Doula care: nursing students gain additional skills to define their professional practice

Students enter professional nursing with a desire to acquire knowledge, develop skills, and provide nurturing support during life-changing experiences such as childbirth. "Community Perspectives on the Childbearing Process," an elective course at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, provides an opportunity to learn and use the skills of physical, emotional, and informational labor support as a "doula." As the first of its kind offered in a school of nursing, this service-learning opportunity offers students the unique opportunity to learn the skills of labor support through an in-depth, hands-on experience. The experience helps students develop a proactive perspective on childbirth and to advocate and support women's choices in labor. Since its inception, more than 379 students have attended 405 births. Students, who become doulas while being educated as nurses, gain new skills, real practice experience, and strong professional standards and identity.