Birth Doula
Cost
$300-$1500 (avg. $500)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doula
What is a doula? The concept of a doula is not new. A woman supporting another woman through labor is a tradition that goes back many years in all cultures. Some women do not live in close-knit communities where their sisters, mothers, aunts, and friends are there to support them through pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood; these events can be scary and can make a woman feel lost if she has to experience them alone.
A doula helps fill this gap by providing support to the woman and her partner or support system throughout the childbearing experience. A doula does not replace the support system; instead, she helps support them so that they can focus on loving and encouraging the laboring woman. Doulas can serve as a source of information during pregnancy, labor and birth. A doula assists families in gathering information about their pregnancy, labor and the options available for delivery.
Doulas can be trained and experienced in childbirth, however, in most countries there is no government regulation of their training. Their goal is to provide continuous physical, emotional, and informational support before labor, and during labor, birth and the immediate postpartum period. The intent of a doula is to help the woman have a safe and satisfying experience, as the woman defines it. A well trained doula understands and works within the doula's scope of practice and should not interfere with any medical aspect of labor and birth.
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
Having come from a family with a natural history of midwifery and the art of birth doula because my materinal grandmother was the midwife and doula for her town, Advocate Harbor, Nova Scotia, Canada back in the 1900's, it has always been an interest of mine. My husband and I experienced the birth of our first child in the traditional hospital setting and found it to be cold, sterile, and insensitive to what we had expected such a monumential experience to be. We had expressed a desire to have a natrual birth which we were told we could do in the hospital, we found that they were unprepared to offer the level of support needed to see us through what we had obviously underestmated in scope and so I was given the typical Epidural when the discomfort got to be too much and it would have been the time to have the support of a labor and birth doula which was not an option.
When a friend of ours was having a baby years later and told us she was using a doctor in Seattle (Dr. Gold) that supported natural labor and delivery, we decided we would use him when a few months later we were preparing for the bith of our next child. Because of the distance we would have had to travel to take the classes his wife offered for preparation and the fact that my husband would not get off in time for us to travel that far, he agreed to allow us to take the classes from a local childbirth educator. At one of the classes, I overheard this educator talking to another of the participants and they were discussing the option of home birth. I was kind of shocked to hear that because besides my grandmothers experience in the 1900's, I had no idea anyone still had offered this service, and since my mother was a labor and delivery nurse in a local hospital, I felt that hospital birth was the only option around. We lingered after class so that we could speak to our educator and ask if it was true, to which she replied "not only is it true, but I preform that service in your home." We were thrilled beyond words at the prospect that this wonderful woman whom we had come to love through this education experience would actually come to our home and support us in the type of birth we had come to dream of. As you might imagine, our parents were (especially my hospital indoctrinated mother) were less than thrilled, and thought we were putting my life and the life of our unborn child in jeopardy.
I was surprised that my mother of all people who's own mother was a midwife would be so opposed to our going back to a more natural approach, but alas she had been trained to believe that the old ways were barbaric and actually said to me, "childbirth is the closest thing to death that a woman will ever experience" and "it is ridiculous to go through that much pain when we have perfectly good drugs that can make a woman not feel any of it." My mother knew me better than to think she could actually talk me out of something I had decided was best for me however and her arguments didn't last long.
It was if some part of me (I believe this exists in all woman as a natural part of our makeup but we are talked out of our kowing by life and "domestication" in general) KNEW without a doubt that with the right support, not only was childbirth not painful, but that if you accomplished it without drugs to numb you out and seperate you from this natural process, you would find parts of yourself you never knew you possessed. That was exactly my experience; what I found out is that with proper support, although labor and delivery was intense, it was not pain that I actually experienced, a lot of pressure for sure, but when understood through proper education and support, was an amazing mystery! I further discovered that I had reserves of strength and fortitude I would never have know were there had I not gone through this and experienced every moment of the wonder of it all. I came away with a newfound respect for myself and all woman and couples that are brave enough to trust that our bodies were designed for this process and that God actually knew what he was doing when he designed us like this. I am forever greatful to my husband for supporting me for having stepped out in faith and followed my knowing in this area.
That was way back in 1978 and we went on to have yet another wonderful home birth in 1981 with this same midwife. By the time our last baby was born, I was very good friends with our midwife and through that friendship, I had the privelage of attending many births with her acting as a support person (a doula before the term came back into modern day popularity) to her and the laboring couples we served. I have since that time accompanied many friends and realitives in their own birthing experiences and never cease to be amazed at the miracle I witness.
Please understand that I believe that home birth is not for everyone and that birth can be supported beautifully within the hospital setting whether one chooses to go natural or in the end needs to have anesthesia or even a cesarean section and there is no such thing as a failure even if you find you cannot follow through with your original plan because in the end when you are holding your precious little one in your arms, how they got delivered is paled into insignificance compared to the miracle you are beholding.
