Holding the space: the reemerging role of the doula

With the ongoing medicalization of birth in the United States, many are not receiving the kind of care they should be afforded. Despite the large amount of money the United States spends on healthcare, birth outcomes are suboptimal in comparison to other industrialized countries. In addition to health disparities based on class, race, ethnicity, language barriers, gender and sexual orientation, the reason for poor birth outcomes in the US has to do with the highly technological rigor with which medicine is practiced which has created a social or emotional absence within obstetrics. Doulas, non medically trained birth companions, are helping to fill this void because the nature of their work involves emotional, social, physical, support, before, during and after birth. I argue that in filling this void, doulas act as agents of social change in that they are ushering in a new way to "do" birth while also being concerned with feminist issues, reproductive rights, and hindrances in accessibility to good quality care.