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
Volunteers will change bedding, handle donations, clean laundry and serve as death doulas.
—Jack Rodriquez-Vars, Sacbee.com, 19 June 2025
She's since expanded her career and is a birth doula, writer and podcast host with her wife.
—Caroline Blair, People.com, 18 June 2025
The collective assigns doulas to serve families and also trains and employs people to work as doulas.
—Richard Requena, Chicago Tribune, 11 May 2025
Keenan-Bolger also serves as an end-of-life doula, providing counsel to those facing the end of their lives, as well as their families and loved ones.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 29 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for doula
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Jack Rodriquez-Vars, Sacbee.com, 19 June 2025
She's since expanded her career and is a birth doula, writer and podcast host with her wife.
—Caroline Blair, People.com, 18 June 2025
The collective assigns doulas to serve families and also trains and employs people to work as doulas.
—Richard Requena, Chicago Tribune, 11 May 2025
Keenan-Bolger also serves as an end-of-life doula, providing counsel to those facing the end of their lives, as well as their families and loved ones.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 29 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for doula
Cite this Entry
“Doula.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doula. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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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