The Full Spectrum of Doula Care
Fertility
Birth
Postpartum
Pregnancy Loss
Infant Loss
End of life
Doulas provide emotional, physical and informational support without judgement.
you don't have to do it alone.
What is a doula?
What Is a Doula?
A doula provides non-medical emotional, physical and evidence based informational support to individuals and families through significant life experiences and transitions. Doula care can span many stages of life — from fertility, pregnancy and birth through postpartum, loss, and end of life.
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There are several distinct forms of doula support:
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Fertility Doulas
Fertility doulas support individuals and families who are hoping to grow their families. They may provide emotional support, help clients access evidence-based information, and support them as they navigate fertility experiences, options, and decisions.
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Birth Doulas
Birth doulas provide emotional, physical, and evidence-based informational support throughout pregnancy, labour, birth, and the immediate postpartum period. Support often includes prenatal visits, continuous support during labour and birth, and follow-up after the baby is born.
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Postpartum Doulas
Postpartum doulas support individuals and families as they adjust to life with a new baby. Their care may include support with infant care, feeding, parental recovery, household adjustment, education, and the emotional transition into parenthood.
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Bereavement and Loss Doulas
Bereavement or loss doulas provide compassionate support to individuals and families experiencing pregnancy or infant loss, including miscarriage, stillbirth, termination for medical reasons, or a life-limiting diagnosis. They may provide emotional, practical, and informational support before, during, and after a loss.
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End-of-Life Doulas
End-of-life doulas provide non-medical support to individuals and their loved ones as they navigate serious illness, dying, death, and the period surrounding end of life. Support may include emotional presence, practical planning, advocacy for an individual’s wishes, legacy work, education about the dying process, and support for family and caregivers. End-of-life doulas work alongside, rather than replace, medical, hospice, palliative care, and other healthcare professionals.
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While the type of support may differ, doula care is grounded in respect, compassion, informed choice, and person-centred support. Doulas do not make decisions for their clients or replace medical or other regulated healthcare professionals. Instead, they provide consistent support while respecting each individual’s values, needs, circumstances, and choices.
Every doula brings their own training, experience, approach, and scope of practice. We encourage individuals and families to connect with several doulas to ask questions, learn about their services, and find the person who feels like the right fit for their needs.
Types of Doulas
Fertility doulas provide support to those hoping to grow their families, helping them access evidence-based information about the process and physiological factors that may help or hinder a fertility journey.
Fertility Doula
Birth doulas offer clients emotional, physical, and evidence-based informational support. This typically includes visits leading up to the labour experience, throughout the birth and continues into the immediate postpartum period.
Birth Doula
Postpartum doulas assist new families with the transition to parenthood, often providing support with infant care, feeding information, recovery support, and education.
Postpartum Doula
A bereavement doula or a “loss doula” supports, and helps supports families who are experiencing the loss of their baby, whether that loss is through miscarriage, stillbirth, or a diagnosis that means the baby will only live for a few brief moments following the birth
Pregnancy & Infant Loss Doula
End-of-life doulas provide compassionate, non-medical support to individuals and their loved ones through the dying process, helping navigate practical decisions, emotional needs, and grief with dignity and care.
End of life Doula
Benefits of a Doula
Doulas strive to improve the birth experience of all birthing families. By taking a multimodal and inherently respect driven approach to support, doulas are capable of offering physical, emotional, and evidence-based findings to maximize autonomy, positive birth experiences, and the birther’s right to informed consent.
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The value of this support is demonstrated not only through the experiences of families who have had a doula attend their birth but also through the findings of a 2017 Cochrane Database Systematic Review. This meta-analysis found that ““Continuous support in labor may improve a number of outcomes for both mother and baby, and no adverse outcomes have been identified. Continuous support from a person who is present solely to provide support, is not a member of the woman’s own network, is experienced in providing labor support, and has at least a modest amount of training (such as a doula), appears beneficial.”
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Such findings support the assertion that doulas make a unique and positive contribution to the birth support team, improving both emotional and obstetrical outcomes. In addition to this, the continuity of care provided by birth doulas that extends into the postpartum period has been shown to enhance early mother and infant relationships and breastfeeding outcomes. Thus, it is clear that the presence of a doula is not only valuable to the birthing family but also assists in building a more systematically favourable birthing environment.