An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt. Impact Link Typically called a birth doula, a doula is a non-medical specialist who provides physical and emotional support during labor and childbirth.

It's no secret that giving birth is not a walk in the park. In fact, for some women it can be as grueling an experience as climbing Mount Everest. However, increasing numbers of women are finding ...

When Barbara and Christopher Lawton were planning for the birth of their son almost two years ago, the midwife practice they were using in Pittsburgh asked them if they were going to use a doula ...

Doulas are Community Birth Workers who provide continuous emotional, informational and physical support to a mother during her pregnancy, labor and just after birth. Historically, women, young and old ...

As a doula, I often get asked by first-time parents what they should expect during labor. Will they really know when it's time to go to the hospital? What if things don't go as planned? Whether you ...

Sign up for The Morning Report with all your must-read news for the day. Thursday, September 29, 2005 | A young woman, clad in a hospital gown and visibly pregnant ...

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2019 issue of ESSENCE Magazine. Hours into her labor, LeToya Luckett-Walker and her husband, Tommicus Walker, were grasping opposite ends of a towel ...

After two hours of pushing, Ashley Fadiora was exhausted, weak, and wondering how on earth she was going to get this baby out. Her husband and her mother, weary themselves, weren't much help. Then ...

It is an established and alarming fact that Black women are more likely to die during childbirth than white women. This is why Rianka Dorsainvil, a CFP and co-founder of 2050 Wealth Partners, decided ...

Most teens spent their summer sleeping in and hanging out with friends at the mall, pool or beach. Seventeen-year-old Allie Sakowicz had quite a different view: a hospital maternity ward. Sakowicz, an ...

Pictured, top row from left, are Lucinda Ann Marsh, Hiral Patel and Alexandria James. Bottom row, from left, are Cristen Wilkins, Julie Thompson, Bekah Windsor. The Labor of Love Doula Program has ...