birth – Doula Group of Evansville

3 Things I Wish I Knew

Learning the hard way has always kinda been my thing. I have a kid who takes the same approach to life, and it is soo incredibly frustrating to witness. Looking back, there are several things I really wish I knew going into my first pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. I really tried to inform myself as much as possible, and honestly I maybe read too much–partly reflected in the B I got in one of my grad school classes the semester I found out I was pregnant–though all the vomiting & napping surely didn’t help that either. Some of these hindsight observations might surprise you!

Approach Matters

I wish I knew the difference between the obstetric & midwifery approaches to prenatal care. While my friends were getting 5-10 minutes with their OBs, I was getting 30 minute talks with my midwife about all of my worries so that they had a whole picture of my life and not just some measurements and numbers in a chart. My friends who had family practice doctors for their care had much more similar experiences to mine with the midwives too, and for low-risk pregnancies some family practice doctors are amazing. Finding a provider that you’re comfortable with and who you don’t dread seeing is probably the most important part though, regardless of what model of care they practice.

Expectations?

I wish I knew that giving birth inside a hospital could be an amazing experience. I read and heard ALL the horror stories about getting run over by the system. I walked into my birth fully armed with all the information and ready for a fight to get the birth I wanted. I ended up having the most supportive team around me including my amazing nurse, my midwife, my doula, and even the supervising OB who stopped by for my whole pushing stage and whose words frankly got me through to the end. I will fully own my privilege and say that being a middle class presenting, white, fairly attractive & fit person (at the time anyway)–all of those things signaled different things to the people in the room on how to treat me. But I didn’t expect everyone to be so kind and supportive of my plan to give birth without medication or intervention in a hospital whose reputation is a “baby factory” known for high intervention rates in the area. The support afterwards with lactation was also so great. I wish more people would talk about their GREAT experiences too.

Right Way?

I wish I knew that there was no one right way to do all of this. My first time around, I was searching for what the RIGHT way to do things was. The lesson I continually come back to with parenting and birth and all of it, is that there is no one right way. I would have spent so much more time thinking about what was right for me and my family and my baby and the situation we were in at the time regarding finances, location, information, ability, capacity, etc. I stressed myself out to the point of exhaustion trying to find the “right” way, when I truly wish I had spent more time focusing inward and figuring out where & who to ask the questions when they came up later.

When you look back on your pregnancy, birth, & postpartum, what did you learn through hindsight? Are there things that you would do differently? If this is your first time, I urge you to take the 20 years perspective and think about how important some things that you might be fighting for right now, might actually be in the grand scheme of things too. As a doula, I can say that how you remember this will stay with you for the rest of your life. Your experience matters, so find what is important to you and surround yourself with people who share your values and approach to things. What would you add?

If you are wondering where to get started in your journey through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, we have a resource just for you! Grab our free EBook written to help take the worry out of the beginning. Ready to talk about adding a doula to your team? Book a FREE 30 minute call to talk about who on our team might be the right fit for you. We also offer a FREE Biweekly newsletter with ideas, news, & resources open to anyone. We truly do want our experience to help improve yours!

Meet Birth Doula Eliza Brock

Eliza is trained & ready to help you have your best birth!

My first impression of Eliza was a recognition of a kindred spirit. She is incredibly genuine and earnest, and smiles easily. She didn’t balk at all when I mentioned our non-negotiables and came to our first meeting with well thought-out questions, especially for someone who was brand new to doula stuff. She is thoughtful and observant, and all of these traits will serve her greatly in her new role as a birth doula on our team at Doula Group of Evansville.

Eliza has spent the last nine years growing up with her big family in Newburgh, Indiana. She currently still lives in Newburgh with her fiance and two cats. She has worked as a patient care technician in pediatrics and has a passion for working with families and their children. Working as a doula is a career that she knew she wanted to pursue when she took child development in high school. Learning about the intricacy of families and their birth experiences inspired her to apply her knowledge to help others in her community as a doula. With a little experience, she’s going to have even more insider information to share with the families in her care too!

