Labor and Birth

8 Reasons Why You Need A Doula

One of the first things I did when I found out I was pregnant was find my doula. I knew from the second I learned what a doula was that I not only wanted one, I needed one. I went to my first pregnancy appointment with my midwife and asked her how to go about finding one. She gave me a pamphlet and said “Kathleen is THE BEST.” Of course we needed the best, so I emailed Kathleen and set up an appointment for our interview. From there I decided she was the one, and till this day I never question that decision.

If you’ve never heard of a doula let’s clear up what their roll is and what doulas actually do. I ran into that question many times during my pregnancy. People had never heard of a doula and didn’t understand their purpose. I’d mention my doula in passing as I discussed pregnancy and the impending birth with various people. I was always met with “a du-whata?” I would simplify my answer with “my doula; basically a labor coach.” But doulas are so much more than that.

Doula is Greek for “woman who serves,” and they are essentially your own personal support system through pregnancy, labor and even postpartum. Whatever your goal for labor may be, a doula will help you accomplish that. Hospital medicated birth, scheduled induction, hospital unmedicated, home birth, scheduled or emergency c-section, water birth, or birthing center birth. Doulas are there to help empower you through birth and make birth the best experience for you possible. They may do this by acupressure, verbal affirmations, education, encouragement, doulas do everything!

Traditionally many women were doulas without even trying. Before hospital births became the norm in the early 1900’s, most women gave birth at home with a midwife. The community would be involved in this and the laboring woman may have the help of sister, aunts, friends, her mother, grandmother, or any experienced woman. Now that our culture has moved toward the complete medicalization of pregnancy and labor we have lost that sisterhood that would rally around a woman during labor. My grandmother experienced “twilight birth” and doesn’t even remember the births of her babies. Having an unmedicated birth complete with pain and all was something I longed for. I wanted to enter motherhood in touch with my body, feeling everything, every emotion.  I wanted that sisterhood. I wanted to be surrounded by women who also saw the importance and sacredness of that kind of birth experience. I knew a doula was for me.

1. Doulas are experts:

Doulas know birth better than anyone, other than maybe midwives. They are experienced and knowledgable about every type of birth from home births to c-sections. Doulas have seen it all and are well versed on how to handle every type of situation.

My doula also taught child birth education courses that are much more informative, honest and detailed about all that child birth entails. You just can’t get that from a hospital course. I thought I knew everything about the labor process because of all the classes I took in college and all the research I’d done on my own, but I was wrong. I am so thankful that I took childbirth education classes through my doula. I learned about things I’d never heard of before. Like fundal massages, and station positions. I learned about hospital procedures, which gave me background on what I wanted to include in my birth plan and how to communicate with the hospital staff better.

They don’t just bring knowledge to your birth, they bring wisdom. When you spend the duration of a woman’s labor with her and see every kind of birth experience possible, you learn a thing or two. That kind of expertise is something you just can’t find in your mother, OB/GYN, or your labor and delivery nurse.

2. They are on call:

My doula was available to me whenever I needed. Unlike a phone line to my midwife I could text Kathleen at any time of day or night with any question, and she had answers. I could call her if I needed emotional support, and be completely honest with my fears, anxieties and hopes for the birth process. When I began having contractions I contacted her and she met me at the hospital to labor with me. If you’d like a home birth doulas come to your house. In fact every appointment happened at my house. Doulas cater to the comfort of the woman. They treat birth like the emotional, intimate, and transforming experience that it is. You are not a routine patient that they try to brush off or rush. I often found that with doctor offices, and especially the first nurse in the delivery room, birth is their everyday experience. They have been here, done that. Unfortunately for most women, birth is not that way for us while we are in labor. Doulas understand that. They treat your birth like the profound life changing experience that you will see it as.

3. Doulas have resources:

They’re birth experts remember? They know everything about the birth process, but also know all the good important people and things you may need. Prenatal yoga, prenatal massage, a birth photographer, a chiropractor, acupuncturist, and pediatrician were just some of the things I sought out through my doula. Remember my new pediatrician that I love? (I mentioned him in my Why I Dumped My Pediatrician blog)… I found him through my doula.

Doulas are familiar with all the doctors, hospitals and midwives in your area very well and are well versed with hospital procedures and protocols. You just want someone on your side when you’re entering an entirely new world. For as much as our culture loves babies, we really keep topics relating to labor, birth and postpartum secret. I felt very knowledgeable about everything pertaining to pregnancy until I was actually pregnant and realized there was so much I didn’t know, that I didn’t know. In addition to referrals and recommendations, Kathleen hooked me up with books. Books about the Bradly Method, Hypbobabies, you name it and she can hook you up.

