1. The Doula
Advantage
What do we know?
Information Technology in Nursing
NR 110. 404
Fall 2010
Trish Bermudez, Kara Cruice, Hai Yen Ho, Lindi Hobongwana, Katya Simon

2. Doula- “At Mother's Service”
certified labor assistant

3. What is your ideal birth?

4. CHOICES

5. Doulas do not replace fathers
They work as a team

6. Emotional Support

7. Physical Support

8. Why a doula?
Reduce c-section rates
Improve birth experience
Increase breastfeeding rates

9. Research shows that
doulas make the biggest difference
to families who experience
pregnancy and birth complications

10. Having a doula at any birth results in
a 50% reduction in c-sections

11. C-section rates are increasing worldwide.
It is known that induction of
labor leads to more c-sections.

12. Having a doula at an induced birth
results in 80% reduction
in c-sections!

13. “Breast is Best”

14. “Postpartum blues”
Feeling sad and weepy after the baby is born
85% of women - “mood disturbance”
15% of women - depression

15. Better birth experience with a doula
→ happier mom
(makes sense to us!)

16. In conclusion, the presence of a doula
brings you ….
• More likely to give birth without sedation
medications (analgesia or anesthesia).
• More likely to have a spontaneous vaginal birth.
• More likely to breastfeed your babies.
• More satisfaction with childbirth experiences
• Shorter labor length.
• Less complications
(Hodnett, Gates, & Sakala, 2007)

17. Doula – the “lemons into lemonade”
converter in your birth room!

18. References
ACOG Committee Opinion No. 343: psychosocial risk factors: perinatal
screening and intervention (2006) Obstet Gynecol. 108(2), 469-77.
Hodnett, ED, Gates, S, & Sakala, C. (2007). Continuous support for women
during childbirth (review). The Cochrane Collaboration, (4), 1-72.
McGrath, SK., Kennell J.H. (2008). A randomized controlled trial of continuous
labor support for middle-class couples: effect on cesarean delivery rates.
Birth, 35(2), 92-7.
Nommsen-Rivers LA, Mastergeorge AM, Hansen RL, Cullum AS, Dewey KG.,
Initials. (2009). Doula care, early breastfeeding outcomes, and breastfeeding
status at 6 weeks postpartum among low-income primiparae. J Obstet
Gynecol Neonatal Nurs., 38(2), 157-73
Scott KD, Klaus PH, Klaus MH., Initials. (1999). The obstetrical and postpartum
benefits of continuous support during childbirth. J Womens Health Gend
Based Med. , 8(10), 1257-64.

19. Thank you for your time!