With my first two pregnancies, I didn’t hire a doula. Heck, I don’t even think I knew what a doula was. I felt that giving birth was a completely private event, and I only wanted to share that experience with my husband and necessary medical staff.~Read her story to find out what changed her mind and how a doula impacted her subsequent birth experiences.
Crystal says,
my sister-in-law announced that she would be using a doula for her second child’s delivery. ”A what?” I asked…”a doula.” was the reply.
With three children to my credit, I have always been happily pro drug, pro hospital, pro doctor.Read her very well written account of a doula attended birth to see what changed her perspective of a doula and made her say..
at the risk of sounding like a crazy, hippie-dippy, sparkly rainbow lover and magical loving fruit loop of a nut job, I will put it out there. I will say it. This magical gift of a woman, this doula was wonderful.
In what was, for me, the comfort zone of beeping machines, copious hand sanitizer and droves of personnel equipped with advanced degrees and special badges, I watched the most basic of all things natural unfold. A woman, comforted, coached and calmed a laboring mother while she brought her baby into the world. It was a revelation for this mother. How a delivery could go so smoothly...Because we are led to believe that laboring women need monitoring, constant checking, IV’s, medications, interventions and whole carts of instruments to bring a human being into the world. When maybe the most effective, and dare I say most important vehicle to assist in delivery is a calm companion. Someone who knows, with unshakable conviction that women were designed to have babies. That birth is not an instantaneous process. Someone comfortable with the fact that labor and delivery take as long as they take, and someone that is adept at soothing a mother through the pain and anxiety of childbirth.
Dads say,
When my wife told me that she wanted a doula, I was hurt. I truly though with our first baby I'd be able to be the end all be all for my wifeafter the birth they say,
Now I don’t know how anyone could manage to give birth without one. Our doula really helped bring me together with my wife as she gave birth. My wife remembers my constant support and never failing love or knowledge. She remembers the doula as a nice person who did some stuff in the background. We won’t give birth without a doula.Find out why!
What do the experts say?
The Cochrane Collaboration finds,
Given the clear benefits and no known risks associated with support, every effort should be made to ensure that all laboring women receive continuous support. This support should include continuous presence, the provision of hands on comfort and encouragement.Pam England declares,
Asking your husband to be your sole guide through labor is like asking him to lead the way on a climb of Mt. Everest. He may be smart and trustworthy, you may love him, but in the HImalayas you'd both be a lot better off with a Sherpa!John H Kennell, MD writes,
If a doula were a drug, it would be unethical not to use it.In this Net Wellness article he says, a doula is
a risk-free option for pain relief during childbirth.
Penny Simkin, PT says,
support and assistance of a doula during birth enhances postpartum recovery.In her book, The Birth Partner, she explains,
While the doula probably knows more than the partner about birth, hospitals and maternity care, the partner knows more about the woman’s personality, likes, dislikes and needs. Moreover, he loves the woman more than anyone else there. The combination of partner and doula, along with a caring staff gives the woman the best chance of an optimal outcome.Suze Orman says,
a doula is a need not a want~on Can I Afford It? Bethany
DONA Position Paper: The Birth Doula's Contribution to Modern Maternity Care
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