When planning for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, one of the biggest decisions families face is choosing the right care and support. Midwives provide medical care throughout pregnancy, birth, and postpartum—they are a primary healthcare provider, an alternative to an OB. Doulas, on the other hand, offer private, non-medical support that improves birth and postpartum experiences for all families, regardless of where or how they give birth.
Rather than choosing between a doula and a midwife, many families benefit from both—combining medical expertise with continuous emotional and physical support. In this post, we’ll break down how these roles differ, how they work together, and how to build the right care team for your family.
Let’s break down how these roles differ and how they work together to provide a more comprehensive and empowering experience!
What’s the Difference Between a Midwife and a Doula??
Both doulas and midwives play essential roles in birth care, but their focus and responsibilities are distinct. Midwives provide medical care, ensuring the safety of both parent and baby throughout pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Doulas offer non-medical, continuous support, focusing on emotional, physical, and informational care to enhance the birthing experience. The key difference lies in their scope of practice—midwives manage the clinical aspects of birth, while doulas provide personalized support that empowers and comforts families through every stage of the journey.
| Doula | Midwife | |
|---|---|---|
| Type of care | Non-medical, continuous support | Regulated medical care |
| Can deliver a baby | No | Yes |
| Training | Certification (DONA, Doula Canada, CAPPA) | Regulated health professional |
| Covered by MSP (BC)¹ | No | Yes, for BC residents |
| Typical cost | $1,200–$2,500+ birth / $35–$65/hr postpartum | $0 out of pocket with MSP |
| Role during labor | Continuous presence, comfort, advocacy | Clinical monitoring, delivers baby |
| Can you have both | Yes — many families do | Yes |
¹ Verified via Government of BC and the Midwives Association of BC.
What Is a Doula?
A birth doula is a trained, non-medical professional who provides emotional, physical, and informational support throughout pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Their primary role is to ensure that parents feel informed, comforted, and empowered during their reproductive journey—supporting these experiences to be more connected, easeful, and filled with joy. Read more about doulas’ roles, responsibilities, and care here!
Key Birth Doula Responsibilities:
- Centring prenatal care around building relational trust and connection
- Sharing individualized resources, education, and knowledge
- Creating and navigating birth preferences
- Advocating for informed decision-making, including navigating pain management and interventions
- Offering continuous emotional and physical support during labor—for both the birthing person and their support team
- Providing comfort measures such as breathing techniques, massage, and movement (position) support
- Supporting postpartum recovery, including newborn care, lactation + feeding support, and mental health awareness
Unlike midwives, birth doulas do not provide medical care or deliver babies. Their expertise lies in personalized support, navigating the healthcare system, reducing anxiety (increasing joy!) and ensuring parents feel confident and cared for.
🔗 Learn more about what birth doulas do
Key Postpartum Doula Responsibilities:
- Supporting newborn care basics — diapering, bathing, soothing, and swaddling techniques
- Offering feeding support and evidence-based guidance on breastfeeding, chestfeeding, pumping, or bottle-feeding
- Helping parents rest and physically recover in the weeks and months after birth
- Providing light household support, like meal prep, tidying, and organizing baby supplies
- Coaching parents through realistic newborn sleep patterns and expectations for the first weeks
- Offering emotional support and reassurance through the identity shifts of early parenthood
- Helping partners and support people feel confident and included in newborn care
Unlike midwives, postpartum doulas do not provide medical care, clinically monitor physical recovery, or diagnose postpartum complications. Their expertise lies in hands-on newborn care coaching, practical household support, and steady emotional reassurance — helping families rest, recover, and settle into life with a new baby.
🔗 Learn more about what postpartum doulas do
What Is a Midwife?
A midwife is a trained medical professional who provides clinical care for birthing parents and newborns. Midwives specialize in low-risk pregnancies and can offer prenatal, birth, and postpartum medical care in hospitals, birth centres, or home settings.
Key Midwife Responsibilities:
- Conducting prenatal check-ups and monitoring fetal health
- Delivering babies and managing labor progress
- Providing medical guidance on pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery
- Assessing newborn health immediately after birth
Midwives can administer some medications, order tests, and provide referrals if a pregnancy becomes high-risk. They are an excellent choice for those seeking a holistic, patient-centred approach to medical care throughout pregnancy and birth.
How Doulas and Midwives Work Together
Choosing between a doula and a midwife isn’t an either-or decision—they serve distinct but complementary roles, creating a well-rounded, supportive birth team. While midwives focus on medical care, doulas provide continuous emotional, physical, and informational support, ensuring families feel empowered, comforted, and heard throughout the experience.
Benefits of Having Both a Doula and a Midwife:
✔ Comprehensive Care: Midwives oversee medical safety, while doulas enhance emotional and physical well-being—both working to optimize the family’s optimal pregnancy, birth and postpartum experiences.
✔ Continuous Support: A doula stays with you throughout labor—working collaboratively with other medical team members, such as nurses—while a midwife will likely be managing multiple patients at a time, attending to you for key points in your labor.
✔ Advocacy & Communication: Doulas help translate medical information, support informed consent and ensure parents’ wishes are respected in real-time.
✔ Postpartum Wellness: Midwives monitor physical health post-birth, while doulas assist with recovery, newborn care, resource sharing and infant feeding + sleep support.
In essence, midwives and doulas complement each other, working together to support birthing parents and their families holistically.
Doulas and midwives each bring unique yet complementary support to pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Midwives focus on medical care and safety, while doulas provide continuous emotional, physical, and informational support. Together, they create a more empowered, informed, and supported experience—helping families navigate this transformative time with confidence and care.
At Brood, we believe every family deserves compassionate, expert-led care that meets their individual needs. Our team is here to guide you every step of the way! Have questions? Connect with us today to find the right support for your journey!
Should I have a doula or midwife?
It’s not either-or. A midwife is your medical care provider — they monitor your health and your baby’s, and they deliver the baby. A doula supports you continuously through labor and postpartum recovery in ways a midwife’s caseload doesn’t always allow. Many Western Canadian families use both.
Are doulas covered in Canada?
Not through provincial health plans — midwifery is publicly funded in BC and Alberta, but doula care isn’t. Many extended health and employer benefits plans (Sun Life, Manulife, Canada Life, Pacific Blue Cross, and others) partially or fully reimburse doula care. Brood provides receipts formatted for these claims.
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Sources: Government of British Columbia, Medical Services Plan – Midwives (gov.bc.ca) | Midwives Association of British Columbia, Midwifery Care FAQ (bcmidwives.com).
