What is the difference between a doula and a midwife?
- tlograsso26
- Jul 9
- 3 min read
A doula is a non-medical professional that provides educational, physical, and emotional support to women and partners during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. There are birth doulas, postpartum doulas, adoption doulas, bereavement doulas, and more. Some are professionally trained and certified, some are not. Training typically involves extensive childbirth, postpartum, and scope of practice education. There are countless organizations that train doulas to provide birth, postpartum, bereavement, abortion, fertility, and adoption support. Not all doulas that choose to certify will be trained in every specialty.
The cost for a birth doula is typically anywhere from $1000-$2000, depending on their location and the services they offer. Doulas may choose to accept pro bono, sliding scale or flexible payment options. Some insurance plans cover doulas that have up to date certification from a select few organizations. You can contact your insurance provider to learn more about your individual policy. There are other third party fertility and family-building programs, sometimes offered as part of a employee benefit package, by organizations like Carrot, where stipends are given towards fertility, birth, and postpartum support.
A doula will typically meet with a family during pregnancy a certain number of times, to get to know one another and provide basic childbirth and postpartum education. When hiring a birth doula, she will be on call to provide support throughout the labor, sometimes beginning with phone support and eventually uninterrupted person support. The doula’s main role during birth is to be a source of knowledge and ease, to provide physical support offering position changes and comfort measures, as well as emotional support and reassurance for the family throughout their birth experience.
When hiring a postpartum doula, she may offer day or night support usually in the first 4 months, what is considered the fourth trimester. She provides newborn and feeding care, breastfeeding support, postpartum education, modeling, and resources that apply to each individual family.
A midwife is a medically trained professional who provides prenatal, labor, and postpartum care to birthing people in hospital, at home, and in birthing centers. There are two types of midwives nationally recognized for certification in the U.S. - Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM) and Certified Professional Midwives (CPM). While nurse midwives are required to obtain a nursing degree before pursuing midwifery, both routes to care require extensive education in accredited programs, clinical experience, board examination, and evaluation. State licensure for CNMs is recognized in all 50 states. State licensure for CPMs is recognized in 37 states.
A midwife is a health professional providing necessary medical care to people throughout pregnancy, labor and the postpartum period. Their care includes managing the person’s vitals, diagnosing and treating conditions that may arise due to pregnancy or childbirth, regularly checking on baby’s heart rate and position, and more. Some midwives also provide well women gynecological care. The biggest difference between a midwife and an OB-GYN is the approach to care. Midwives generally take a more holistic approach, encouraging natural pregnancy and laboring techniques, while an OB may have a more medical and clinical approach, focusing on interventions and management of labor. OB’s are also equipped to perform C-sections and other surgical procedures.
All in all, doulas and midwives work in tandem as a birth team, offering very different means of support for birthing people all over the world. Visit the Doula page or contact Taylor LoGrasso to learn more about what support looks like at Tulua Healing Arts.
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