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
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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
The 58-year-old Oscar and Emmy winner opened up at an April 18 History semiquincentennial event in Philadelphia about her recent training to become a death doula.
—Lisa De Los Reyes, HollywoodReporter, 6 May 2026
Death doulas provide holistic, emotional and sometimes spiritual support to people and their families during the dying process.
—Jen Christensen, CNN Money, 1 May 2026
Folks can read more about end-of-life doula training and practices, and search a directory, on the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance website.
—R. Eric Thomas, Chicago Tribune, 22 Apr. 2026
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Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2026
The 58-year-old Oscar and Emmy winner opened up at an April 18 History semiquincentennial event in Philadelphia about her recent training to become a death doula.
—Lisa De Los Reyes, HollywoodReporter, 6 May 2026
Death doulas provide holistic, emotional and sometimes spiritual support to people and their families during the dying process.
—Jen Christensen, CNN Money, 1 May 2026
Folks can read more about end-of-life doula training and practices, and search a directory, on the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance website.
—R. Eric Thomas, Chicago Tribune, 22 Apr. 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 22 May. 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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