Women who receive prenatal care at La Clinica and give birth at Asante Ashland Community Hospital can take advantage of the hospital’s free doula service. Providence Medford Medical Center also works with a group of volunteer doulas whose services are free and available upon request as their schedules allow.
Doulas are labor coaches who provide emotional support, encouragement, and knowledge to the family throughout labor and birth. Doulas also:
- Assist a woman in preparing and carrying out her birth plans
- Stay with the woman throughout labor
- Provide emotional support, physical comfort measures, and an objective viewpoint, as well as helping the woman get the information she needs to make informed decisions
- Facilitate communication between the laboring woman, her partner, and her clinical care providers
- Perceive their role as nurturing and protecting the woman’s memory of the birth experience
- Allow the woman’s partner to participate at his/her comfort level
Learn more about doulas at Doula International.