Doulas cannot replace trained personnel in childbirths

PETALING JAYA: Doulas – whose role is to give emotional support to mothers – cannot replace trained midwives or doctors in childbirths, said the Malaysian Medical Association.

Its president Dr Ravindran R. Naidu said while some mothers opt to deliver at home in their belief that labour without medical intervention is a natural process, a birth is unsafe if it is not supervised and conducted by trained midwives or doctors.