Doulas are yuppie stuff in the US, mostly. Also connected with home births to a large degree, rates of interest in which I'd expect are also connected with income, to a point. I'd definitely bet most US fathers wouldn't be able to tell you what it means, though it's possible that a majority of fathers on this site know the term (I did—but then, of course I do).

I'd be interested to see how knowledge of a lot of these words breaks down by income. (I too know what a doula is; I'm not sure if I knew this before my partner was pregnant. We did not use a doula, but we're of the class of people who at least think about it.)

Oh man, this exact thing but for income brackets would be fascinating.

New father of a 7 month old here (at the tender age of 49 no less).

We used a doula, but only as a support person (I believe in medical advances, hah) and she was fantastic for that role.

I am 38 and so much more tired from doing this than I would have if I were ten years younger. Not sure how I could do it if I were ten years older.

I'm in the UK and I'd associate doulas with hippies more than yuppies, might just be me though.

>> I think most dads would know what a doula is

> Not in the US, I bet. The only reason I know is that I had a male co-worker whose wife was one.

Yeah, I also feel the term and role could be very subculture-specific, and mainly limited to urban, very-liberal women interested in "wellness."

I've seen the term given brief treatment in some new parent books, but I would not have registered it if I hadn't already had some familiarity.

On the one hand, it's funny that you put "wellness" in scare quotes, but on the other hand my wife is into "wellness" and I absolutely get it.

There was a doula on a 2004 episode of "Frasier" [1] which is probably where I learned the word.

[1] http://www.kacl780.net/frasier/transcripts/season_11/episode...

US Dad of 2. We had a doula for our first child, she was hugely helpful, even in a hospital birth. Highly recommend!