The Importance of Hiring a Doula for Birth

Pregnancy and birth are profound, transformative experiences that women & their partners go through, and having a doula by their side can enhance the journey. A doula is a trained professional who provides holistic care to women before, during, and after childbirth. From teaching natural birthing and breathing techniques to guiding optimal baby positioning and providing reassurance throughout labour, a doula’s presence can positively transform the birth experience.

Eve herself had a doula and independent midwife present at her home birth in Parintins, Brasil. She provides recommendations for doula services tailored to each woman’s needs, combining professional expertise with a compassionate approach to guide and provide care throughout pregnancy, labour and beyond. It’s important that you connect well with your doula thereby building your personalised birthing team. Below, we share why hiring a doula can be so valuable and explore how it helps women feel empowered and supported during one of life’s most important journeys.

The Transformative Powers of a Doula

The steady consistent comforting support of a doula can change the way a woman experiences pregnancy and birth, offering care that goes beyond physical support. They provide continuous care, guidance, and reassurance throughout pregnancy, labour, and the early postpartum period. This presence and holding sacred space helps women feel confident, informed, and supported in every decision they make.

Rooted in indigenous traditions and ceremony that have guided women for centuries, a doula’s support, usually women, honours the wisdom of generations who have nurtured, empowered, and held space for birthing women. By combining emotional, physical, and informational support, a doula creates a nurturing environment where women can feel empowered, calm, and in control of their birth journey. 

Emotional Support and Confidence

A doula’s presence gives women continuous emotional support, helping them feel calm, confident, and cared for throughout pregnancy and labour. Pregnancy can bring lots of uncertainty, stress, and anxiety, especially with all the fluctuating hormones and having a calm, experienced professional with you helps women feel reassured and centred, when faced by the unpredictability of pregnancy and descisions in labour. This emotional grounding and careful preparation can contribute to smoother labour and greater satisfaction with the overall birth experience.

Physical Support During Labour

Doulas offer practical, hands-on support to help women manage the physical demands of labour. This may include guidance in pregnancy yoga and birthing positions, massage or acupressure, breathing techniques, and personalised pain-relief strategies. Continuous physical support helps conserve energy, maintain focus, and ride the waves of contractions more effectively together. By offering attentive, tailored care, a doula can reduce labour duration, lower intervention rates, and improve the overall birth experience.

Information and Advocacy

A doula also provides essential guidance and evidence-based information to support informed decision-making. They help women understand options, prepare for potential scenarios, and clarify preferences before and during labour. She will help you build your birth plan of preferences ie. Where you would like to birth at home or in hospital, dimmed lighting, quiet, warm environment, who you would like in the birthing room with you, access to a birthing pool/shower, being able to move with babys’ heart rate examined by a hand held monitor, minimal interventions and examinations, equipment needed like a birthing ball, yoga mat, hammock, tens machine, immediate skin to skin contact, cord cutting delay, vitamin K administered orally, whether you want students present or not, keep your placenta for encapsulation, retaining babies vernix, etc,…  Acting as an advocate, a doula ensures choices are communicated and respected, liaising with medical staff when necessary. This combination of informed guidance, reassurance, and advocacy helps women feel supported, confident, and more in control throughout pregnancy and birth.

Who Can Benefit from a Doula’s Presence?

The support of a doula can be beneficial for a wide range of women, whether they are a first-time mother or have had previous births. First-time mothers often benefit from the reassurance, guidance, and practical support a doula provides, helping them navigate labour with confidence and calm. 

Second and plus mothers also gain from doula support, especially if they want extra advocacy, assistance with coping techniques, whilst navigating the waves of labour together and continuity of care, as no birth is the same. Doulas offer personalised assistance whether someone has given birth before or not, helping all parents feel informed, supported, and cared for throughout pregnancy and labour. A doulas presence is invaluable.

Compassionate Doula Support

Eve Khambatta recommends doula services to mums-to-be, providing compassionate, continuous support for women throughout their pregnancies, labour and birth. Her aim is to help women feel informed, supported, and genuinely cared for – emotionally, physically and energetically – throughout this transformative time.

Having trained as a doula herself, she understands the guidance doulas offer, whether that’s teaching birthing techniques, supporting optimal baby positioning, and reassurance. But not the actual role a doula has of being a calm, steady presence during labour. Eve helps women prepare for birth in a way that feels empowering and personalised, offering tools for relaxation, breathing, and pain management, with her pregnancy massage coaching. By combining practical guidance with emotional support, she creates a safe and nurturing environment where women feel seen, heard and respected. 

Expertise in Pregnancy Care & Doula Support

Eve brings 20 years of experience in pregnancy care, massage, and holistic birth support to her practice. She has completed doula and birth-support training with many leading practitioners. She has trained with Kira Balaskas in Side Position Techniques & Pregnancy Massage, Suzanne Yates, learning her Well Mother Massage techniques and holistic approach to supporting women and partners throughout pregnancy and birth. She has also completed Paramana Doula training with Michel Odent and Liliana Lammers, and attended workshops with Janet Balaskas at the Active Birth Centre and Selina Wallis’ Rebozo Training.

She is also a member of Doula UK (trainee), CThA, and Embody. Thus helping her develop the knowledge, skills, and experience to provide pre labour doula support and help prepare women physically, emotionally, and spiritually for birth. Over the years, she has supported countless women and families, offering personalised guidance and compassionate care tailored to each individual. Her experience allows her to respond confidently to a variety of birth scenarios, providing reassurance and expert support throughout pregnancy and labour.

Contact Eve Khambatta for Recommendations for Doula Support Today

To learn more about Eve’s pregnancy coaching services and discuss how she can support you through pregnancy and birth, get in touch. Fill out our contact form or email her directly on [email protected]. By trusting the natural progression of your pregnancy and labour initiation with Eve, you can feel confident knowing she will provide continuous, compassionate support, personalised guidance, and reassurance every step of the way through your birthing journey.