What is a doula?

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Why: Lindsay is getting doula certification.

Answer: "The word doula comes from the ancient Greek meaning "a woman who serves" and is now used to refer to a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth; or who provides emotional and practical support during the postpartum period."

Source: DONA.org

The More You Know: In Greece, the word doula has negative connotations, denoting a "slave." Anthropologist Dana Raphael may have first used the term to refer to experienced mothers who assisted new mothers in breastfeeding and newborn care in the book Tender Gift: Breastfeeding (1973). Thus the term arose with reference to the postpartum context.