Doula. Have you heard this term before? If you’re a parent or are on your way to becoming one, then odds are you’ve probably come across the term in your research. But a lot of people don’t understand a doula’s work or their importance. Which is why every year, the World Doula Week is observed from the 22nd March till 28th March across the globe. The aim of the World Doula Week is to empower doulas all over the world to improve the physiological, social, emotional, and psychological health of women, newborns and families in birth and in the postpartum period.
So this World Doula Week, we got in touch with one of the first doula’s in India and co-founder of My Child First– a digital platform which provides parents and parents to be information on many aspects of childbearing and rearing, Divya Deswal, to explain to us that what exactly is a doula and what do they do. Divya herself has over 20 years of experience as a birth doula and is a HypnoBirthing childbirth educator-fertility practitioner and a Biodynamic Craniosacral therapist. She has held hands of more than 350 women/couples during pregnancy in the last 10 years.
In the following video, you can see Divya, along with Delhi Doulas- Urshita Saini, Neha Misra Mutluru and Sonia R Vaid, explain what exactly is a doula, what do they do and why are they important.
Neha from Delhi Doula, during a discussion with Divya Deswal, spoke about how her own birthing journey inspired her to become a doula and explained what does a doula exactly do.
She explained, “As a doula, I am with you to offer you whatever it is that you need. The first step is to understand what it is that you need to have a better birth. Maybe you just need pre-natal interactions or maybe you’d like someone to be there with you during the birth to support you, to cope better with the pain, have a better experience during birth. So, in that case, I am on board with you, I meet the mother and the birth companion, think about what’s holding you back and helping you release these fears and provide informational support. So I am with you throughout that process until the baby is born and to help you settle down with the baby and help you initiate with the breastfeeding. Even after the baby is born, I come and meet you again to talk about the birth and how the experience has been for you and the baby.”
Divya further added, “It is something that we’d need in a time when we are living in urban areas where we are living very busy and isolated lives and we don’t have community support around us. So you can say that a Doula fills in that role of that familiar face or of that relative you could have leaned on. But the additional benefit is that you’re getting all the helpful information.”
Featured Image Source: thequint
