doula
/ˈduːlə/
doula noun: a trained support person who provides emotional, physical and practical assistance to a pregnant woman or couple before, during or after childbirth.
Noun
doula (plural doulas)
- A trained support person who provides emotional, physical and practical assistance to a pregnant woman or couple before, during or after childbirth.
- The function of the doula varies in different cultures from a little help here and there to complete succoring, including bathing, cooking, carrying, and feeding. Whatever the doula does, however, is less important than the fact that she is there.1973, Dana Raphael, The Tender Gift: Breastfeeding, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, →ISBN, page 24
- Rebekah Rosler, a therapist and doula, decided to leave, even though her family history in New York goes back to the 1870s, she said.2020 June 5, Alyson Krueger, “The Agonizing Question: Is New York City Worth It Anymore?”, in New York Times
- A trained person who provides similar support to someone who is diagnosed with an incurable condition and is receiving end-of-life care.
doula meaning in Tamil and Malay
doula in Tamil
- செவிலி
doula in Malay
- person assisting a pregnant mother before, during or after childbirth
- pembantu bidan
Forms of doula
| plural | doulas |
|---|
Origin of doula
Borrowed from Greek δούλα (doúla, “servant-woman”), from Ancient Greek δούλη (doúlē, “female slave”). Popularized by the American anthropologist Dana Raphael in the book The Tender Gift: Breastfeeding (1973), where the word is credited to Eleni Rassias.
Words that rhyme with doula
Questions about doula
- What does doula mean?
- Doula means a trained support person who provides emotional, physical and practical assistance to a pregnant woman or couple before, during or after childbirth.
- What is doula in Tamil?
- Doula in Tamil is செவிலி. See Doula meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is doula?
- Doula is a noun.
- How do you pronounce doula?
- Doula is pronounced /ˈduːlə/.
- What is the plural of doula?
- The plural of doula is doulas.
Words near doula in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: doula (page history and authors); doula (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-doula.wav.
Cite this entry: “doula.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/doula. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.