You've already got all kinds of support for your birth – from your partner, your doctor, the midwives and nurses in hospital, maybe your family if they live nearby. A doula does not replace any of that wonderful care. What she provides is a whole different type of support.

A doula is there for you continuously during labour and birth, as you need her. No shift changes, no other women to attend to down the hall, no paperwork, no ringing phones. A doula is someone you know well by the time of your baby's birth – she is a familiar face when most of the other people around are strangers. A doula has a personal connection with you, but she is also an experienced professional – and that is wonderful at those moments when it all seems so confusing and you wonder if you are the only one in the world who has experienced what you're going through!

What difference can having a ParentLink doula make for your birth? Of women supported by a ParentLink doula:

more than 80% give birth without an epidural or other drugs for pain relief
88% have vaginal births
97% give birth without an episiotomy
less than 5% have forceps or ventouse (vacuum) deliveries
100% breastfeed at birth and more than 85% are still breastfeeding at 6 months

That's a very different picture from the average in Singapore, where 95% of women would use drugs for pain relief, up to 50% would have a caesarean (depending on the hospital), 95% would have an episiotomy, and fewer than 10% would be breastfeeding at 6 months.

Doulas are not a "magic wand" – these things don't happen as soon as you click "send" on a booking form! But hiring a doula means you have invested in the opportunity to make your birth what you want. Even if things don't turn out the way you imagined, with a doula's support you are more likely to feel informed, in control, and reassured every step of the way.