A doula does not replace your partner! Instead she helps support the partner so that he or she can love and encourage you.
Sometimes we, as women, forget that the role of a “labor coach” can be challenging. We expect new fathers-to-be to become familiar with the process of birth, to understand medical procedures and hospital protocols and advocate for his partner in an environment he is unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable with.
A doula can provide information to help parents make appropriate decisions and facilitate communication between the laboring woman, her partner and medical care providers.
With a doula, a father can share in the birth at a level he feels most comfortable with. The doula’s skills and knowledge can help him to feel more relaxed.
I also often hear that fathers want their first birthing experience to be an intimate event. A doula does not invade on the intimacy of birth; rather, she encourages closeness and togetherness. She guides fathers through the labor and birth process so that he may focus even more on the mother.