We must be doing something right: mainstream media attacks doulas.

As many of you already know, the Wall Street Journal recently published an article on birth doulas. The article was largely anecdotal and focused on doulas who do not operate within the standards of the profession. Instead of providing support so mothers can advocate for themselves, these doulas were said to be directly interfering with physicians' care of their clients.

The article was disappointing in many ways, particularly because it did not provide a balanced or in-depth review of labor support. Rather than examining statistics and discussing the positive benefits of labor support, including improved outcomes for mothers and babies, the article suggested that doulas increase risks because they hinder doctors' orders. In fact, evidence shows that women's risks are increased from unnecessary interventions, and it is labor assistants/birth doulas and childbirth educators who decrease these risks by providing mothers with education and support to avoid these interventions.

ALACE wrote a letter to the Wall Street Journal to correct misstatements and call for a balanced look into the topic. The paper printed a few letters from individuals supportive of doulas, but did not print any letters from the many birth organizations who responded.

We encourage you and your clients to write the Wall Street Journal calling for a real examination into childbirth issues and testifying to the benefits of labor support. The ALACE letter to the editor appears below, and is also posted on our website, www.alace.org. You can e-mail letters to [e-mail], and we would appreciate your sending a copy to our office at [e-mail] as we are keeping a record of all responses.