Doula Training Workshop

Offered At Birth Center

DANBURY – Maternity care has changed dramatically in the last 100 years.  At the beginning of the last century, most babies were born at home. When World War I ended, there were many more doctors and medical facilities available and there was a shift from home to hospital birth. Now a new face is also entering the maternity scene.  It is the presence of a doula.

The word “doula” comes from the Greek and means a woman who serves.  In America, it has come to mean a woman who is experienced in birth who assists other women in labor and the immediate postpartum period.

Doulas do not take the place of other health care professionals.  They serve only in a non-medical capacity.  They work side by side with nurses, midwives and doctors.  The doula is a specialist in non-medical comfort measures, including positioning, movement, massage and application of heat or cold.  She understands the laboring woman’s body and helps her work with her body in labor.  The doula is keenly aware of the laboring woman’s emotions and helps calm her and give her confidence.  The doula works alongside the woman’s husband, partner or family.  She fills in where needed freeing the support people to participate in their own way, as much or little as they choose.

More than 15 studies have been done showing the effectiveness of doula support in labor.  The data from a meta-analyses of 12 of those trials shows a reduction in use of medication by 35 percent, a reduction in use of forceps by 57 percent and a reduction in cesarean sections by 51 percent.  Labors were also an average of 98 minutes shorter.

 Other findings show that the presence of a doula can increase the likelihood and length of breastfeeding, increase the parents’ positive feelings about their birth and baby and decrease the occurrence of postpartum depression.

Doulas of North America (DONA) is one of the national organizations that are currently training and certifying doulas.  A DONA certified doula has completed an academic package, attended 14 or more hours of doula training, attended and documented 3 births and received good evaluations from the mother and her caregivers for those births.  She must also agree to the standards of practice and code of ethics of DONA, which includes offering only non-medical services.  Continuing education is also required after certification.

For those interested in becoming a doula, a doula training workshop will be held at Connecticut Childbirth and Women’s Center in Danbury on June 22 and 23.  This workshop is one of the steps for certification from Doulas of North America.  For more information on DONA, see www.dona.org  For more information on this workshop, call Donna Metta, MA, ATR, LPC, workshop host at (203) 746-1199 or  Debbie Young, CD-DONA, Doula Trainer at (563) 422-8833, or e-mail to artandplay@msn.com