Navigating the Perinatal Partnership: Recommendations to Facilitate Integration and Collaboration Between Institutions, Clinicians, and Doulas.

Despite the widely documented benefits of doulas, institutional and clinician opposition persists. This opposition presents a barrier to doula access and integration, limiting birthing women/people's choices and adversely impacting their experiences and health outcomes. This study explored clinicians' experiences working with doulas to identify factors that can impact interprofessional interactions. We analyzed ethnographic field notes from 7 years of participant observation in one community doula program in the Pacific Northwest (United States) and 11 semistructured interviews with clinicians (including obstetricians, midwives, and nurses). From this data, we produced practical recommendations to facilitate collaboration between medical institutions, clinicians, and doulas. Our recommendations offer an opportunity to improve working environments, support access and integration, strengthen health-care systems, and enhance patient satisfaction and outcomes.