 Information contained within this website should in no way replace the guidance and suggestions of your care provider. Please use this information as a basis for conversation with your care provider, and to build consensus and agreement about your labor and birth. Always share your concerns with your care provider and create a plan together that meets both your needs. |
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Our mission is to enhance the childbearing year for parents by promoting quality doula support, advocating evidence-based care, providing accessible education based on the wellness model of maternity care, and helping families locate doulas.
The best way to find a doula is to attend a free Parent Topic Night offered monthly by Doulas of the Red River Valley. Several doulas attend each meeting to answer questions and talk with parents informally after the presentations. This allows parents to decide which doulas to interview having already met them face-to-face. If you attend several meetings, you will typically meet from four to seven doulas. This can save you a lot of telephone and interviewing time.
Parent Topic Night is also a great opportunity to meet other birthing parents and hear from parents who guided their births with the support of a doula. We welcome all expectant mothers and families. Bring partners, friends, grandmothers-to-be, and others who might attend your birth, or come alone. Quiet children and nursing babies are welcome (please provide toys or books and keep them near you during the session).
Parent Topic Night: All About Doulas, Meet Doulas, & Gather Information
When: First Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m.
Where: Ristreto Coffee & Tea; 4150 40th Ave SW; Fargo (Woodhaven Plaza)
For more information: DoulasRRV@hotmail.com,
218-329-2253,
or call a doula member
What Is A Doula?
Doula is an ancient Greek word meaning "woman caregiver." Today, doula care provides the mom with support that women in many cultures have historically valued during labor, birth, and postpartum.
is a woman experienced in providing continuous physical (non-medical) comfort measures, emotional, and informational support to the mother (and her partner) before, during, and after childbirth. She serves families who are planning an unmedicated birth, epidural during labor, vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC), or cesarean birth. She specializes in non-medical skills and does not perform clinical tasks, such as vaginal exams or fetal heart rate monitoring.
provides emotional, educational, and practical in-home support during the postpartum period. A Postpartum Doula does not diagnose medical conditions for the mother or the baby, but will refer you to a healthcare provider and she does not take over the care of the baby, but assists you in learning to care for your baby's needs.
A BIRTH DOULA . . .
-recognizes birth as a key life experience that the mother will remember all her life
-assists the woman and her partner in preparing for and carrying out their plans for the birth
-understands the physiology of birth and the emotional needs of a woman in labor
-provides continuous emotional support and physical (non-medical) comfort measures to the mother throughout labor
-gives an objective viewpoint and assists the woman and her partner in getting the information they need to make informed choices
-compliments rather than displaces the partner and clinical care provider(s)
-assists with learning the art of breastfeeding
Numerous clinical studies have found that a doula’s presence at birth:
A POSTPARTUM DOULA . . .
-offers emotional support, discusses the birth and experiences of being a parent
-nurtures parents into their new role as parents, promoting parent-infant bonding
-provides newborn feeding support/assistance
-teaches newborn care, infant massage, and soothing skills
-insures mom is getting adequate rest, wholesome meals and snacks, time for personal care
-provides practicle assistance with simple meal preparation, errands, laundry for baby or mom, and dishes
-helps with multiples
-provides referrals for lactation, postpartum depression, parenting support groups, child care resources
-tailors her services to meet your individual/family needs
Research shows parents who receive doula support in the postpartum period:
The benefits of having a doula's support in labor has been recognized by the:
Listening to Mothers: Report of the First National U.S. Survey of Women's Childbearing Experiences,Childbirth Connection (Formerly Maternity Center Association), October 24, 2002 Caregiver Support for Women During Childbirth: Does the Presence of a Labor-Support Person Affect Maternal-Child Outcomes?, American Family Physician, October 1, 2002
Lying in, Canadian Medical Association Journal, September 17, 2002 Social Support By Doulas During Labor And The Early Postpartum Period, Hospital Physician, September 2001 (pdf)
Care of Women in U.S. Hospitals, 2000, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, October 2002 We are a chapter of the Childbirth Collective (www.childbirthcollective.org), a Minnesota non-profit serving birthing families. The Childbirth Collective is a tri-state (Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota) birth network of over one hundred doulas and other birth professionals who support families and each other. We execute our mission by educating families and the birth community about the role of the doula and providing ongoing education for doulas. We endorse the CIMS Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative and use it as a mission statement for our organization. Take some time to read this important document at www.motherfriendly.org. Download our Birth Doula Standards of Practice and Birth Doula Code of Ethics MS Word file
Further Research Sources
Given the clear benefits and no known risks associated with intrapartum support, every effort should be made to ensure all labouring women receive support, not only from those close to them but also from specially trained caregivers. This support should include continuous presence, the provision of hands-on comfort, and encouragement.
Hodnett, E.D. Support from caregivers during childbirth (Cochrane Review) in Cochrane Library, Issue 2. Oxford Update Software, 1998. Updated Quarterly.
A doula provides support consisting of praise, reassurance, measures to improve the comfort of the mother, physical contact such as rubbing the mother’s back and holding her hands, explanation of what is going on during labour and delivery and a constant friendly presence. Such tasks can also be fulfilled by a nurse or midwife, but they often need to perform technical/medical procedures that can distract their attention from the mother.
Care in Normal Birth: a Practical Guide. Report of a Technical Working Group. World Health Organization, 1996.
Facing unprecedented pressures to reduce expenses, many hospitals are targeting the largest single budget item – labor costs… (An) unintended consequence of nursing cutbacks may be an increased cesarean rate; the inability of pared down nursing staff to provide continuous coverage to laboring mothers (has been) shown to increase the chance of a cesarean…Doulas clearly improve clinical and service quality; they provide an absolutely safe way to reduce cesareans and other invasive birthing interventions.
Coming to Term: Innovations in Safely Reducing Cesarean Rates. Medical Leadership Council, Washington D.C. 1996.
Professionals have paid much attention to innovative technology and the many new options for monitoring and managing labor. While the technology is important, it can become so prominent that clinicians ignore both the natural aspects of labor and the non-technical needs of women in labor… Changes that support the patient in labor and reinforce the natural, physiologic process…. Includes providing one-to-one psychological support for patients using nursing staff or doulas.
Reducing the Cesarean Section Rates while Maintaining Maternal and Infant Outcomes. Bruce L. Flamm et al. Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Boston, 1997.
The continuous availability of a caregiver to provide psychological support and comfort should be a key component of all intrapartum care programs, which should be designed for the effective prevention, and treatment of dystocia (non-progressive labor).
Guidelines on Dystocia. Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, 1995.
Continuous Support for Women During Childbirth, new Cochrane Review through the Childbirth Connection (Formerly Maternity Center Association), July 2003
Copy and paste this link: http://childbirthconnection.org/article.asp?ck=10272&ClickedLink=200&area=2
Copy and paste this link: http://childbirthconnection.org/article.asp?ClickedLink=205&ck=10068&area=2
Copy and paste this link: http://www.aafp.org/afp/20021001/cochrane.html
Copy and paste this link: http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/167/6/675
Copy and paste this link: http://www.turner-white.com/pdf/hp_sep01_doulas.pdf
Copy and paste this link: http://www.ahrq.gov/data/hcup/factbk3/factbk3.htm)
About Doulas of the Red River Valley
