Abstract
The perceptions of mothers of the impact of birth doulas on their post partum depressive symptoms was examined through the lens of role theory and the multi-dimensional framework. With permission, an anonymous, online survey was distributed via email to 67 doulas, all of whom were members of a large organization of doulas in the Twin Cities, MN area. The email included a survey link and a request for the doulas to forward the survey link to their clients who had given birth within the last five years. The 17-question survey asked demographic data and questions regarding role conflict, interactions with their doulas prenatally and postnatally, and experiences with post partum depressive symptoms. Only 14 responses were received, preventing valid statistical analysis. No relationship was found between doula interactions and postpartum depressive symptoms. The study concludes with an in-depth discussion of the reasons for the low response rate with suggestions for improved study design on this topic.