Category: doula

3 Reasons to Hire a Doula

There are a million reasons that people hire a doula, and I’m only listing three here. As I have written before, families deserve support and doulas know a few things that can help you along the way. I love winning over the skeptics. I honestly find that many of the partners who were skeptical in the first place become the doula’s biggest fan when they meet us and see us in action. Birth and postpartum can be challenging; doulas are here to help.

1. Personalized Care

When you hire a doula you are getting a pregnancy, birth, and postpartum BFF who knows all kinds of great information and resources to send you. Doulas get to know you and what you want for your birth and the beginning of your life with a new baby. Sometimes you scour the internet and ask in parent groups online only to find conflicting and confusing advice. A doula can help you sift through that information for what you really need, what is evidence-based, and what will help you toward your own personal goals. We know about about pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.

2. Navigation

Navigating the healthcare system is challenging, and doulas can help with that too. When you hire a doula you get a professional person who knows the trail and can help you navigate the twists and turns. We have worked with many of the local providers in Evansville and Owensboro, and I always joke that we know all the stuff on the secret menu too. What I mean is that knowing the right things to request at the hospital can be extra helpful.

3. Zero Judgement

Hiring a doula means you have a completely non-judgemental person with professional support training and zero personal interest, because that is good and important thing. Doulas are there to serve you without agenda. We know our opinion is irrelevant and we are there to serve the birthing person and their partner. So no matter if you are planning to get an epidural as soon as possible, birthing at home with a midwife, or planning a scheduled cesarean, we can help.

Don’t take my word for it…

“Couples often wonder if they should hire a doula. Maybe your friends had wonderful births and didn’t hire a doula, why should you? All I can say is that doulas are like guides for the trek of labor. They know the landscape, are familiar with the people, sights, and sounds, and know special tricks that just might help you over a peak or through a valley or help facilitate that magical experience that lands firmly in your memory forever. And doulas are there for the whole family. They support partners, too, helping them understand what’s going on, get food, rest, and much needed breaks, and they can also guide partners in better ways to support the laboring parent. You do not have to go it alone. There are others who have trekked before you and know the way. Ask them for help.” (Transformed by Birth by Dr. Britta Bushnell, p136)

The path may be well worn, but sometimes having a doula can make it more enjoyable. Hire a doula to help you move around and suggest position changes. Hire a doula so your partner can go to the bathroom without leaving you alone. Maybe everything medical makes your partner nauseous. If you want someone there to go through it all with you, hire a doula. A doula works for you and nobody else, and that can be invaluable on one of the biggest days of your life.

15 Doula Lessons from 2019

As an experienced birth doula learning is important to me, and I grow with each birth I attend!

Every single birth I attend is an opportunity to serve a family. I am always honored to be invited into that space. With more than 5 years under my belt as a birth doula, I still feel like I learn things each time. Even as I inch closer to 150 births attended, I am always in awe of the process and my amazing clients. I will never feel like I have seen it all, and this year definitely brought some surprises. Instead of posting statistics about how many births I have attended, I prefer to post about doula lessons that I have learned this past year. Some of these have reinforced things I learned previously, and others have challenged me in new ways. This year has been interesting in so many ways, and I love that I keep growing and learning along the way.

Here is my list of 15 doula lessons in no particular order:

1. In childbirth, faster is not always easier.

2. I don’t have to agree with all of your decisions to support you.

3. A little determination goes a very long way for labor and delivery.

4. Communication and trauma informed care are not taught to all medical providers.

5. Rice socks smell like burnt popcorn if you microwave them for too long.

6. Home birth can be beautiful beautiful beautiful! Make sure to remind people to PRACTICE with their birthing tub at home!

7. Things I may view as traumatic, may not be viewed the same as my client. Don’t project my views onto other people’s memories. Recovering from a challenging birth is really important for me, physically AND emotionally.

8. Sometimes I burst into tears at the magnificence of it all, and that is ok.

9. Repeat clients are seriously, just the best! VBACs are pretty amazing too.

10. Watch the partner’s face; those glimpses of true joy and love are amazing!

11. LISTEN to the birthing person; their opinion matters.

12. Sometimes clients still surprise me with their ferocity, and I LOVE that!

13. Amazing providers who give individualized care and continue to consider experience and preference over standard operating procedure give me hope! All the preparation in the world cannot make up for an unsupportive provider.

14. Trusting my doula gut when it says GO is still the right thing to do.

15. Patience is undervalued and wholly necessary.

2019’s doula lessons were not easy, and this is certainly not going to be a year that I will soon forget. As I grow in my doula knowledge and skills I am also constantly reminded of how much I really don’t know. These doula lessons all help to increase my confidence and capacity to deal with new situations, hopefully with grace and humility.

Families Deserve Support

The continuous support of a doula is supported by science!

The continuous support of a doula is an evidence-based approach to improve outcomes, decrease intervention, & increase satisfaction. Multiple scientific studies and committee opinions have concluded that doulas make a difference! This is an easy to read summary of the evidence if reading academic text isn’t your thing. As a birth doula, I believe that all birthing families deserve support, and not just on the big day.

These are the kinds of support that I have been able to provide for my clients in the past:

Prenatal

Knowing what all the local options are for prenatal care and planning for birth. Calming fears is another thing I do to support my clients in the prenatal period, and this comes in many forms, but most often through education. I also find myself supporting clients prenatally by connecting them with trusted professionals. This can be for all kinds of things including prenatal massage, chiropractic, and more. I also am happy to share my shopping tips when clients are looking for specific things!

Birth

As a doula, during birth I am giving physical support by helping my clients move around. I give hand massages and help keep their gown closed as we walk the halls. I also like to say that I help clients ask more questions about their care. This is part of helping them know what all their options are as well. I like to say that sometimes I help them order off the secret menu of options that aren’t necessarily the norm, but are perfectly fine to request.

One area that I wish I could support birthing families better here is during cesarean surgeries. All families deserve support, and it can be so hard for families when their plans go sideways. In many other places in the United States, they allow doulas in the operating room as a second support person. Doulas are even trained in how to behave inside an operating room, and how to support clients having a cesarean. Doulas are not currently allowed in operating room of all our local hospitals, but maybe we can change that in the future.

Postpartum: direction to proper resources & support!!

The most important thing that I can do for birth doula clients is to direct them to the people who are actual experts in the things that they are dealing with in the moment. If they have questions about breastfeeding, I make sure I send them to an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. That is just one example, but knowing WHO to ask questions is really important. Breastfeeding is a great example because so many people don’t really understand how little training most physicians have in breastfeeding science, and they end up getting non-evidence-based advice despite best intentions by everyone involved. Part of my job as a doula is helping clients connect to the right people for whatever questions they might have. I don’t always have the answers, but I do make it my business to know who to send you to.

I have not had the capacity to serve postpartum clients this year, but VERY soon, I am going to have an announcement coming, so be on the lookout for that in early 2020!

All families deserve the support of a doula. Part of my job is helping insure you get the right support at the right time from the right people. I’m constantly learning, so I can continue to know the best local and online resources for my clients.

What was the most helpful resource you found to help you after you brought your new baby home?