Are you pregnant?
Could you use more caring support from an experienced mother in the days leading up to and after delivery?
Are you without close family or friends who can help out during this magical and special time of your life?
During this exciting and sometimes overwhelming time, a doula can be an immense help by providing information as well as physical and emotional support to the expectant mother and her family.
The concept of a Doula is an old one dating back to ancient Greek times. The word "Doula" means "the most favored servant in the household."
Today, the term "doula" refers to a woman who provides emotional, physical, and informational support to pregnant and laboring women, and new mothers.
More than 20 years of research indicate that continuous doula support before, during and after childbirth offers many benefits, including:
- Reduced cesarean rates (up to 50%)
- Reduced need for assisted delivery (forceps and vacuum extraction)
- A shorter labor (up to 25%)
- Reduced requests for epidural anethesia (up to 60%)
- Reduced use of oxytocin (up to 40%)
- Increased success at breastfeeding
- Greater maternal satisfaction with the birth experience, their partner, child, and themselves.
- Increased satisfaction in the experience by the mother's partner.
Angela Wilson is a loving and experienced mother of five, who now offers doula services to our local community.
Trained through Childbirth International and an active volunteer at the Culpeper Pregnancy Center, she provides emotional, informational and physical support to expectant women and new mothers who have recently given birth
or who are breastfeeding.
Angela also provides emotional and informational support to the partner of the laboring woman, with helpful suggestions for comfort measures that will enhance the birth
experience for all involved.