Eliza Brock, birth doula

Why did you want to become a doula?

When I started babysitting at a young age I realized I wanted a career working with families and their children. When I took a child development class in high school that solidified my choice to be a birth doula!

What do you love about living in Evansville?

I love all the local events that happen here and bring the community together for a fun time!

Where can we find you on a regular Saturday?

When it’s warm outside I love being outdoors with my fiancé!

Eliza has completed her training and is now working toward her certification. To that end, she is offering 1/2 off her birth doula services for her first 3 clients! Don’t wait; these will surely go fast.

Click here to book now!

Welcome to the team Eliza! We’re so excited to help you get started on your doula journey. The best part of working on a team of doulas: you’re never alone just winging it trying to figure out all the things yourself. Eliza has the most experienced team of doulas behind her helping every step of the way. I know she’s going to be an AMAZING doula for every family she serves!!

Your Feelings Matter for Birth & Postpartum

Your feelings during labor and delivery make a difference not only on the big day, but also in how you remember your birth experience.

Our thinking brains like to imagine that our hearts and feelings don’t influence the way our body or brain works, but it is so wrong. Your emotions affect so many things, and keeping that in mind when you are going through pregnancy, labor, delivery, & all throughout postpartum can be a little daunting. For me, protecting my emotional health during that time felt like one more thing that I didn’t have time to worry about really. First, let’s talk about why your emotions matter and a few things that may challenge you during this time. I promise, this blog post is going to end with some helpful ways to keep your peaceful mindset, because we all need some extra tools to handle this whole wildly human experience.

Because of Hormones

Your hormones are little messengers that run around your body telling it what to do. They are really important for pregnancy, labor & delivery, & postpartum for so many reasons, but I’m going to outline two big ones here. The first thing they do for you in labor and postpartum is they keep things going. Anxiety & stress produce hormones that make your labor slow or even stop, and does the same for your milk production. The giant flood of hormones you get during labor and early postpartum also means we remember MORE and in greater detail. Seriously, ask anyone who has given birth about their story, and they will share far more details than you can even imagine even MANY years later. There are all kinds of evolutionary reasons that our bodies have adapted to do this by the way, because we’re mammals. Anxiety & stress produce these hormones because if we were an animal giving birth in the wild and a predator started stalking us, then we would WANT our bodies to stop labor so we could get up and run away. (Also a reason for animals to eat their placentas–to hide the evidence.) The distinctly human part of this is that our anxiety & stress can be triggered by all kinds of things, including just thoughts inside our amazing brains or even just a sideways look from someone.

Challenges

There are all kinds of things that can increase our likelihood of our anxiety and stress being triggered in labor, delivery, and early postpartum. Things like a lack of privacy & interruptions in your flow can inhibit your ability to relax and for your body to make the hormones to keep your contractions going. People with a history of abuse, assault, or other trauma can really feel their stress hormones escalate in labor and delivery, which is another reason that trauma informed care is sooo very important. Bright lights, strange noises, & smells can all bring those stress hormones whooshing around our bodies. No matter what your specific challenges are to keeping calm and relaxed, developing the tools you need before you have to use them will help you meet any challenges that might arise!

Tools to Help

Don’t be shy about asking for what you need to feel better during labor and postpartum. Keeping the lights low in your room can be really helpful for decreasing anxiety & making a space more cozy. Some people bring twinkle lights to hang up or a tapestry to hang to make the space more their own too. You can even bring a sleep mask and earplugs if they help you. I always suggest packing your own pillow and blanket to make the space smell and feel more like home too, and keeping your partner close definitely helps some people relax more. You can make a sign for the door to remind people who enter to please use hushed voices and respect the energy in the room. Nothing ruins your flow more than someone walking in and talking loudly while you’re just trying to get through your contractions or trying to get your fussy baby to latch. Protect your space and communicate your needs, and if you need some help with that, a doula might be someone to consider adding to your birth or postpartum team.

