Why you need a doula

written April 22, 2025 | updated July 16, 2025

For most electrical work, I prefer to figure it out myself and save a bunch of money, rather than hire an electrician. But for our first birth? We figured we'd avoid DIY disasters.

I thought doulas were for people from eastern cultures or maybe rich people who like attention. Actually, doulas fill some serious gaps in birth care.

Here's why our doula made a massive difference during our first birth.

1. They know stuff

And, in fact, there's a lot to know about birth. If you need legal counsel, you hire a lawyer. If you need to design a building, you hire an architect. If you are giving birth, you hire a doula.

An experienced doula can offer options to the medical staff. Our doula offered advice that was taken by the nurses on multiple occasions. At the same time, she was consistently keeping us moving through different exercises and breathing, plus reminding us things to be aware of.

Having someone who's delivered scores of babies and is passionate about improving your birth experience just makes sense. Get a nerd on your side.

2. They're your advocate

Doctors and nurses are nice, but they're unavoidably incentivized to move quickly and to recommend expensive medications and procedures. Especially when you prepare a plan beforehand, the doula can help defend you from unwarranted suggestions from medical staff and to advocate when changes are legitimately needed. This allows you and your partner to focus on labor.

Nurses (and especially doctors) are usually attending to multiple women in labor at the same time. Is labor not hard enough to justify keeping a professional in the room who can continually offer advice, track details, and communicate effectively?

3. You(r partner) might actually listen to them

In addition to advocacy and wisdom, a doula generally becomes a trusted (yet reasonably neutral) advisor. A doula can provide (fairly) authoritative guidance and knows how to best communicate with a woman in labor. Even if you do some heavy studying up on birth (and you should!), it's going to be far easier to have a doula as a guide.

4. They know more than just baby-catching

A good doula can help not just during birth, but pre and postpartum. Even though we were connected to lots of other friends with kids, our doula still had tons of great tips like getting an insurance-covered maternity care kit and where to find the best gently used strollers.

Conclusion

Maybe you're a birth aficionado and you don't need a doula. Great!--nurses and midwives can provide excellent care. And shoot, doulas are expensive! And yet, it's hard to put a price tag on an efficient and healthy birth.