What is a doula and what is her role?

As your doula, I’m by your side throughout pregnancy, birth, and the early days with your baby. My role is to protect and nurture the emotional experience of giving birth, helping you feel calm, supported, and confident every step of the way.

A doula doesn’t replace the partner or the midwife, instead, she complements their roles by offering continuous emotional and practical support. I’m also there to guide and reassure your partner, so you can both feel grounded and connected during this transformative experience.

Midwives often have many responsibilities and can’t always be present at every moment. As your doula, I remain by your side throughout offering consistent care, encouragement, and presence when you need it most.

With warmth, intuition, and years of experience, I’m here to support you through pregnancy, birth, and the tender first days with your baby––helping you welcome new life with confidence and calm.

The doula Maria Bengtsson supports a woman giving birth in a birthing pool.

The Benefits of Doula Support

Research consistently shows that continuous support from a doula can make a meaningful difference in both the birth experience and the early days of parenthood. My role is to bring calm, reassurance, and presence — helping you feel grounded and supported throughout.

When a doula is present during birth:

  • Labor often becomes shorter and flows more smoothly, with fewer complications.

  • Parents report more positive and empowered birth experiences.

  • The need for interventions such as induction, vacuum extraction, forceps, or cesarean birth is reduced.

  • The use of pain relief or epidural medication often decreases.

Parents who receive doula support:

  • Feel safer, more confident, and genuinely cared for.

  • Tend to establish breastfeeding more easily.

  • Gain greater confidence in their new role as parents.

  • Have a lower risk of postpartum depression.

  • Adjust more smoothly to life as a new family.

With continuous emotional and physical support, a doula helps create a calm and nurturing environment, so you can focus on what truly matters: welcoming your baby with confidence, connection, and love.

Source:  https://lakartidningen.se/wp-content/uploads/OldPdfFiles/2005/29705.pdf , Dona International och Organisationen för doulor och förlossningspedagoger i Sverige (ODIS).

  • “You shape your own experience through the choices you make — and the ones you choose not to make. If you genuinely wish for a healthy pregnancy and a positive birth experience, and you recognize that much of the process is within your control, then it’s worth asking yourself: What have I done — or not done — to create the best possible foundation for myself and my birth?"

    — Kim Wildner

  • "Following your heart is not easy. Getting to know yourself is not easy. It takes a lot of hard work and great courage to find out who you truly are and what you really want."

    — Sue Bender

  • “If doulas were a medicine, it would be unethical not to use them.”

    — John H Kennell

  • "If I don't know what choices I have, then I have none."

    — Diana Korte