Lunapads

There was a story in one of our national papers today about one of the downsides of having a doula at your birth. It had the annoying title “Aggravated at birth” with an illustration of a pregnant woman being pulled in two directions: one by a hospital nurse and another by a doula. While it is nice to see a mainstream newspaper write about doulas (women who provide coaching and support to birthing moms and their partners) I was dismayed to see the negative angle being highlighted. The story presented the view that doulas are buidling up hostility between themselves and hospital nurses due to differences in philosophy about birthing. While it is unfortunate that “extreme” doulas like the ones described in the article do exist, not all are like this, and they don’t need this kind of PR.

I was assisted by a doula for both my births. My first birth was in a hospital and I was surrounded by strangers (my doctor was on holidays) so I was grateful for the familiar face of my doula in the birthing room. She was encouraging, never pushy and never got in the way. She had techniques for me to manage the pain and gave lots of support to my partner too. In retrospect, I wished she was more vocal when my doctor insisted on giving me an episiotimy. I remember looking at my doula feeling stressed about the situation, but she just quietly watched and let me make the call. I reluctantly gave in to the episiotimy, but the experience made me determined to have a more gentle birth the second time.

The second time around, I had a great team of midwives and felt more confident about birth. I was surprised when they asked me if I was considering a doula for my second birth. I thought I didn’t need one, but I’m glad I opted for a doula again. Aleksandra, (pictured here with my son Garret) was not only extremely knowledgeable, but she was very much in tune with my needs prenatally and during labour (and I was much more clear about my needs the second time around too.)

In my view, a doula is an essential person to have at your birth (and a great pre and post natal resource too). Just be sure to hire one who fits your needs and personality. Don’t assume that she will speak up for you and make decisions for you, and don’t let her run the show. Get referrals from other moms, and make sure you establish a good connection with her. The last thing you want is someone who is inflexible and doesn’t really understand what you want… especially in the throws of full on labour!

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 4th, 2007 at 9:11 am by Suzanne and is filed under Birthing, Babies and Parenting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.