Maternity services across the UK are in crisis. The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) reports a current shortage of approximately 2,500 full-time midwives in England alone, with 87% of surveyed members stating their units were not safely staffed [1]. Midwives are leaving the profession in significant numbers, with over half reporting they are considering leaving within the next year due to burnout, financial pressures, and unsafe working conditions [2]. The result is that women are giving birth in an overstretched system, with less continuity of care and less support than they deserve.

It is no surprise that in response to this, more and more women are turning to privately funded doulas to fill the gap, paying thousands of pounds out of their own pockets for the continuous, personalised support that the NHS can no longer consistently provide [3].

Doulas advertise that they support women through every stage of pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal period. The benefits of good doula support are well documented, including improved birth satisfaction, lower intervention rates, and better emotional outcomes for mothers [4]. However, unlike midwives or nurses, doulas are not required to meet any standardised training requirements, hold any specific qualification, or register with any governing body. In the UK, anyone can call themselves a doula and begin practising immediately, regardless of their experience or competence. There is no system to verify their skills, no mechanism to investigate complaints, and no consequences when the service provided causes harm.

The Problem With No Regulation: Doulas Mark Their Own Homework

When a doula fails to deliver the service they have been paid for, whether by not attending a birth, providing inadequate preparation, offering poor aftercare or harm to mothers or babies outcomes there is currently no meaningful recourse for the women affected. Doula UK exists as a voluntary membership body, but membership is optional, and their complaints process carries no binding authority. A doula can simply choose not to engage with it.

What makes this worse is the complete lack of transparency in how doula services are reviewed and assessed. Platforms that list doulas and publish client reviews operate moderation policies that, in practice, mean only positive reviews are published. Negative reviews, submitted honestly by women who have had genuinely poor experiences, are rejected, unpublished, and hidden. The woman who has been let down is left with no voice. The doula is free to continue practising without consequence, their online profile untouched and their rating unblemished. This is not transparency. It is the illusion of it.

What We Are Asking For

Regulation of doulas would not limit women's choices about who supports their birth. It would protect those choices. It would mean that when a woman pays for a doula, she can trust that the person she has hired meets a minimum standard of competence and training. It would mean that when something goes wrong, there is somewhere to turn and someone who is accountable. It would mean that reviews of doula services, positive and negative, are published fairly, giving women the information they need to make genuinely informed decisions.

We are calling on the relevant authorities to establish a governing body for doulas in the UK, with mandatory registration, standardised training requirements, a transparent complaints process, and real consequences for practitioners who cause harm.

Women deserve better. Please sign this petition and help us demand it.

 
References

1. Royal College of Midwives. How to fix the midwifery staffing crisis. London: RCM; 2024. Available from: https://rcm.org.uk/publications/how-to-fix-the-midwifery-staffing-crisis/College of Midwives
2. MedBrief. The UK's midwifery crisis. 2026. Available from: https://medbrief.com/the-uks-midwifery-crisis/Research and Markets.
3. Private Doula Service Market Report 2026. Available from: https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/6226817/private-doula-service-global-market-report
4. Bohren MA, Hofmeyr GJ, Sakala C, Fukuzawa RK, Cuthbert A. Continuous support for women during childbirth. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;7:CD003766.