Benefits of Doula Support
Need for Forceps 40% decrease Cesarean Rate 50% decrease
Epidural Requests 60% decrease Pain Medication 30% decrease
Length of Labor 25% decrease Source: The Thinking Woman's Guide To A Better Birth, Henci Goer
Additional Benefits:
* Fewer complications/interventions.
* Less use of episiotomies.
* Increased confidence in self and in partner.
* Higher success rate in breastfeeding.
* Increased satisfaction with birth experience.
* Mother views baby more positively.
* Continuity in care: prenatal, labor, birth, and immediate postpartum.
* Babies have shorter hospital stays with fewer admissions to special care nurseries.
Doula vs. Partner Support
Birth is a powerful experience for everyone involved. While in the past, birthing methodologies have taught women to use their partners as their coaches and advocates, I feel that partners are unprepared to be guides on this journey that they have never undertaken. They too are processing everything for the first time and already feeling worried about you, your baby and their own role. If male, they have never done what you are doing (giving birth) and cannot feel the calm within the storm of this feminine experience. This is true for women who have not birthed as well. Women who have birthed will be your greatest source of labor support, coupled with the strength, love and confidence of a supportive partner.
A doula provides encouragement and comfort to both you and your partner as you tune into the birth; including various laboring positions, visualization and counterpressure/massage suggestions and an awareness of what is going on in the mother's body at each stage of labor. She is present and confident for the laboring mother and supportive of the laboring father or partner, providing opportunities for both to feel nurtured as they work. She ensures that your birthing plan is understood and followed to the best of the hospital/birth center's abilities. In the quiet of this protective bubble, you and your partner may then focus on what you are each feeling and listen to what your body is saying you need. A doula provides a safe emotional space for a laboring couple to explore the birth experience with dignity and respect.
My Doula Services Package:
- 24/7 phone availability during pregnancy
- make bi-monthly visits during your last two months to build confidence and intimacy
- train you in some birthing positions and massage techniques you can use for labor
- create a healthy diet and exercise plan for use during pregnancy and during breastfeeding,
- create a birth plan with you and your partner,
- provide encouragement, support and comfort during labor and birth,
- advocate for you during your hospital stay,
- make follow-up visits after your birth to check on you, your partner and the baby regarding
your care and recovery, breastfeeding and answer any worries or concerns.
- invite you to join in my weekly Breastfeeding & Bonding Group for the recently delivered
(postpartum)
- I will be a resource for you as you start out and do my best to help you create a community of
support with other mothers in the same phase of development.
If you would like to schedule an informational interview with me and/or request my services as a doula for your birth, please call 713-705-7257 and/or fill out the following form and return: Doula Services Contract (pdf version) or (msword version)
Birth Stories... amazing women, supportive partners, incredible stories...
Stephanie Marcela Jill x2! Chevonne Sarah E. Sara M.
Melissa P. Ashley A. Rene x2! Leigh Kate H. Sarah V.
* Stories coming for those without links - waiting on baby or waiting on energy to write!
Introducing....The Breastfeeding Diaries!
Though it is a very natural thing to nurse your child, it truly takes a support team to get the hang of it. Imagine all of the times you have ever taken on something new - swimming, riding a bike, driving a car, knitting, baking etc - they have all required the mentorship of someone who knew how to do it and had faith in the process. Knowledge and faith in the process are CRITICAL in breastfeeding. We were never meant to do this alone and many are forced to give up on this experience because they have no support, are made to be fearful for their baby's health and are exhausted and uncomfortable physically. It came to me the other day, while surrounded by Mothers who were nursing that all of us have approached this differently and found a system that works for our unique babies, bodies and families. I can't be with every woman as she begins her nursing journey, but I can attempt to create a "cyber-community" of women who have come before you that also yearned to do it, struggled to establish it, asked tons of questions in the process and now have a wonderful, nurturing bond with their babies through breastfeeding.
Why Breastfeed?
* You will grow a healthier baby (immunologically, nutritionally, psychologically) speaking
* You will sleep better (women who nurse their babies are better rested since there is no prep needed)
* You will lose your pregnancy weight (originally intended to "fatten baby up" this weight falls off around
month 6-9 and then some extra too!) Harder to remove without breastfeeding.
* You will establish a deep bond with your child that encourages confidence, independence and
self-esteem
* You will develop a pride in your body that may have started during birth, but surges
during breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding Diaries coming soon!
Remember to Laugh
Your uterus is growing from the size of a pear to the size of a jumbo shopping bag. Your underwear is as large as a parachute. You've got facial hair growing where it didn't and shouldn't and now you've developed sciatica, causing your leg to ache from the butt to the knee. You walk with a waddle and pee when you sneeze. You can't eat without spilling everything down your front, putting Picasso to shame with your"blouse art". You have to employ the three point turn to roll yourself out of bed and even then, get a good grasp of the bedsheets to haul yourself up. Funny noises emit from you at all times and places, and you find yourself eating relish straight out of the jar. Remind yourself that while you are taking on the most challenging job there is, feeling out of control and frustrated by your limitations ... there is space for the release of a good laugh at what life asks of you during pregnancy.
