The Importance of A Doula for Birth Outcomes
In a birthing room in India, as my colleague once told me, sometimes it’s hard to tell who the midwife is. Young and old women surround the pregnant person – one bringing her teas, another arranging and cleaning the area, another nursing the laboring woman’s own 1 year old infant, and others sitting in the corner praying. All of these women – mother, sisters, aunties, neighbors, and of course the local midwife – are like a skilled staff, trained by years of exposure to and experience with birth.
Most of us today, in contrast, have little or no knowledge and maybe a fear of supporting another in labor. We don’t know anything about herbal remedies, acupressure points, massage, breathing techniques, and many other comfort measures.
With the absence of this family and community knowledge, and a growing concern about the overuse of pharmaceutical interventions and surgeries, we have seen the popular emergence of birth workers who are claiming some of the traditional ways of caring for pregnant and laboring women. They call themselves doulas. A doula is not a medical professional but rather a trained advocate who provides emotional, physical, and informational support through pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period.
Research has shown that a doula can make a significant difference in birth outcomes. A study by Bohren et al in 2017, published in Cochrane review, investigated the effect of continuous support for women during childbirth. Consisting of 26 trials with over 15,000 individuals, its results showed overwhelmingly positive consequences of support in labor. Not only were people more likely to have spontaneous vaginal births (15% increase), they were less likely to have any pain medication, epidurals, negative feelings about childbirth, vacuum or forceps-assisted births, or Cesareans (39% decrease). Interestingly, labors were shorter with support people and babies were less likely to have low health scores at birth.
Laconia Fennell, a co-founder of Springfield Family Doulas, believes the secret to being a good doula is in listening. “I am tuning in to what a mom’s needs are, really empowering her, and not making it about me or my experiences.” She meets with her clients during the pregnancy, works on breathing techniques, discusses their vision, and helps prepare meals for the postpartum period. “In the hospital, there is limited time for nurses and midwives and doctors, its so nice to have a doula with you the whole time, reminding you to breathe, drink water, really get in tune with your body, provide comfort measures, so you don’t need to worry about anything else.”
Tanita Council, Laconia’s partner in Springfield Family Doulas, is always ready to provide hip squeezes, back pressure, squat support, and continuous verbal encouragement. But, she also knows the importance of postpartum assistance, as she is a lactation counselor. Outside of attending births, Tanita and Laconia have live instagram education sessions, do weekly walks in Forest Park to keep pregnant and postpartum moms socialized, provide virtual services because of COVID restrictions, and co-host a Community Birth Circle monthly with Springfield Birth Options. Tanita and Laconia serve local women broadly, but focus especially on BIPOC.
Cousins themselves, the Springfield Family Doulas – and others like them – are trying to create a birth environment similar to that birthing room in India where all women are treated “like family.”
(Find Springfield Family Doulas at Springfieldfamilydoulas.com, on Instagram, and Facebook.)