• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Nurturing Birth

Doula Courses | Education | Doula

  • Follow Nurturing Birth on Twitter
  • Follow Nurturing Birth on Facebook
  • Follow Nurturing Birth on Instagram

…here to nurture, inform and empower doulas and families

07305 044482 | [email protected]

  • Home
  • What is a Doula?
  • About
  • Doula Training Courses
    • Expansive Course
    • Intensive Course
    • Distance Doula Course
    • Upcoming Courses
    • Costs and Payments
  • Mentoring
    • Mentors
    • Becoming a mentor
  • Blog
  • Find a doula
  • Retreat Days
  • Contact

Blog

The Independent publishes and article on doulas

April 21, 2015

By Sophie Brigstocke

Photo of Sophie Brigstocke. Sophie is a white woman with long, light brown hair and she's wearing a blue top.

In Monday’s Independent (20th April 2015) Hannah Fearn discussed how more women are employing doulas to support them during birth due to the fear of not having support from midwives.  Whilst we welcome positive reports of doulas in the mainstream press there are a few comments that need clarification.  

It is certainly true that the use of doulas is increasing in the UK, and internationally, as pregnant women and people empower themselves and take responsibility for their birth experiences.  However, doulas are not a new concept – there is much evidence to show that experienced local women have supported those giving birth since time began.  Research consistently shows that having a doula present at a birth decreases the length of labour, reduces the number of caesarean sections, medical interventions and/or need for pain medication.  It also shows that women and people have better breastfeeding/chestfeeding initiation rates with a much higher percentage continuing to breastfeed/chestfeed at 6 weeks plus.  

It is imperative though, that a doula be recognised as a non-medical support.  A doula does not undergo a medical training and never replaces the role of the midwife.  She or he is there to provide emotional and practical support and to empower a woman or person to make informed choices. This is something that has been recognised by the charity Birthrights as being key to a woman or person’s positive mental state after birth.  It is true that the current NHS provision for the majority of people means that they are not supported by a named midwife through their antenatal, perinatal and postnatal experience.  Often they meet the midwife who is going to be at the birth of the baby on the day itself.  Having someone by their side who has heard their concerns, hopes and expectations in advance of the birth can certainly allay fears and promote a positive environment for birth.  

Doulas aim to work alongside midwives, supporting them in their challenging role and enabling everyone to be their best on the day.  Many doulas work hard to establish positive relationships with their local midwife teams, becoming members of the MSLC or Maternity Forums at their local hospital trusts, and setting up mutually beneficial events.

The subject of cost came up and the implication seems to be that doulas are looking to charge exploitatively. There are doulas who charge between £1000 and £2000, but the vast majority charge less than £1000, with many new doulas charging significantly less than £500.  The birth doula role typically involves several meetings with the client antenatally, being available on the phone or email, going on call for up to 5 weeks, attending the birth (however long that may be), then returning to visit the clients postnatally a couple times to ensure that all is well.  It requires a doula to ditch their day-to-day life at a moment’s notice with no idea of when they are able to return home.

Sadly, the benefits of the postnatal doula were not discussed. This is the invaluable support that a doula can bring to a new family, helping them to settle in to their new parenting roles, providing information, supporting feeding, taking on some of the domestic responsibilities, making food, helping to look after other children etc.  This cannot be overlooked, and goes far beyond the midwifery remit.

For information about the Doula Preparation courses provided by Nurturing Birth please email us on [email protected] or call 07305 044482.

Filed Under: About Doulaing Tagged With: being a doula, doula myths, Doulas

Beautiful birth images on our website and Facebook

July 22, 2014

We are delighted to be working with Jane McCrae, a birth photographer based in Sydney, Australia. In the hunt for images for our new website we looked at a lot of photographs and we felt that Jane captures both the beauty of birth, but also how doulas can support women during birth – with a hand on the shoulder, a flannel on the forehead, a calm presence and with soothing words. Her images have an incredible sense of calm, serenity and peace about them. We encourage anyone with an interest in pregnancy and birth to check our her website.

And, we offer Jane our congratulations on the recent birth of her daughter, the story of which is beautifully written on her website.

http://www.janemccraephotography.com/gallery/birth/

Filed Under: Your Doula Business Tagged With: Birth photography, Birth photos, Jane McCrae

Research into the value of Doulas

April 15, 2014

Nurturing Birth is delighted to have undertaken some research in to the value of doulas in the UK in 2013.
This has been published in MIDIRS, the midwifery journal, in June 2014, and it was taken to the International Conference of Midwives in Prague.
To read the full research article click here.

Filed Under: About Doulaing Tagged With: Doulas, research, value of doulas

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 20
  • Go to page 21
  • Go to page 22

Primary Sidebar

Search by topic

Recent Posts

  • Doulas Supporting Families With: Twins and Multiples June 27, 2022
  • Nurturing Birth Book Review: Reclaiming Childbirth as a Rite of Passage June 20, 2022
  • Train as a doula – Frequently Asked Questions! June 6, 2022
  • Nurturing Birth Book Review: Supporting Breastfeeding Past the First Six Months and Beyond May 30, 2022
  • Doulas Supporting Families with: Formula Feeding and Mixed Feeding May 16, 2022
  • Sam Sheppard: Why I trained to be a doula May 10, 2022
  • The importance of physiological birth April 21, 2022
  • Nurturing Birth Book Review: Nurturing the family, a doula’s guide to supporting new parents April 18, 2022

Categories

  • About Doulaing
  • Book Reviews
  • Doula Mentoring
  • Doula Stories
  • Miscarriage, Stillbirth and Baby Loss
  • Pregnancy, Birth, Postnatal and Infant Feeding
  • Training to be a Doula
  • Uncategorized
  • Your Doula Business

Footer

Award winning Doulas

MAMA Awards 2017 - DOULA OF THE YEAR​ Winner - Sophie Brigstocke, Nurturing Birth

MAMA Awards 2017
DOULA OF THE YEAR​

Sophie Brigstocke,
Nurturing Birth

Nurturing Birth Twitter

Good perinatal mental health is crucial always, but during a pandemic it should have extra focus https://t.co/jgZGxjwkIT
- Wednesday Jul 8 - 1:12pm

A member of

   

Get in touch

  • Follow Nurturing Birth on Twitter
  • Follow Nurturing Birth on Facebook
  • Follow Nurturing Birth on Instagram

Telephone: 07305 044482
Email: [email protected]

Images by Jaha Brown

Copyright Nurturing Birth © 2022 | Privacy and Cookies Policy | Terms and Conditions |All Rights Reserved

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT