What Is a Doula?
Doulas are trained community health workers who give continuous labor and delivery support to pregnant people and their families. They work with your maternity care team, which includes your nurse, midwife, and doctors, but do not provide any medical care. Some of the skills and services a doula provides include:
- Laboring position support and suggestions for comfort
- Comfort measures such as massage, hydrotherapy support, and warm/cool compresses
- Support for partners, family members and friends
- Breastfeeding assistance, if desired, after your baby’s birth
- Supplying information on various community resources and referrals
Dial-a-Doula Program
At Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital, we offer the Dial-a-Doula Program, which connects those giving birth with trained volunteer doulas. Ideally, families who would like the support of a doula arrange for these services early on in the pregnancy so you all can work together on your birth plan. However, if you have not made these arrangements and would still like a doula during labor and delivery, our volunteer doulas are here to help.
Requesting Dial-a-Doula Services
If you would like to request a volunteer doula through our Dial-a-Doula program, please notify your nurse when you are admitted for labor or induction of labor. Any person admitted for labor or induction of labor at Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital can request a volunteer doula to work with during labor and delivery.
Our volunteer doulas sign up for 12-hour shifts and will arrive at the hospital within one hour of being called. While we cannot guarantee that a doula will always be able to support you during your labor and delivery or that they will be able to stay with you beyond their 12-hour shift, we can guarantee that the Dial-a-Doula Program and the Birth Center team will do everything they can to accommodate you, your family, and every other laboring person who wants a doula by their side.
If you are interested in having a doula for your labor and delivery, we first recommend that you start your search by reviewing doula resources in your area. If this process does not work for you, or if you decide late in your pregnancy that you would like the support of a doula, our volunteer doulas are here for you and your family.
Contact Us
For more information about the Dial-a-Doula Program, including how to become a volunteer doula, please email [email protected].