You can’t live in a bubble, but you can hold space for yourself for this profoundly human experience of bringing a new baby into the world. Developing tools such as breathing techniques, body awareness, meditation, self-hypnosis, & grounding techniques can help you not only stay calm for labor and delivery, but also for postpartum. Psst, these techniques even work for parents to teenagers—ask me how I know. With 20 minutes a day of calming practice, you can learn to bring your nervous system back to calm and keep those good hormones flowing. Your feelings matter!

Welcome Doula Abigail Hand!

When most doulas join our team, they are just starting out on their journey, which is humbling to be trusted to help them get started. However, Abigail brings a very different set of seasoned hands and skills to the team, and I’m honestly honored that she is going to join our already awesome group of doulas. Not only has Abigail already attended more than 100 births as a doula, but she’s also done most of that outside of the United States! Abigail’s patience and fascination with all things birth was apparent from the first time we spoke, and her Christian faith is also an important part of her life. She’s impressively knowledgeable and compassionate, as well as a little goofy, so clearly she’s going to fit right in on our team.

In Her Own Words:

Abigail was born in Evansville. Grew up in Indiana then spent 8.5 years living in Australia and Asia working as a Birth Doula and trained Midwife. Mid 2022 Abigail moved back to Indiana and made her home in Evansville. Abigail enjoys teaching about pregnancy, birth, and caring for your newborn. She is always up for a laugh and regularly is attempting new nutritious recipes. Her passion for caring, supporting, and nurturing women has grown throughout the years as she has witnessed women from many cultural backgrounds lean on her for support and wisdom throughout their pregnancy and as they enter into motherhood.

Why did you want to become a birth doula?

When I saw the beauty, joy, and pain of a baby entering the world 14 year ago, I knew I wanted to support women through this vulnerable and transforming time in their lives.

What do you love about living in Evansville?

Honey + Moon Coffee Shop, Bike Riding Lanes, and the River.

Where can we find you on a regular Saturday?

Spending time outdoors with my Husband.

Abigail is available!!

If you are due September 2023 or later and giving birth within an hour drive of Evansville, IN, Abigail is available to be your birth doula! Abigail has extensive experience supporting both hospital and home birth clients. Working part-time as a midwifery assistant does take up some of Abigail’s time, but she’s really excited to jump into birth doula work in Evansville, Jasper, Vincennes, Washington, Henderson, Owensboro, & Madisonville too. If you see her around town, make sure you tell her welcome back to Evansville. We’re so lucky she’s here and excited to have her join Doula Group of Evansville too.

5 Things to Pack for Your Hospital Birth

Packing for the hospital when you are expecting a baby can feel a little daunting. Sure, you want to pack the essentials like an outfit for your baby to wear home and the car seat, what do you really need to pack for yourself? I’ve had some clients bring only their purse and others who look like they are moving abroad for year with giant suitcases full of stuff. Neither of those approaches are really my style, but there are a few essentials that you might not think about when it comes to packing your bags for your hospital birth. These are my top five:

Lip Balm

All that breathing in labor can make your lips dry. Kissing your baby’s head a million times can make your lips dry. All the talking you are going to be doing to all the people coming in and out of your room and on the phone telling everyone how amazing your baby is, that will make your lips dry too. Indoor air is dry, especially in a hospital. Trust me! Bring the lip balm.

Your Own Pillow & Blanket

While your first reaction to bringing your own pillow and blanket into a hospital might be ick, this one is essential. Pillows can sometimes be hard to find in a hospital, and their blankets are not exactly known for being fuzzy and soft. Bringing your own pillow and blanket also has the extra added bonus of helping your room feel more like your own, and smelling like home helps your body actually feel safer too. Thank you olfactory senses & pheromones! Comfort is important during your stay, and I promise that your washing machine has a disinfect cycle that you can use on the pillow and blanket when you get them back home.

