There’s no better time to enroll in doula training: ACOG recognized the vital importance of continuous emotional support in labor. Doulas will soon be in even higher demand.
ACOG released their most recent Committee Opinion yesterday, January 25th. The study specifically focused on how to help pregnant women achieve their goals for labor. The section that might interest our doula training students the most is titled “Continuous Support During Labor”. Here, the article addresses the importance of having a doula present during birth:
“Evidence suggests that continuous one-to-one emotional support provided by … a doula, is associated with improved outcomes for women in labor.”
The article breaks down the numerous benefits of having a doula, including:
- Shorter labors
- Less need for pain medication
- Decrease in operative deliveries (i.e. cesarean sections)
- Increased feeling of satisfaction with the labor experience
- Improved rate of spontaneous vaginal delivery
- Improved Apgar score for newborns
Of course, this information will look very familiar to anyone who is already enrolled in doula training with IDI. However, ACOG’s updated recommendations will also be of interest:
In addition to listing the benefits of using a doula, the author also concludes that there is no risk to having a doula present at the birth. Furthermore, given the associated decrease in cesarean births, they note that doulas are a cost-effective addition to the labor and delivery room.
In fact, the ACOG Committee Opinion recognized that all laboring women should have a doula present.
Since doulas have been found to have such a positive impact on birth outcomes, the article made the recommendation that more programs need to be developed in order to provide all laboring women with emotional support. It put the call out to providers and health care organizations to develop programs that will make doulas available to all women in labor.
All this adds up to a lot of great news for anyone interested, or currently enrolled, in our doula training program. With the backing of such a highly-respected organization, doulas will be in high-demand in the coming months. If organizations take these recommendations seriously, there may also be new opportunities for doulas to work directly for hospitals or birth centers.
There’s no better time to begin your doula training!
Author: Aliza Juliette Bancoff
Aliza Juliette Bancoff is a well-known doula and doula trainer who has been providing doula services to families for over a decade. She is the founder of Main Line Doulas, a doula group providing doula support in the great Philadelphia area for the last decade, the International Doula Institute, which provides online doula training and lactation training and certification programs and the International Breastfeeding Institute which provides lactation training and certification. She is the co-founder of United Birth, a company devoted to increasing access to doulas across the country to make the perinatal time safer both physically and emotionally. “Every birthing person deserves access to quality doula support. And we are working to make that a reality across the country. The work we are doing to get doulas to every birthing person will decrease the black infant and maternal mortality rate significantly by 2030.” Says Bancoff. Aliza is known for her compassionate and empowering approach to doula work, and she has been featured in numerous media outlets, including United Nations Maternal Health Report, Parent Magazine, CafeMom, theBump and many more. Aliza's journey into doula work began when she gave birth to her first child and felt a strong calling...