, more joy: When you feel safe and supported, your body releases oxytocin, endorphins, and other hormones that bring comfort, and sometimes waves of pleasure, through labor

  • A deeper connection: Orgasmic Birth honors the transformative journey, connecting you with your baby and partner in powerful, lasting ways

  • Empowerment: You reclaim birth as your own, rewriting it from pain and anxiety to confidence and celebration

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WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF ORGASMIC BIRTH?​​

  • Reduced pain and anxiety

  • A more positive birth experience

  • Greater emotional healing after birth

  • Stronger partner connection

  • Confidence for parenting and beyond

Source: www.orgasmicbirth.com

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