plural doulas
: a person trained to provide advice, information, emotional support, and physical comfort to a mother before, during, and just after childbirth
Research shows that childbirth does go more smoothly with a doula: labor is 25 percent shorter, the need for epidural pain relief is 60 percent less and the Caesarean section rate is reduced by half.—
Susan Gilbert
Susan GilbertExamples of doula in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Noel Almario, 40, a birth doula, said the board has made incremental progress in fighting poverty, homelessness and providing adequate healthcare to those in need but is moving too slowly.
—Steve Scauzillo, Daily News, 29 May 2026
One night, her doula guided her, trying to induce labor through exercises and various positions.
—Kate Hogan, PEOPLE, 28 May 2026
For the birth scene, director Ken Olin gave Woodley and Brown room to find the moment rather than execute something predetermined, and several of the women hired as midwives were real nurses; one was a doula.
—Kennedy French, Variety, 23 May 2026
His chief antagonist is his caustic first wife, Queen Marguerite (Joy DeMichelle), who operates as a kind of a martinet death doula.
—Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for doula
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Steve Scauzillo, Daily News, 29 May 2026
One night, her doula guided her, trying to induce labor through exercises and various positions.
—Kate Hogan, PEOPLE, 28 May 2026
For the birth scene, director Ken Olin gave Woodley and Brown room to find the moment rather than execute something predetermined, and several of the women hired as midwives were real nurses; one was a doula.
—Kennedy French, Variety, 23 May 2026
His chief antagonist is his caustic first wife, Queen Marguerite (Joy DeMichelle), who operates as a kind of a martinet death doula.
—Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for doula
Cite this Entry
“Doula.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doula. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
doula
noun
dou·la
ˈdü-lə 
: a woman experienced in childbirth who provides advice, information, emotional support, and physical comfort to a mother before, during, and just after childbirth
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