In addition to resources, doulas can connect you to a community or village or women who can support and uplift each other because if you haven’t heard, pregnancy and motherhood are really hard. My doula offers various support groups throughout the week as well as social functions that all moms who receive her services can attend.

4. Doulas are more than just doulas:

Doulas do so much more than just attend births. Some provide postpartum care and will come help you with your baby and household chores, some are certified lactation consultants, some doulas are birth photographers, some do placenta encapsulation and teach child birth education. They do so much more than just provide support. Doulas are not always affordable, as insurance sometimes will not cover the costs of a doula. My insurance did not cover any part of my doula’s expenses, but I still believe that it was worth every penny.

5. Statistically, you will have a better birth:

According to American Pregnancy Association, the length of your labor can be decreased by 25% when a doula is present. Your chance of cesarean goes down by 50%. Doulas, being experts can help you navigate all the medical jargon that doctors throw at women in labor. Women in labor are often taken advantage of by the medical community. A doula will help prevent that from happening. Labor can be stressful, especially if you are exhausted and in pain. You may not feel like you have the authority to question each procedure or to ask questions about what is happening to your body in general. Consent is still applicable in the delivery room, and you should never feel bullied into something you are not comfortable with, which leads me to my next point.

6. Doulas are advocates: 

One may think that bullying by doctors of nurses doesn’t happen, but it does. I know dear friends who were bullied and threatened with c-sections by hospital staff. Doulas will be your personal advocate. They won’t just speak up for you, they will help you speak up for yourself. There are several very famous cases of women experiencing “birth rape.” One woman in particular was given an episiotomy against her will. You can read about that here. You deserve respect, informed consent and autonomy throughout your birthing experience and a doula will ensure that happens for you.

I wrote in my birth plan that I would wear my own clothes, move about as freely as I pleased, and eat or drink as needed. One nurse in particular was put off by this, which typically would make me uncomfortable. I even heard her nurses whisper to another nurse that “she has a doula.” As if that was something that would impact our hospital stay. My doula, just being on the way gave me a back bone I otherwise might not have had.

7. They support your birth team too:

One thing my husband mentioned to me that never occurred to me was how my doula was a support system for him as well (and my mother and his grandmother.) If you deliver in a hospital with a midwife or an OB, you will be alone the majority of the time. Alone with your birth team whether that be your husband, mother, sister, or photographer. At some point there may be hours that it is just you and those people in the hospital room. Nurses will be in an out, but your doctor or midwife will only be in the room for maybe a sporadic check, and then the actual delivery. My husband and mom loved having my doula there constantly, as did I, but that is how I had planed it, so the thought of her constant presence not being there never crossed my mind.

My mom had only seen her own births over 20 years prior, and my husband had never seen a birth at all. The intensity of the moment, plus me being in pain caused some unexpected anxiety for them. My husband liked having Kathleen there to tell him what to do, and when to do it. She could read what I needed, and ensured that everything was normal. She supported them as they helped support me, which made for a very peaceful delivery.

8. They are the most compassionate people on the planet:

Doulas dedicate their entire career to helping women in possibly the most trying moments of their life. Beautiful, sacred, magical, and miraculous, but trying non the less. There is no need to be embarrassed of your body or anything that may come out of it. They have seen it all.

They wake up at all hours of the night, drop whatever they are doing, and come to assist you through the long and often painful journey that is labor. They stay awake, meet your needs, and work with you. Listen to loud screams, moans, and literally hold your hand through the most challenging thing most women will endure. Doulas listen, encourage, support, celebrate, grieve, laugh, and cry with you. Doula’s work is often exhausting, frustrating, heart breaking and stressful, but they do it out of sheer love for women, motherhood, babies, and birth. Doulas are incredibly amazing people and I am so thankful that I entered motherhood with the support of the best doula out there, Kathleen by my side.

You can read more out my birth experience here: Holden’s Birth Story 

If you are interested in hiring a doula, I highly recommend looking into the idea. I have several of Kathleen’s links below, as well as doulamatch.net, if you happen to be outside of the Houston area, and would like to find a doula near you.

 

  1. Kathleen Wilson

    July 25, 2017 at 10:44 pm

    Your doulas loves you!

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