A doula is a supportive profession, the doula supports the mum to be as well as dad throughout the process of labour.
Sometimes the doula would give the childbirth preparation course and she would attend the birth from start to finish. So if in hospital you go into labour the midwife, nurses and doctors will come and go and change shifts but the doula would stay the whole time.
The doula is someone you know in advance and you know she will be with you throughout the process, the longest I ever had was a forty eight hour birth, that was pretty long.
