Who are doulas? For those of you who do not know what a doula is essential, they are trained professionals who will offer emotional, physical, and informational support. Typically, when someone thinks of a doula, they automatically think of a birth doula. These doulas specifically will help a woman during and after childbirth and are the more common/known doulas. For someone who perhaps has had a bad experience in a hospital or simply prefers a home birth, a birth doula is a good option. However, one thing to note is that there are two other types of doulas that are less known: an abortion doula and a death doula.
A death doula. Who would have thought that there was someone professionally trained who could help you during such a difficult time in your life? Whether it be for the person who is dying or the family who will have to endure the fact that their loved one is leaving them. According to the International End of Life Doula Association, some of the specific ways a death doula serves is by assisting with physical and practical care and processing emotions and experiences with loved ones (INELDA, 2024). Instead of having to process emotions about dying alone, these trained doulas will help guide you until the end. For friends and family, many of the feelings after a person’s death can be very lonely, so having a death doula help with things like maybe the funeral can be very helpful.
An abortion doula. Abortion is one of the many big decisions a woman can make in their lifetime. Maybe they don’t feel ready to be mothers. Perhaps they are too young. Or maybe they experienced something very traumatic that unfortunately ended up in a pregnancy. Whatever the reason, abortion doulas will help guide women through the abortion process. In the current day and age, topics like abortion can be very controversial, therefore making women feel like they have to hide the fact that they got an abortion. Maybe even feel ashamed to think of having one. Abortion doulas will offer emotional support for women who do decide to make this decision. For example, some of the ways an abortion doula can provide support is simply by making sure the person has food and drinks (Planned Parenthood, 2024). Support can come in many different forms. For a big decision like this, abortion doulas can be very helpful to women.
In Conclusion, no matter the life event, there can be doulas to help guide you throughout the process. Birthing doulas focus on helping a woman during and after birth. A death doula helps emotionally and physically to prepare for death, the person dying, and their friends and family who will need the support. Lastly, the abortion doula will help a woman during and after making a big decision, like going through the process of abortion.
References
- International End of Life Doula Association. (2024). What is an End of Life Doula? https://inelda.org/about-doulas/what-is-a-doula/
- Planned parenthood. (2024). Introducing: Abortion Doulas https://inelda.org/about-doulas/what-is-a-doula/
