What is a Doula?

Doula comes from Ancient Greek and means "female servant".

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A Doula provides mental, emotional, and physical support to families.

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A full-spectrum Doula is a non-clinical provider who provides support to families through all stages of pregnancy from preconception to birth to adoption to pregnancy loss. 

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Doulas have been proven to decrease Caesarean rates, inductions, and other interventions. From "Evidence suggests that, in addition to regular nursing care, continuous one-to-one emotional support provided by support personnel, such as a doula, is associated with improved outcomes for women in labor. Benefits  include shortened labor, decreased need for analgesia, fewer operative deliveries, and fewer reports of dissatisfaction with the experience of labor" Reference:(https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-opinion/articles/2019/02/approaches-to-limit-intervention-during-labor-and-birth, 2017)

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Doula services are now covered by Medi-Cal! Medi-Cal members will have coverage from the prenatal period through baby turning 1 year old. The Medi-Cal Doula Benefit also covers for pregnancy loss including abortion, miscarriage and stillbirth.