Labor Doula FAQ

1. What is a labor doula?

A labor doula is a person knowledgeable and experienced in the birth process who provides continuous emotional, physical, and informational support to a mother before, during, and just after childbirth.

2. What is a Birthingway Student Labor Doula?

Birthingway student doulas have completed the classroom portion of their training, and now must attend a required number of births in the role of labor doula in order to be certified by Birthingway.

3. What is a Birthingway Certified Labor Doula?

A Birthingway certified doula has completed classroom training, attended 5 births in the role of labor doula, and submitted required paperwork related to the 5 births. Certification is valid for 4 years, at which point doulas wishing to recertify submit paperwork documenting at least 5 births within the 4 year period and 15 contact hours of continuing education.

4. What Kind of Classroom Training Have Birthingway Doulas Received?

Birthingway's labor doula training is a thorough course with 24 hours of class time plus out of class study time. Through hands-on exercises, lecture, written work and class discussion, our student doulas cover a broad variety of material designed to prepare them to support a mother and her partner before, during, and immediately after the birth of their child. Some of the topics covered are:

• The importance of client confidentiality
• The doula's scope of practice (what the doula does and does not do)
• How to provide emotional support
• Working as a team with the partner
• The emotions and sensations of labor and how the doula helps during each stage
• Using effective touch
• Penny Simkin's Take Charge Routine
• The risks, benefits and alternatives of many interventions
• Ways the doula supports a client during a specific intervention
• How the doula facilitates communication with medical staff
• Working with back labor
• Working with a long or stalled labor
• How the doula helps the client push more effectively with or without an epidural
• How the doula supports a client during a Cesarean birth
• Specific strategies for support during a VBAC
• Breastfeeding initially and during the first few weeks
• Postpartum depression
• How to help the parents process their birth experience

5. What Questions Should I Ask a Labor Doula?

It's important when choosing a labor doula that you are informed not only about their experience and what services they offer, but also about how their approach to birth complements your own. We suggest the following questions to get you started:

• What childbirth experience do you have?
• Tell me about your training.
• What services will you offer me as a professional labor doula?
• How much time will you spend with me as your client outside of labor and delivery (how many prenatal and postpartum visits are included in your fee)?
• Do you have additional skills which may help me?
• Can you provide me with references?
• Have you worked in a hospital setting? birth center setting? homebirth setting?
• What is your philosophy about childbirth and supporting mothers and their partners during labor?
• How do you feel about natural childbirth? About use of pain medication in labor?
• Can I call you with questions or concerns before or after the birth?
• When will you join me when I'm in labor? If I'm giving birth at a hospital or birth center, will you support me in labor at home first if I choose?
• Do you have back-up doula support for times when you aren't available? May I meet them?
• If you charge a fee, what is it? What is your refund policy?

6. What Can I Expect from a Birthingway Student Doula?

A student doula is expected to provide you with 3 prenatal and 1 postpartum visit, and to support you during your entire labor and delivery experience. You can expect them to arrive on time to their appointments with you, act professionally, and communicate with you clearly. They will provide informational, emotional, and physical support (such as position changes, massage for relaxation, and pain management). They will not provide medical or midwifery care such as checking and interpreting fetal heart tones, performing vaginal exams, or giving medical advice. They will not make decisions for you, or project their values or goals upon you.

The amount of prenatal visits, length of labor and delivery support, and postpartum care depends upon when you contact them to work with you. If you contact a doula shortly before your delivery date to begin a doula-client relationship, it may not be possible to meet three times before your baby is born. Also, if you do not contact the doula until you are in second stage of labor, they will not be able to support you as fully as when you contact them at the very beginning of labor.

A Birthingway student doula is required to sign and abide by a Code of Ethics as well as a Confidentiality Agreement in their work with clients. As student doulas, they are required to complete a set of paperwork for each client they work with for certification. Therefore, you can expect to complete and sign an evaluation form for them after your baby is born. The information pertaining to your birth experience documented in the paperwork, as well as your student doula evaluation form, will only be viewed by the Doula Program Coordinator (except in the case of audit when only the log sheet listing the 5 births with corresponding signatures will be viewed by an outside auditor).