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
The United Way of Tarrant County has prioritized training doulas as a way to improve maternal and infant health in Tarrant County.
—Ciara McCarthy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 Nov. 2025
And the nurse and the doula were really kind of butting heads.
—Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 30 Oct. 2025
One’s about death doulas (a very different sort of intimacy).
—Benjamin Svetkey, HollywoodReporter, 15 Oct. 2025
Though Ben Marshall is great here as Poehler's doula.
—Andy Hoglund, Entertainment Weekly, 12 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for doula
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Ciara McCarthy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 Nov. 2025
And the nurse and the doula were really kind of butting heads.
—Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 30 Oct. 2025
One’s about death doulas (a very different sort of intimacy).
—Benjamin Svetkey, HollywoodReporter, 15 Oct. 2025
Though Ben Marshall is great here as Poehler's doula.
—Andy Hoglund, Entertainment Weekly, 12 Oct. 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 28 Nov. 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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