As doulas, we provide non-medical physical and emotional support to birthing people. If we are non-medical, do we need to know medical stuff? In short, yes! Doulas need to know a variety of medical things in order to provide truly comprehensive care.
However, if we provide non-medical care, why is this? The easiest explanation is part of our role is education and support. We cannot provide accurate education and support if we do not understand the ins and outs of labor, birth options, and informed decision making.
Doulas Need to Know ‘Medical Stuff’ – Yes, Really!
Doulas are not substitutes for qualified birth attendants like midwives and obstetricians. They do not need to understand:
- How to diagnose anything
- Determining appropriate treatment plans
- Medication dosing
- How to implement clinical care
- Determining managing labor, birth, or newborn care.
However, doula do need to know how to support clients as they work with their providers who do all of the above.
When a client is diagnosed with something, let’s say gestational diabetes, if you do not understand what it is, how are you able to support them? You do not need to determine their diagnosis or how to manage blood sugar or ongoing treatment.
You should know how to answer basic questions such as, “What causes gestational diabetes? Did I do something wrong?”
A doula response might sound like, “We know there are some risk factors for gestational diabetes, however, anyone can develop it during pregnancy. It is thought to be related to placental hormones and how they impact our body’s response to insulin. The best thing you can do is follow instructions to monitor your blood sugar and follow a gestational diabetes friendly diet to the best of your ability.”
Perhaps their doctor will suggest an induction for possible large for gestational age. Without medical understanding, it is easy to just say follow your doctor or do not follow your doctor’s advice.
The first part, just follow your doctor’s advice, ignores supporting clients in making informed decisions and being part of the decision-making process. The second part ignores that there are medical indications for an induction, such as difficult to control blood sugar levels.
Medical understanding allows you to encourage your client to use things such as the BRAIN acronym. You provide them with support and education so they can make a decision with their provider. Sometimes, an induction is medically necessary. It is not for us to decipher between medically necessary and elective. However, it is important for us to have the knowledge to help our clients make informed decisions about their options.
What Medical Information Do Doulas Need to Know?
It is important for doulas to understand some basic medical information to best support their clients. Things a doula should have some knowledge about include:
- Basic anatomy and physiology of pregnancy, birth, and lactation – basic, not clinical level
- Understanding and knowledge of the stages of labor
- Familiarity with pharmacological pain relief options
- Types of inductions, both pharmacological and “natural” options
- Common birth complications and birth emergencies
- Basic understanding of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, gestational diabetes, and infections
- Knowledge of preterm labor
- Basic understanding of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs)
- Familiarity with the postpartum period, normal healing and potential complications
Why do doulas need to know these things? While you are not practicing in a clinical manner, you are there as support. If you do not understand what your client is experiencing or the implications of a decision they are working through, how can you support them?
A large part of a doula’s role is also prenatal support. This often includes providing some basic information. While doula prenatal visits do not take the place of a childbirth class, the do provide a good bit of information. Many clients want support and guidance in developing a birth plan and making decisions about care. How can a doula guide someone without fully understanding the birth process and options?
How Can a Doula Learn Medical Information?
A truly professional and evidenced-based doula training will provide basic medical information. Comprehensive doula training ensures you are prepared to support your clients.
At the International Doula Institute, our birth doula certification course provides all the basic medical information you need to get started. We also teach about the importance of continuing education and required continuing education to recertify.
When you become certified with the International Doula Institute, you have what you need to properly support families. As you continue on your doula journey, the skills you learned will help you know where to turn for continued learning.
Ready to get started? Register now!
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...