Articles on doula training, certification, recognition and building a practice from Birth & Baby University.
Touch is central to labor support, and clients often assume massage "works." The research is encouraging in direction but weak in quality, and the effects are modest. This article reviews massage and a touch-based…
Read the article: How Massage and Therapeutic Touch May Influence Labor PainFor decades, postpartum care in the United States meant one visit about six weeks after birth, often with little between delivery and that appointment. Professional societies, insurers and researchers now describe postpartum care as…
Read the article: The Future of Postpartum Care: Why Healthcare Systems Are Reconsidering the Fourth TrimesterMany new parents describe feeling like a different person, even when the baby is healthy and everything "should" feel happy. The word matrescence gives that experience a name. It is a useful frame for…
Read the article: The Psychology of Matrescence: Understanding the Transition Into MotherhoodFew ideas in maternity care are as widely endorsed, and as hard to measure, as respectful care. Almost everyone agrees that people giving birth should be treated with dignity and should have a say…
Read the article: Respectful Maternity Care: What Research Says About Dignity, Autonomy, and Birth ExperiencesDoula certification is a voluntary credential confirming you’ve completed training from an independent organization. While not legally required in most U.S. states, it’s increasingly necessary for hospital access, employer benefits (Carrot, Maven, Progyny), and…
Read the article: Doula Certification: What It Is, What It Costs & Where It’s RecognizedBeing on call for a birth means that for several weeks your phone can end any plan, any night's sleep and any school pick-up. Doulas often manage this alone, with no employer rota, and…
Read the article: How to Build a Sustainable On-Call Schedule as a Birth DoulaEvery doula eventually sits with a client who says something that does not sit right: a headache that will not quit, a fever that appeared overnight, a flat voice that is not the person…
Read the article: Recognizing When to Refer: Building Clinical Awareness Without Practicing MedicineReflective supervision is a long-standing practice in infant and early childhood mental health: a regular, collaborative conversation between a practitioner and a trained supervisor about the work, the relationships in it and the practitioner's…
Read the article: The Role of Reflective Supervision in Improving Perinatal SupportA doula website has a simple job: help a family decide whether you might be the right support and make it easy to contact you. There is no research on doula websites specifically, but…
Read the article: How to Create a Doula Website That Converts Visitors Into InquiriesSpit-up is one of the most visible features of early infancy. Parents describe babies who spit after every feed, arch their backs, fuss and refuse the bottle, and they wonder whether this is "reflux"…
Read the article: Understanding Infant Reflux: Normal Spit-Up Versus Gastroesophageal Reflux DiseasePage 12 of 23
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