Cost
$300-$1500 (avg. $500)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doula
What is a doula? The concept of a doula is not new. A woman supporting another woman through labor is a tradition that goes back many years in all cultures. Some women do not live in close-knit communities where their sisters, mothers, aunts, and friends are there to support them through pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood; these events can be scary and can make a woman feel lost if she has to experience them alone.
A doula helps fill this gap by providing support to the woman and her partner or support system throughout the childbearing experience. A doula does not replace the support system; instead, she helps support them so that they can focus on loving and encouraging the laboring woman. Doulas can serve as a source of information during pregnancy, labor and birth. A doula assists families in gathering information about their pregnancy, labor and the options available for delivery.
Doulas can be trained and experienced in childbirth, however, in most countries there is no government regulation of their training. Their goal is to provide continuous physical, emotional, and informational support before labor, and during labor, birth and the immediate postpartum period. The intent of a doula is to help the woman have a safe and satisfying experience, as the woman defines it. A well trained doula understands and works within the doula's scope of practice and should not interfere with any medical aspect of labor and birth.
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
Having come from a family with a natural history of midwifery and the art of birth doula because my materinal grandmother was the midwife and doula for her town, Advocate Harbor, Nova Scotia, Canada back in the 1900's, it has always been an interest of mine. My husband and I experienced the birth of our first child in the traditional hospital setting and found it to be cold, sterile, and insensitive to what we had expected such a monumential experience to be. We had expressed a desire to have a natrual birth which we were told we could do in the hospital, we found that they were unprepared to offer the level of support needed to see us through what we had obviously underestmated in scope and so I was given the typical Epidural when the discomfort got to be too much and it would have been the time to have the support of a labor and birth doula which was not an option.
When a friend of ours was having a baby years later and told us she was using a doctor in Seattle (Dr. Gold) that supported natural labor and delivery, we decided we would use him when a few months later we were preparing for the bith of our next child. Because of the distance we would have had to travel to take the classes his wife offered for preparation and the fact that my husband would not get off in time for us to travel that far, he agreed to allow us to take the classes from a local childbirth educator. At one of the classes, I overheard this educator talking to another of the participants and they were discussing the option of home birth. I was kind of shocked to hear that because besides my grandmothers experience in the 1900's, I had no idea anyone still had offered this service, and since my mother was a labor and delivery nurse in a local hospital, I felt that hospital birth was the only option around. We lingered after class so that we could speak to our educator and ask if it was true, to which she replied "not only is it true, but I preform that service in your home." We were thrilled beyond words at the prospect that this wonderful woman whom we had come to love through this education experience would actually come to our home and support us in the type of birth we had come to dream of. As you might imagine, our parents were (especially my hospital indoctrinated mother) were less than thrilled, and thought we were putting my life and the life of our unborn child in jeopardy.
I was surprised that my mother of all people who's own mother was a midwife would be so opposed to our going back to a more natural approach, but alas she had been trained to believe that the old ways were barbaric and actually said to me, "childbirth is the closest thing to death that a woman will ever experience" and "it is ridiculous to go through that much pain when we have perfectly good drugs that can make a woman not feel any of it." My mother knew me better than to think she could actually talk me out of something I had decided was best for me however and her arguments didn't last long.
It was if some part of me (I believe this exists in all woman as a natural part of our makeup but we are talked out of our kowing by life and "domestication" in general) KNEW without a doubt that with the right support, not only was childbirth not painful, but that if you accomplished it without drugs to numb you out and seperate you from this natural process, you would find parts of yourself you never knew you possessed. That was exactly my experience; what I found out is that with proper support, although labor and delivery was intense, it was not pain that I actually experienced, a lot of pressure for sure, but when understood through proper education and support, was an amazing mystery! I further discovered that I had reserves of strength and fortitude I would never have know were there had I not gone through this and experienced every moment of the wonder of it all. I came away with a newfound respect for myself and all woman and couples that are brave enough to trust that our bodies were designed for this process and that God actually knew what he was doing when he designed us like this. I am forever greatful to my husband for supporting me for having stepped out in faith and followed my knowing in this area.
That was way back in 1978 and we went on to have yet another wonderful home birth in 1981 with this same midwife. By the time our last baby was born, I was very good friends with our midwife and through that friendship, I had the privelage of attending many births with her acting as a support person (a doula before the term came back into modern day popularity) to her and the laboring couples we served. I have since that time accompanied many friends and realitives in their own birthing experiences and never cease to be amazed at the miracle I witness.
Please understand that I believe that home birth is not for everyone and that birth can be supported beautifully within the hospital setting whether one chooses to go natural or in the end needs to have anesthesia or even a cesarean section and there is no such thing as a failure even if you find you cannot follow through with your original plan because in the end when you are holding your precious little one in your arms, how they got delivered is paled into insignificance compared to the miracle you are beholding.
