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Opinion: I Was a Doula Before I Was an OB-GYN. I Wish the Two Professions Understood Each Other More

by Debra Eluobaju

Published 2026-09-03 08:30:00+00:00

How can a doctor and a doula stand in the same delivery room and see two different births?

0:00 / 7:19 · Narrator Sulafat

Context

Writing in STAT News on 3 September 2026, a former doula turned OB-GYN resident captures a quiet collision that happens in delivery rooms every day. Obstetricians and doulas often clash during childbirth, but the friction rarely comes from bad intentions. Instead, the two sides are usually reacting to entirely different versions of the same event. A doctor sees a sudden drop on a fetal heart monitor; a doula sees a frightened mother losing control of her birth plan. The tension forces a difficult question: how can a hospital honor a patient's emotional experience when medical urgency takes over?

Show notes

An OB-GYN resident who previously worked as a doula examines the frequent conflicts between medical staff and birth advocates. Drawing on her time in both roles, she explains how physicians and doulas often react to different versions of the same delivery—one focused on medical risk, the other on the patient's emotional experience. She uses examples from the delivery room to show how maternity care changes when these two groups trust each other.

Read on STAT News →