Cheap Nightgown & Slippers

One of my doula secrets is that the cheap nightgowns that button or snap up in the front are seriously awesome for the hospital. Pants aren’t great because of needing to pull them down all the time for your nurse to check your bleeding, and if you have a surgical birth you will constantly worry about the waistband. Easy access to your chest is essential, so definitely something to look for when you are shopping for a nightgown. I also recommend not purchasing anything you actually really love, because you want to not feel bad for getting bodily fluids on it and maybe just throwing it away. Slippers are just nice for your feet to not have to touch the hospital floor. I don’t know about you, but I definitely feel like I have to relax when I’m wearing slippers too.

Snacks

Yes, the hospital will have food for you, but packing your own snacks can help bring you comfort too. Have a favorite road trip snack? Pack it! Have a snack you’ve been craving your whole pregnancy? Pack it! Planning an unmedicated birth and having a healthy pregnancy? Pack some snacks to eat & drink during labor too! Yes, seriously!

Nursing Bra & Pads

No matter how you are planning to feed your baby, you will want to bring a nursing bra and some pads. If you are planning to breastfeed, then having access to the breast is essential, and the nightgown is only part of the deal. The nursing bra is not entirely essential, but I personally always liked to have one for when I slept. I really like this one from Kindred Bravely, but there are tons of really great options. I also always appreciated having the absorbent pads to put in my bra, because when my milk came in it was full force. If you are planning to formula feed, a tight bra and some pads will help keep your milk at bay. You can also talk to the lactation consultants about other ways to dry up your milk with medications. (Yes, they do that too.) Having a bra on also helped me feel more comfortable with all the people who were constantly coming in and out to check on me in the hospital. That’s just a personal preference thing.

Figuring out what to pack for your hospital birth doesn’t have to be overwhelming. There are tons of packing lists that you can find online if you like a good list. These are the 5 essentials that not everyone thinks about bringing. The nice thing is that even if you forget something, either the hospital will have it for you, or you can send someone to the store to grab it. Heck, you could even have it delivered. Packing a little something nice for yourself, like delicious smelling shampoo for the best shower you’ve ever had in your life, the one after you give birth, is also a great idea. Pack the things you think you’ll need, and I promise, you’ll probably bring less with you the next time.

3 Ways Doulas Support Partners

Your doula will never know you as well as your partner. Some partners don’t want to hire a doula because they are concerned that we might replace them. That is frankly never the goal of our doulas, though there have been a few times when we’ve had to step in because a partner couldn’t be there for multiple reasons. The truth is that hiring a doula helps support partners too. I’ve supported clients whose partners were in the birth pool squeezing their hips and others whose partners had to hide their eyes during their entire labors because everything medical made them nauseous. I’ve caught dads who passed out at the sight of blood and helped others find better places to stand for camera angles. Here are the top 3 ways that doulas help partners.

Knowledge

Doulas help partners know what is going on in the birth room and during postpartum. We answer all kinds of questions like: is that normal? Is everything ok? What’s going on? Why are they suggesting that? Where should we go for help? Our doula knowledge helps not only reassure partners, but also help them ask good questions too. We suggest resources specifically for partners to learn if they’re interested. All Doula Group of Evansville packages come with access to Supporting Her (a $69 value) an online class specifically designed with partners in mind, because we know you want to know how to be the best support you can be too!

Practical Support

Partners need physical support too! I’ve seriously massaged more than one dad’s shoulders during the course of a long labor, and reminded more partners to pee than I can count. We help partners find pillows and towels in the hospital room, or make sure they know when a good time to sneak to the cafeteria to eat would be. We help you know where to press on their back when contractions come and remind you to hydrate too. Postpartum doulas will teach you the best swaddle and bring you a one-handed snack while you’re rocking in the chair with your newborn. Doulas are the extra set of hands that anticipate everyone’s needs!

