Worthing doctor slams unregulated doulas (From The Argus)

Worthing doctor slams unregulated doulas

9:30am Wednesday 2nd December 2009 in

By Siobhan Ryan, Health Reporter »

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A hospital doctor has criticised the growing trend among pregnant women to hire birth partners to help them when they go into labour.

Trainee anaesthetist Abhijoy Chakladar, who works at Worthing Hospital, said using doulas could compromise patient care.

Writing in the online British Medical Journal, Dr Chakladar, said doulas, who act as pregnancy and birth partners, are unregulated and should not be involved in medical decisions.

He said: "This trend may be a sad reflection of failures in the delivery of medical and midwifery care, a sticking plaster concealing greater problems.

Dr Chakladar, said a doula had compromised the care he offered one patient.

He gave the patient a top-up of epidural pain relief during labour after she complained of discomfort and said she should lie on her side.

The doula interjected to say that the mother was comfortable as she was and the patient ended up staying as she was.

Dr Chakladar said he should have spoken directly to the mother and not the doula.

He said he was "disappointed by the real or perceived need for doulas", saying it was the duty of doctors, nurses and midwives to support mothers and families "through a very special but potentially frightening experience".

He said people feared the unknown and this, coupled with the time-pressured environment on hospital wards, "takes control away from the individual".

Dr Chakladar said staff shortages and shift changes often made continuity of care impossible which was why some women may opt to have a doula so there was someone there throughout.

Louise Silverton, deputy general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), said: "There is no doubt that some doulas are performing a role that should be done by midwives."

She added: "Women need emotional support during and after their pregnancy and in the absence of social networks like family, doulas can provide this.

"My concern is that women are perhaps using doulas because the maternity services are struggling to provide one-to-one care, and that midwives, who are not just trained clinical experts but are also skilled in emotional support, are currently finding it challenging to provide continuity of care."

Bridget Baker, co-chair and courses co-ordinator for Doula UK, said: "Dr Chakladar raises some salient points.

"Doulas are neither employed to provide clients with clinical care, nor to overstep the boundaries of their role, providing purely lay emotional and practical support."

Doulas are not usually medically qualified but have been growing in popularity and have been used by several celebrities.

Around 1,000 are currently thought to be working in the UK. Doula UK is the largest organisation in Britain with some 450 registered doulas and it has seen demand rise substantially in the past 15 years.

Doulas can cost anything from £200 to more than £1,000 and tailor their services to the needs of the mother and any partner.

Comments(18)

Sophie29 says...
9:54am Wed 2 Dec 09

I completely agree with this article. Women are more and more being conditioned to "fear" childbirth and especially the need for medical intervention. Doula's feed on this fear and often use it to slam the doctors and midwives whose sole job it is to ensure a healthy delivery for both mother and child. Doulas are not responsible professionals whose practices are kept up to date and monitored and regulated like doctors and nurses are required to do. I am not against mothers having all the moral support they need in labour and to be fully informed of their choices when it comes to childbirth, but people need to start to trust their midwives and doctors. To listen to a doula's advice over a trained professional is madness. Even more madness to spend £2000 for it.