Emotional Laboring Through Birth: Insight from Doula Volunteers

Abstract

In the US, only 6% of patients can afford to have a doula during their labor and delivery experience (Declercq et al., 2014). Doulas allow for birthing patients to have continuous physical, emotional, and informational support through non-medical interventions with an effort to better birth outcomes. Supplementing hospital staff and support people in the room, doulas provide support with a personal touch that focuses on empowering the birthing patient and protecting the birthing space. Building on Hochshild’s (1979, 1983) concept of emotional labor, I argue that the doula’s job is grounded in emotion work and emotional labor (Hochschild, 1979; Hochschild, 1983). Doulas help birthing patients navigate the stress, pain, and feelings associated with birth, and they assess their own effectiveness through a gendered lens of emotion (Gilliland, 2011). To better address this important work, which benefits both patients and doulas, I studied end-of-shift surveys completed by a cohort of hospital-based volunteer doulas who serve eastern North Carolina over the program’s first year of active service. This paper explores the doula’s perception of the relationship between birthing patients and themselves in their assessment of providing effective care and service based on the establishment of a strong emotional connection with the birth patient and their support. I found that most volunteers were able to help patients make more informed decisions and manage their pain more effectively. Based on the area of doula services provided in a healthcare and maternal care desert, there has been a greater need for doulas to provide birthing patients with direct support. Further studies are needed to find equitable long-term solutions to better address the gaps in maternal health equity, but hospital-based doula services could be a potential answer.