Emotional Support

I’ve waited outside the doors to the operating room with anxious worried partners waiting to be called back. I’ve hugged a sobbing father whose baby was born sleeping, and handed more tissues to silently crying and ecstatic partners. I’ve reassured frustrated partners that yes, they can and should speak up when they’re not getting the answers or care they need. This holding space for partners is a dance that we know and prepare for as doulas. This is one of the reasons we want to meet with you and your partner before birth and postpartum; getting to know you and your wishes helps us help you better.

Doulas help partners participate and engage however they want and are able to. We never try to step on partner toes, literally or figuratively! We love all kinds of partners and know each family is unique. Having a doula on your team can help you have a better experience too. When you’re ready, we’re here to support your whole family from your wet pregnancy test all the way through the 4th trimester.

A little anecdote for you: pre-COVID, I taught a 3 hour class on natural coping techniques for labor and delivery. I had been talking to this awesome pregnant mom who really wanted to hire me as her birth doula but her husband didn’t want to spend the money, and they came to my class. After 3 hours, her husband was 100% convinced that they definitely needed to hire me as their doula. Unfortunately, I was already booked for their due date, but I know they had an awesome birth anyway. If you’re on the fence about hiring a doula, reach out to set up a FREE consult together. We’d love to chat!

Know Better, Do Better

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.

Don’t Worry, Be Picky

Choosing a care provider that fits isn’t always easy.

After the shock of the positive pregnancy test wears off a little bit, one of the first things you will need to decide is WHO you are going to have as your care provider for this pregnancy and birth. If you’re like me, you start by asking your friends who they used for their pregnancies, and then you make an appointment. Other people make an appointment with their usual GYN and leave it at that. Here are a few things you want to think about when you’re choosing a provider:

Does their idea of birth align with yours?

All providers have ideas about birth based on their training and experience (both professional and personal btw). Generally, OBs are watching to make sure nothing goes wrong and midwives are watching to make sure everything goes right. While that may not sound like a huge difference, I urge you to think about what their expectations might be with each of those approaches. OBs are generally looking to DO something to help while midwives are looking to NOT have to do anything to help. This is a really broad generalization, but an important distinction when you’re thinking about the kind of care that you’re looking for, and the same answer isn’t right for everyone. Think about your specific situation and how you’d like to approach birth. Research has shown, that the provider you choose can make a difference in how your baby comes out in case you didn’t know that already. Here are a few things you might want to know your provider’s attitude about:

Weight Gain: What limits do they have for you? When do they get concerned about baby’s weight in utero?
Ultrasound: How many & when? Why?
Induction: When? Why? How?
Questions: When & where can you ask them? How long are usual appointments?
Schedule: How often are you on call? Who do you share call with? Surgery days?

Location AND Provider Matter

Many times your insurance will dictate which hospital or group of providers they will cover. Look at some of the stats for the location where you’re planning to delivery. You won’t be able to look at provider specific data, but you can definitely ask potential providers their cesarean and episiotomy rates by the way. What about their induction rates? All of these things add up to the way that pregnancy and birth are handled at an institutional level. Is birth handled like an emergency no matter what? Is the staff trained in trauma-informed care? What does it look like to arrive in labor and to go through triage? Can you get a tour before the big day? You’ll have plenty of unexpected things to navigate during your pregnancy and birth, but the location and your treatment shouldn’t honestly be one of them. What are their policies about eating and drinking during labor? What kind of pain relief options do they have? Is anesthesia on site at all times? Do they support VBAC?

This can all seem really overwhelming, especially to first time parents that haven’t ever had to deal with any of these questions. Maybe you’re still trying to figure out how YOU feel about these things before you even can have an opinion about how your provider does. That’s ok, seriously. As doulas, we want you to feel ready to make these decisions. We want to give you all the information you might need to figure out how YOU want to approach pregnancy and birth without any bias. This is one of the reasons we highly recommend a quality childbirth education course for everyone by the way.

Not the vibe?

