This research, led by Professor Helen Spiby of the Maternal Health and Wellbeing Research Group, examined an innovative volunteer doula service, established in one city and rolled out to four other sites. A doula is a woman who provides support to a childbearing woman, but is not a family member or healthcare professional.
The initiative offers support to disadvantaged childbearing women, aiming to enhance their wellbeing and improve the uptake of health services.
Funded by the National Institute for Health Research’s Health Services and Delivery Research programme, this independent evaluation addressed four broad questions: implications for the NHS; health and psychosocial impacts for women; impacts on doulas; and the process of implementing and sustaining the service.
A highly valued service
The study found that the majority of women who accepted the support valued it highly for the doulas’ availability, flexibility, continuity and non-judgmental listening. Women also appreciated the volunteer doulas for their companionship, the relief from isolation and for helping them access services. The majority of doulas enjoyed the role and felt well-prepared by the training the service provided.
Doula services experienced challenges in securing sustained funding; some of their costs were met by host organisations.
The research was carried out using a mixed-method study, with interviews, focus groups and questionnaires to obtain primary data from a range of stakeholders. Existing datasets for comparing clinical and public health outcomes were also used and contributed to a cost-consequence analysis.
This was the largest independent evaluation of volunteer doula support in the UK.
Further findings on the impact on the NHS in terms of costs and perceptions of midwifery staff can be found in the full report, published by the NIHR journals library.