The use of doulas during labour could indicate failings in patient care.<\/p>\n
The warning comes from a doctor on the BMJ website who is concerned that any real or perceived need for doulas means that pregnant women are not getting the support they need.<\/p>\n
A doula is a paid birth assistant whose role is to mother the mother during labour.<\/p>\n
There are around 1000 doulas working in the UK. They offer services such as antenatal visits, support during labour and charge between \u00a3400 and \u00a3900.<\/p>\n
But Dr Dr Abhijoy Chakladar believes use of doulas could mean that the midwifery services and family support is failing women during pregnancy.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI found myself disconcerted by the doula\u2019s presence as I was unfamiliar with her role,\u201d he says. \u201cIn retrospect, I should have confirmed everyone\u2019s roles and established ground rules acceptable to all involved on entering the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is no regulating service for hired birthing partners and a doula may work without training.<\/p>\n
As the numbers of doulas increase, Dr Chakladar is concerned whether the doula business is actually necessary or exploits mothers-to-be’s fears as part of the birth-related products and services market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The use of doulas during labour could indicate failings in patient care. The warning comes from a doctor on the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bristol-news"],"yoast_head":"\n