Finally, it needs to be said that if a provider isn’t the right fit for you, then it’s ok to move on and find someone else. You have NO OBLIGATION to stay with a provider just because you’ve established care or even because you’ve been seeing them since you were a teenager for GYN services. Chances are, they’re so busy they may not even realize you’ve stopped coming to them. Also of note: YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO SWITCH AT ANY TIME, including during labor. You are under ZERO obligation to be cared for by anyone who is not the right fit. You have the right to fire them on the spot and ask for someone else, yes, seriously…including your nurse btw. While that might sound scary, so is being cared for by someone you don’t trust during labor and delivery! You’re the boss applesauce, and if anyone in your space makes you feel anything other than that, you can make a change at any time!

Choosing a provider doesn’t have to be overwhelming. This is one of the things we cover in our FREE E-Book: Getting Started. We also talk about this stuff with all of our clients. Even if you have a limited pool to choose from, we can talk to you about our experiences with different providers. Yes, we do have a list of providers we won’t work with too, and we’re happy to tell you who they are if you ask! You deserve the best, no matter what your skin color, income, or insurance situation is. Demanding better options and hitting the bad providers in the pocketbook is the only way we’re going to make change here, clearly.

After a Cesarean Birth

CBAC, HBAC, or VBAC?

April is Cesarean & VBAC Awareness month, and we know exactly how important it is to recognize both of these ways of giving birth. We know that nationally, around 1 in 3 births happen via cesarean section, and locally that holds fairly true according to the latest available data. While we don’t know the full extent as to WHY the planned hospital birth cesarean rate is so high, “It seems increasingly clear that anxiety and easy access to many medical procedures at hospital may lead to increased levels of intervention, which in turn may lead to further interventions and finally to unnecessary complications (Olsen & Clausen 2023).” All of that is big picture stuff though, and this post is really seeking to speak to the patient side of things. We celebrate ALL births, no matter how they happen. Let’s talk about 3 big areas where doulas can help after a cesarean birth.

Postpartum

The first 6 weeks after cesarean surgery can be challenging. Your body really needs to rest, but you have a newborn to take care of too. Maybe you’re still dealing with pain when you get home and timing medications, or your other kids really want to cuddle but you’re worried they might bust your incision. Lifting restrictions make moving baby, other kids, laundry baskets, etc challenging after a cesarean birth too. Hiring a postpartum doula, even when you didn’t plan to, can be a huge help to your family and your health in those first 6 weeks. Whether you get a doula or not, delegating should definitely be in your wheelhouse, because your body needs TIME to recover properly in this postpartum period at home.

Recovery

Physical recovery is what most people think about after a cesarean birth, and yes that is really important. After that initial 6 weeks, you may want to talk to your provider about physical therapy to work on scar mobilization and pelvic floor therapy too. Yes, even after having cesarean surgery your pelvic floor might need some work. Honestly, I don’t know why pelvic floor PT isn’t a standard referral after having a baby, but that is a blog for another day.

Mental recovery after a cesarean birth is something that we need to talk about more. I often find myself processing with my clients who’ve had cesarean surgery to talk about how things went, even if I wasn’t there for that birth. People react very differently to having cesarean surgery, and we truly believe all feelings are 100% valid. Mental recovery can be very easy for some and others struggle with it for a long time. Processing with a birth professional like a doula or with a therapist trained in birth trauma can be really validating and helpful for some people. This is a service we offer for clients all the time!

Next time

The big question that many people have after a cesarean birth is often, what should they do next time. Should you try for a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean), maybe an HBAC (home birth after cesarean), or maybe a planned CBAC (cesarean birth after cesarean) is for you. There is no one right answer that will work for everyone in this situation, and there are many many factors that go into making that decision. As doulas, we tend to nudge people to think about 4 things when they’re discussing what to do for their next birth:

What were the factors that lead to your cesarean surgery?
How do you feel about giving birth again?
Is there information or other support that would be helpful for you to know when making this decision?
How will you feel about your choice in 10 years?

