What is a Doula?
As the idea of writing a blog started to formulate, I was excited to get into deep birth topics like: insights on baby’s positioning, safe movement during pregnancy, Friedman’s curve or Hypno vs Bradley birth classes. Then I realized that I was swimming in the deep end of the birth world! A lot of people upon hearing I had recently become a doula simply asked, “What is a doula?”, “What do they do?”, “Do you really need one at birth?”, “Is it really worth the extra money?” So, let’s get into it. Here are the basics of the trade and what it can do for your family as you welcome a new member.
What we do
Let’s get one thing clear, we do NOT do anything medical. We are not medically trained. The medical side of your birth is done through your doctor or midwife. Doulas only focus on the emotional, spiritual, and environmental aspects of your birth - which are huge parts of a healthy birth! There are a lot of hormones surging all at once during labor. Stress and fear can really impact your body and labor, slowing it down or even stalling it completely. The medical people on your birth team have to focus on the medical things happening during that time. The doula is the one who maintains the vibes of the room. The medical staff just doesn’t have the time or energy to be there for you the whole time, but we doulas are here only for you, the whole time! Aho!
Staying with mama the whole time. Labor, especially early labor, can last a while. When it’s still not time to call the midwife, and when your partner is exhausted or busy, we stay with you. If baby must be rushed somewhere, we stay with you. After baby has arrived and the midwife is gone, we stay just that little bit longer. We get to know you throughout pregnancy and come back postpartum to visit you. The bond between mama and doula can sometimes last a lifetime.
Provide knowledge. We teach you what to expect throughout this journey and know lots of professionals in the industry to pull in as needed. Prenatal massage therapists, birth class options, prenatal exercise classes, herbalists; you name your interest or concern, and we will guide you to the right knowledge or healing.
Encourage you to stay healthy. We are available to talk your whole pregnancy about anything, and support you along your specific health plan. This will be tailored to what your needs are. Having trouble kicking sugar and worried about your glucose test? Feeling blue and not having the prenatal experience you envisioned? We’re here to talk and remind you to stay strong and believe in the process, helping you create yourself into the mother you want to be.
Clarifying True Labor. Is it time to call the midwife or go to the hospital? Do you know how to time contractions? Most doulas are trained in the stages of labor and can help you determine when it is time to go back to bed or get going to the hospital.
The Doula Bag. We pack all kinds of extra things into our bag that you may not have thought about. Hair ties, honey sticks, art to visualize on, oil for massage -there maybe even be a yoga ball in our car, just in case. We manage all the extra stuff so you don’t have to think or worry it. Enabling you to put all your energy and focus into your birthing journey.
Help set the stage. Setting is everything during birth. Music, lighting, smells, energies of anyone around really impact birth. Unfortunately, these things are often overlooked while the attention stays primarily focused on the medical parts of birth: heart-rates, dilation, etc. Doulas can leave those aspects to the midwife and hospital staff, while we set the mood of the room. This is especially important to mama even if she can’t say anything in the moment. We can also get people out of the room that you do not want there! We can help protect your sacred space from unexpected anxieties waiting outside the door, as well as family, or anything causing you to stress. We’re also great at finding things in the hospital rooms. We know where the warm blankets and barf bags are!
Speak for mama. Sometimes she can’t talk, and we can speak up about wishes we know are especially important to her, or show the birth plan to the hospital staff.
Understanding what is happening. We put medical terms into laymen’s terms, educating you deeper on a topic that comes up, and helping you weigh your options. We can explain what the nurses just said, help read the monitor, help decipher when something just sounds scary, or clarify when it’s really time to focus on making a big decision.
Provide comfort measures. We massage, apply counter pressure, teach partners how to do this as well, remind you to change positions, help you do so, guide your breath, encourage, and lead you in applying what you learned in your birth class. We have a big bag of tricks when it comes to pain management!
Support your birth team. More on dad or partner later, but we can even be of help to your midwife, especially at a home birth. Fetching her things, explaining things to you so she can focus on counting contractions or checking dilation. We can also feed everyone! Labor can be long, and no one wants a hangry birth team.
Capturing Memories. Each family feels different about photos and filming the birth. Some don’t want any images of the event and others hire birth photographers. Some families want their doula to keep focused on the birth, not photos, some want you to catch the special moments when you can. You will typically talk about this before birth. We take notes during birth, though. I recently just read the story I wrote of my birth vs. my doula’s account of what happened at the birth, and there were definitely some hazy timeline moments in my story! Having someone document the event who is not physically enduring labor can give some clarity later upon reflection. You may even feel so comfortable with your doula that we can get really raw images of your birth.
Helping dads or partners….
Even though doulas are primarily focused on the birthing mama, Dad’s and Partner’s are someone very special to that woman and baby, so we are here for you to! Your help and support are HUGE during birth, and you deserve someone guiding you through the experience too! Seeing someone you love in pain is hard, really hard, maybe even intimidating. Birth is a big event, and the person you usually do big events with might not be able to talk, remind you of the plans, or help you make big decisions. There are also lots of emotions going on and sometimes big decisions are made quickly, or things are happening that you just don’t understand.
Your personal assistant. We give you an extra pair of hands. Need someone to phone the hospital? Midwife? Family? Need to answer that phone call but don’t want to leave mama? Have older kids that need care? Do you know if its time yet to go to the hospital? Need help carrying bags? Someone to remind you to bring a phone charger? Have you eaten? Exhausted? Just can’t massage or counter pressure anymore? Need to just say WOW to someone? We got you! We can even run back home to grab something you forgot.
Stay with mama. So you can leave for any reason. This could be due to needing a break during a long birth, or if there are complications with baby, you can go with baby while mama still has someone to support her. We can also guide mama or support her up through pushing while you are free to watch or catch baby!
Provide a sympathetic ear. Your feelings matter too. Midwifes tend to focus only on mama. This might make you feel underappreciated or out of the loop on what is happening. We are there to fill you in and make you feel listened to as well. We can coach you on new pain relief techniques or positions, to help you, if you're feeling stuck on ways to provide helpful support.
Postpartum Doula
Okay, birth doula makes sense. But what about a postpartum doula? Is that worth the extra money?!
Our main goal in the postpartum stage is to facilitate bonding between mama and baby. We can be especially helpful to families with older children, helping to take them to school or just playing with them outside, letting the house be quiet enough for you to get some sleep. Postpartum help is especially helpful for mamas who’ve had a cesarean and are even more limited in movement after birth. It’s six weeks before you should really be up and moving around. That’s a long time! Its hard for mamas to watch the house get dirty and the yard to get crazy while just sitting. We can help get light cleaning done. We’re also great at cooking meals, meal planning or just running to the grocery store. Food is huge postpartum, and energy can be low for cooking. Again, setting is key to healing. Let us help you have a clean space to recover in. We offer different services you can pick from, our main goal being making life easier for you to just lay and bond with baby.
Trouble nursing? We know where all the support groups are and usually have some basic knowledge about breastfeeding that might be causing an issue. Talking to someone and feeling like you have support may be all it takes to shake off baby blues. We can help partners detect a deeper depression, and have tons of resources that suit your needs. We just give you the floor to talk about your feelings.
So, I hope this helps inform you about doulas and if you think one might be handy during your birth. I didn’t even get into the statistics on how instrumental doulas are to lowering induction and complication rates. I’ll save that for a different blog, but the research out there shows doulas can save you money, energy, and help you work through any emotional baggage from your birth experience.