Do You Really Need a Doula?

Pregnancy Podcast

Vanessa Merten

Parenting, Kids & Family

4.5 • 970 Ratings

🗓️ 10 September 2023

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A doula is a professional trained in childbirth who provides emotional, physical, and educational support to a mother and her birth partner during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. They do not have any formal medical training and do not perform any medical procedures. There are doulas that specialize in every type of birth, from home birth to a planned cesarean at a hospital. There is substantial growing evidence on how doulas positively impact births. But do you need a doula? With the benefits are downsides, like the additional cost. This episode examines the evidence of having a doula, how they advocate for you and work with your OB/GYN or midwife, and how they support your partner in being your primary support during labor. Plus, get tips on how to find a doula that is the right fit for your family.

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Read the full article and resources that accompany this episode.

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Check out the 40 Weeks podcast to learn how your baby grows each week and what is happening in your body. Plus, get a heads up on what to expect at your prenatal appointments and a tip for dads and
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For more evidence-based information, visit the Pregnancy Podcast website.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You are listening to the pregnancy podcast with Vanessa Merton.
0:10.0	Hello, thank you for tuning into the pregnancy podcast. In today's episode, we're
0:16.8	discussing whether or not you need Adula. Adula is a professional that's trained in childbirth, so they provide emotional, physical, and educational
0:26.7	support to you and your birth partner. It's not required to have formal medical training to be a dula, and they don't perform any medical procedures.
0:37.0	And there's dulas that specialize in every type of birth, whether you're planning a home birth or a sissarian at a hospital.
0:44.0	While there is substantial growing evidence on how Doolah's positively impact births,
0:50.0	a lot of mothers question whether or not they actually need one.
0:54.0	And with all the benefits also come some downsides like the additional cost.
0:59.0	So in this episode we're going to look at the evidence on having a dula, talk about how they
1:04.7	advocate for you and work with your OBGYN or your midwife, and how they support
1:09.6	your partner in being your primary support during labor.
1:13.0	Plus, we're going to talk about some tips to find Adula that's the right fit for your family
1:18.0	if that's the route you want to go.
1:20.0	You can find the complete article and all of the resources for this episode at pregnancy
1:26.5	podcast.com slash Dula.
1:30.3	While the episode today is going to answer the question of whether or not you need a dula, I'm sure that you have a lot more questions about pregnancy, birth, and being a new parent.
1:40.0	The good news is that there is probably an episode of the pregnancy podcast with all the answers you're looking for.
1:47.0	You're currently on the public feed, which means you have access to the last year of episodes.
1:54.0	You can become a pregnancy podcast premium member and get access to an additional 200 episodes
2:00.9	exclusively available to premium members.
2:04.0	All of the premium content, including the back catalog and current and new episodes,
2:10.0	are all ad-free.
	...

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