Everyone answers those questions differently, and honestly there is no one right answer that will work for everyone. One thing we can say with the utmost certainty is that no matter what your choices are, our doulas will be there to support you 100% of the way. We’re working to try to help hospitals understand the value of having your doula in the operating room to support you during your surgical birth too, and will keep pushing for this here locally!

We’re very grateful that cesarean surgery exists, as we’ve seen it save lives. At the same time, we know that it is often over used. We LOVE that VBAC is a truly viable option here locally with many providers, and have seen some amazing HBAC births too. Birth is honestly just amazing in all the different ways it happens. If you’ve had a cesarean birth and want support in any of the above ways, don’t hesitate to reach out to us!

Insider Information

Doulas have the inside scoop on local options without any of the insider bias and protections.

As a doula who has been working here since 2014, I’ve learned quite a bit of insider information that can be really helpful in several situations for expecting families. I recently had a great conversation with a nurse friend who was bemoaning the fact that because she works at a specific facility, she can’t warn people about specific provider habits or tell them all the things that she wishes she could because of policy. My reply, “I do that!” As doulas we are employed by our clients, therefore we answer to them. We get to say the quiet part that hospital employees might know but can’t say out loud, and that’s a pretty valuable service that doulas can offer. Here are three ways that we use that type of insider information with our outside voices.

Provider Selection

Have you ever wondered if your provider is the one driving up the episiotomy rate? The biggest issue I see is a lack of transparency regarding individual practice statistics. Until that issue gets solved, we doulas are happy to tell you what we’ve seen with our clients’ providers. Since 2014, we’ve had the privilege to be able to see most of the providers in our service area catch babies. That means that we know which ones like to pull the old bait and switch–telling you what you want to hear your whole pregnancy and switching gears to their agenda at the end, so late that you don’t even feel like you have a choice to switch to another provider. We know which providers deal well with push back and which ones don’t. We know which ones love to help you have a great experience in the OR and which ones will talk about sports ignoring all of your wishes. Wondering if your pediatrician is going to judge you for exclusively pumping or using a supplementary nursing system? We can tell you that! If you’re looking for a provider, don’t ask your friends or some random group of strangers on the internet all of whom probably only have experience with one or two providers max; ask a group of doulas who’ve actually seen them work and can talk to you about those experiences.

Policy vs Evidence

In case you don’t know, there are a TON of maternity care policies and practices that aren’t based on the scientific evidence at all. As doulas, we can not only tell you what the policies are, but we can also remind you that a hospital policy is not the law. In case nobody has ever told you: you cannot be arrested for drinking water during labor. We work for you, and know that not only is this type of policy not based on the latest scientific evidence or statements from organizations like the American Society of Anesthesiology, but also that it is cruel. We’ll remind you that you are the boss of your own body and you get to make all the decisions regarding what goes in and how things come out too. That’s doesn’t always make us popular, but it does make our clients happy.

Reporting

Whenever we repeat stories of medical mistreatment, we often hear the refrain, “oh I hope they will report them.” It’s pretty hard to report behavior if you don’t know how to do the actual reporting. Not only will we doulas help point out bad behavior, but we’ll help you know how to report it if that is something that you want to pursue. Seriously, we know what to do and will be happy to help you write the correct letters and deliver them to the correct people to help make sure people are held responsible. Reporting obstetric violence is really important to us by the way, and even if the information is supposedly publicly available, we know that finding it can be challenging and especially overwhelming when you have a new baby.

One of the benefits of being a doula is that we get this insider perspective without having any of the bias that comes from being employed by the facility or providers that we work with regularly. We’re employed by our clients. That kind of freedom comes with all the usual self-employment caveats, but it also means that we’re free to say the quiet part out loud. We’re free to talk about our experiences and let people know about which providers we wouldn’t send our worst enemy to versus who we’d let catch our babies. (Yes, there are a few locally that I’d still let do that.) That essence of doula service, the outsider with insider knowledge, is KEY to why we’re such a valuable part of your team!