5 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Doula Support

BY MEGAN FLEEMAN SSEKABIRA, CHILDBIRTH EDUCATOR, LABOR DOULA & POSTPARTUM DOULA

If you’re thinking about hiring a doula, you’ll want to know how to best utilize her!

A doula is a non-medical birth professional hired by the birthing family exclusively to assist in birth preparation and provide labor and postpartum support.

While the word "doula" comes from the Greek, meaning "servant," but she’s not just anyone’s servant—she is dedicated to ensuring your physical, emotional, and psychological well-being as you navigate the important work of birthing your baby. Unlike hospital staff, who come and go as needed, your doula is dedicated solely to you and your partner, offering undivided attention throughout your birthing experience. In a homebirth setting, doulas help you navigate unique options available for a low-intervention birth, while also providing guidance on facilitating the process. Your doula works alongside your care provider—who focuses on the medical aspects of your birth—by ensuring you stay fed, hydrated, comfortable, and confident, while offering hands-on comfort techniques and ideas to support progress. After the birth, your doula remains an invaluable resource, well-connected to the community’s best baby care specialists, lactation consultants, and practitioners specializing in newborn health, such as chiropractors and massage therapists.

5 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Doula Support

1. Hire a Doula Early

While it’s (almost) never too late to hire a doula, it’s certainly never too early! In the rush of baby preparations, many couples delay one of the most important decisions—choosing who will join their birth team. Waiting to hire a doula wastes valuable time you could spend preparing for the birth with her guidance. Most doulas take a limited number of clients per month, so securing your doula early ensures you get the one that aligns best with your needs. Remember, you pay the same amount for doula support no matter when you hire her, so why not make the most of the time you have? We recommend interviewing doulas around your first trimester (around 12 weeks) to ensure you have plenty of time to build a trusted relationship. When choosing your doula, don’t overthink it. Consider your budget, preferences, and personality match. Like finding a great friend or partner, you’ll know when it’s the right fit. 

2. Involve Your Partner in the Doula Hiring Process

Even the most attuned partners can be nervous and not know the helpful thing to do or say in labor.  Everyone has a role on the birth team, and your partner’s role is irreplaceable.  Involving your partner in the process of interviewing and choosing your doula ensures that they are a key part of the team you are building. Your partner’s experience is enhanced by doula support. Your doula will help your partner know how to best support you prenatally and offer cues in the birth setting, also ensuring your partner is hydrated, fed and rested as time allows. Birth is a team effort and you will feel more at ease knowing that your partner is both involved and supported. 

3. Know Your Priorities

The location of your birth and your care provider are two of the most significant decisions you’ll make. These decisions directly impact the options available to you during labor and recovery. While the setting and provider don’t guarantee the outcome of your birth, they heavily influence your experience.

Ask yourself: "Does this care provider align with the type of birth experience I want?" and "Is the birth setting supportive of my preferences?" Your doula can guide you through these questions, offering recommendations based on her experience with local care providers. It’s important to know your values—whether you want to labor in water, need continuity with a single provider, or prefer a specific setting. While your doula is there to support you in any situation, she isn’t there to override hospital policies or your care provider’s practices. Her goal is to help ensure your preferences are honored within the context of the setting and provider you choose.

4. Take an In-Depth Childbirth Class

NOVA offers a 5-week, comprehensive essentials course.

While the transition to motherhood may feel natural once you meet your baby, preparing for birth requires thorough preparation. Taking a childbirth class is crucial—especially for first-time mothers or those planning a different birth experience, such as a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) or unmedicated birth. Your doula will be there to support and guide you, but she can’t replace the knowledge gained from 10-15 hours of in-depth childbirth education. Use your doula’s time to address more personal concerns and dive deeper and apply what you’ve learned to your unique hopes for your birth. She can help clarify anything you might find confusing and support you in applying that knowledge to your birth preferences.

5. Create Birth Preferences

Part of working with your doula includes assistance and insight for creating your birth preferences. These preferences act as a guide to help your birth team support your wishes during labor. While some people refer to this as a "birth plan," we at NOVA prefer the term "birth preferences" because labor is unpredictable, but your preferences can be honored every step of the way. A well-thought-out birth preferences document allows your doula, your partner, and your entire birth team (Nurses, Midwives, and Doctors) to be on the same page when you’re too focused on the work of labor to voice your needs. Your doula will help you understand your options and guide you in crafting preferences that best suit your desires and situation. By combining the knowledge gained from childbirth classes and prenatal meetings with your doula, you’ll create a roadmap for your team to follow, ensuring your preferences are respected as much as possible.

By employing these 5 tips on making the most of your doula support, you’re not only setting yourself up smoother birth experience, but you’re also preparing for a positive, and transformative journey into motherhood. Whether it’s choosing the right care provider, understanding your options, or making sure your partner is supported, your doula is an invaluable resource every step of the way.