When I was pregnant the first time, I was completely overwhelmed by the process that seemed to be shrouded in mystery. No, not the birth part, that I could find good information about. The great unknowns of how to find a provider, navigating where to go, what to ask, & evaluating my options were the real frustration for me. I did seriously look at the person doing my intake forms with me and say, “this is really confusing, and I’m a graduate student! I can’t even imagine how confusing this system would be for someone with less resources!” No, a doula can’t help you figure out your insurance, BUT here are 3 ways that doulas help demystify things for you:
We’ve Been There!
Yes, most of us have kids and have been there personally, but we’ve ALL been there professionally. As a team, if someone hasn’t been to a birthing location before, we fill each other in on all the details. It’s important to know which door to go to in the middle of the night or if you as the doula are going to be allowed into the triage room with your client. Our experience helps demystify the specifics with each other, but also with our clients. One thing that we focus on during our 2nd prenatal visit with our birth doula clients is discussing logistics. When should you call your doula? Where will we meet up when you’re in labor? All our birth doula clients also get postpartum planning sessions, to try to get your brain thinking about life with a newborn. Having been there, we know how important it is to have a roadmap for when things get foggy. We also know that talking about options and preferences helps take away the mystery and get you started thinking about resources and questions.
Resources Galore
Even if you have great questions, that doesn’t always mean you know where to ask them. Sharing local resources and connections are things that doulas do. I remember being a first time parent and struggling with lactation and not knowing who was knowledgeable enough to help me. Feeding resources are just one place that doulas can help point you in the right direction. This may not sound like a big deal, but doulas make having those resource lists for you a priority so that you don’t have to go searching. We don’t have an opinion about how you do things either, which as a new parent is pretty priceless really.
We hold YOU!
As you’re navigating your life that’s shifted 30 different ways since you got pregnant, your doula holds you. We remind you that shifting is normal and help you find your way forward. This is the kind of demystifying that you don’t often appreciate until it happens to you. Validating your feelings and helping you know that you’re not alone is what having a doula on your team does for you. We remind you that you don’t have to have it all figured out and that pausing in the unknown is ok too. My doula held me as I wrestled with all the options, my doula not only gave me the information to come to my own understanding and decisions, but also the space to do so without pressure. That was so helpful for me, and I know our clients really appreciate it.
How we work
If you’re interested in talking about having a doula for your birth or postpartum team (or both), we’d love to talk to you. You can use this link to schedule a FREE 30 minute call to talk about your needs and who on our team might be a good fit to work with you. We’d love to demystify the doula process for you too.