Our Mission, Vision & Values

Our Mission

PALS Doulas is a membership organization dedicated to the development of the doula profession and to supporting its members. Fundamental to doula care is the understanding that continuous emotional support with reassurance during the birthing process improves and enhances maternal-infant outcomes and maternal satisfaction. The primary purpose of the doula profession is to positively influence the childbearing experience for women and their families.

Our Vision

PALS Doulas envisions a world where the importance of birth to women, babies, families and the entire community is acknowledged. Women’s experiences in birth will be honored and the empowering and transformative potential of the birth process will be recognized. The role of the doula will be accepted as an integral part of maternity care, and the doula profession will be a sustainable and viable career option.

Core Values & Guiding Principles

• Childbirth is a significant life experience that has a lasting influence on families.
• Specifically, the support—continuous emotional care, encouragement, education, physical comfort and confidence—that a woman or her family receives during childbirth provides the opportunity for a lasting positive effect on their lives.
• The doula ensures that the woman’s and her family’s support needs are met during labor.
• In order to continue meeting the support needs of laboring women and families, doulas benefit from a community that provides mutual support, education, and leadership.

To these ends, our goals are:

• All childbearing women shall have knowledge of, and access to, doula care.
• Women’s emotional and physical comfort needs in labor support will be met, as this is the doula’s sole role.
• Babies will be born into a supported environment.
• To promote adherence by our member doulas to the PALS Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice.
• To ensure doulas provide high quality labor support to our clients as an effective means to improve maternal and child health.
• To provide services that are culturally sensitive and responsive to the needs of doulas and the women they serve.
• To offer continuing education as a way to improve the quality and on-going education of doulas.
• To provide information and services to the public and medical community to promote a broader understanding of labor support practice and the doula profession.
• To maintain communication and participation in coalitions and other organizations who share PALS commitment to improving maternal and child health.
• To maintain a viable, ongoing professional organization with the resources necessary to achieve these goals.
• To provide business, lifestyle and community support to our membership.