Typically when people meet me they automatically assume my services include the job of a midwife. Doulas and Midwives seem similar, since they’re both people (who aren’t OBs) who help women through labor and they are both most commonly chosen by moms-to-be who plan for an unmedicated birth; but their roles in the childbirth process are actually quite different.

A Midwife is a health care provider, while a doula is more of a childbirth coach. You might choose to have a midwife instead of an OB for prenatal care and to deliver your baby—midwives can deliver babies in hospitals, birthing centers or even in your home.

A Doula, on the other hand, doesn’t replace your healthcare practitioner but rather can add extra services, such as helping you with planning the birth you would like, techniques to manage pain during labor and even providing spousal support and help during baby’s early day and throughout the 4th trimester (postpartum).