Doulas Archives - Diet Zest

Doulas, often called birth coaches, are women who offer physical and mental support to a pregnant woman before, during, and after labor. Although they are not healthcare professionals, they are certified and trained. They may also work with your family and family staff to help you feel better.

What are the benefits of having a doula?

Provide emotional support

Professional doulas use different emotional support skills to provide comfort to the woman and her family during childbirth. If you need someone to listen to you, your doula will stay with you until you share all your concerns and thoughts. If you need assurance and encouragement, she can provide that too, to make sure you feel good.

Give physical comfort

Doulas can provide physical support through soothing touch, body massage, and simple breathing techniques. They can provide you with movement and position ideas to make your labor easier.

They can massage you during labor or simply hold your hand to create a sense of security and comfort. A research review shows that having intrapartum support can help a woman reduce labor duration and cut down on the use of painkiller medications.

Provide authentic information

Doulas are experienced and trained women who have helped many women during labor. Their hands-on experience makes them a good source of reliable information. You can ask them what happens during labor, how you can shorten your labor duration, what to expect after labor, or anything else that you have in your mind.

Help face challenges of breastfeeding

If it is your first time breastfeeding your child, you may find it a challenging task. Doulas can help you learn healthy breastfeeding positions, ways of reducing breast discomfort, latching techniques, and the right time of feeding formula milk to improve your breastfeeding experience.

Take proper care of your baby

New moms experience many challenges every day. A doula can help you overcome these challenges by sharing useful information such as the right way of giving your baby a soothing bath or taking care of the umbilical cord stump, etc.

What should I expect from a session with a doula?

When you select a doula after considering the doula cost, experience, and services, the doula will visit you at home and offer her services. What happens during a session depends on the services you require.

The doula will use different hand techniques to massage your muscles and release tension when you need a comforting massage. If you need someone to talk with, she will be your communication partner. She can give you information, share useful techniques, or anything else that can help you during, after, or before labor.

The duration of a session with a doula can vary from 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on their package and your needs.

Summary

Hiring a doula can make your labor experience much better. The doula cost differs depending on their experience and the services you need. Generally, the doula cost varies from $270 to $2700 for a birth package. Additionally, choosing an experienced doula over a new doula has more advantages.

Check out our related articles:

Doulas