Expanding Our Understanding of Birth Doulas’ Emotional and Informational Support Role: A Qualitative Analysis of Interventions Delivered During COVID-19

Abstract

Birth doulas were classified as nonessential personnel during COVID-19 and generally excluded from providing physical, in-hospital birth support. This amplified their emotional and informational support to clients, offering a unique opportunity to examine psychological mechanisms underlying birth doulas’ impact on perinatal outcomes. We conducted a methodologically rigorous qualitative case study leveraging a social action theory framework and interviewed 15 demographically diverse birth doulas. Doulas played an important role in supporting their clients’ psychological change processes (e.g., problem solving, outcome expectancies, self-efficacy, goal structures, cognitive schemas). This study contributes to our understanding of psychosocial interventions that may drive the positive effects of doula care on health outcomes, both within and beyond the pandemic context.