What is a doula?
Providing a link to our history
Lots of new and expecting parents feel like they should just know how to do everything. Natural instinct should take over and we should just understand how to birth a baby, raise a newborn, and how to take care of ourselves.
Here’s the truth: When it comes to giving birth and raising babies, much of the behavior we think of as instinctual is actually learned. Two hundred years ago, someone expecting their first baby would have already witnessed several births. Throughout their life, they would have seen many, many people breastfeeding babies. They would have watched countless siblings, cousins and neighbors grow through their early development.
Not only that, but they would have a community around them. Their family members, neighbors, and friends would attend the birth and support them through the postpartum time, offering wisdom and practical help, so they would be set up for success in raising their child.
This still happens in some places and communities in the world. But in modern American society, this is not the norm. Families are often separated by distance. Our communities aren’t as interconnected as they once were. And some generational knowledge was lost during the 20th century when heavily medicated hospital births and formula-feeding became more prevalent.
A doula can help re-establish the link between our modern lives and the skills we used to learn from our communities. We also provide up-to-date, evidence-based information related to birth, the postpartum period, and infant development.
What a Birth Doula Can Provide.
Prenatal Support and Birth Plan Preparation: It’s best to hire a doula as early in your pregnancy as possible. This helps ensure that a doula you want to work with will have availability. It also allows the doula to get to know the family well, and to help with creating a list of preferences for your birth. My role as a doula is never to substitute my own judgment for yours, but to help you think about aspects of your birth that you may not have considered, and to distill your vision for your birth into a plan that can be shared with your care providers.
On-Call Support for Labor: Once you have retained me for birth support, I will put your due date on my calendar and will be on-call for four weeks around your due date. Based on the details of your pregnancy, we can decide whether that four week window will be split evenly on both sides of your due date, or whether to weight it more towards one side or the other. If you go into labor outside of the on-call window, I will still do everything in my power to attend your birth or to provide a highly qualified backup doula.
Continuous Support for Labor and Birth: A doula typically arrives during early labor or the very early stages of active labor. Once you are having any signs of labor, we will be in communication via text or phone calls so that I can come support you as soon as I’m needed. I will come to your home prior to going to a hospital or birthing center, or to remain there for a home birth. Once I arrive, I will remain throughout the birthing process and for an hour or two after birth.
Postpartum Support: In addition to assisting immediately after the birth, for every birth I attend, I will provide a one-hour postpartum visit to discuss the birth and help address any issues that may have come up postpartum. If there are any problems I cannot help with, I can refer you to qualified care providers who can assist you. If you also purchase postpartum support services, this visit will not count toward those hours.
What a Postpartum Doula Can Provide:
Practical Support: Postpartum doulas are available to assist with all kinds of practical concerns, from setting up a peaceful area for nursing to preparing meals to doing light housework. We can also take care of the new baby while the parents take a shower, take a nap, or just take a break. Postpartum doulas are not babysitters, however, and a custodial parent must be present during postpartum support.
Emotional Support: Postpartum doulas understand the profound transformation, mentally and physically, that people undergo when they give birth or become parents. A postpartum doula can provide emotional support and nurture new parents through this transition, and help them work through rough patches.
Educational Support: There is a lot of information out there for new parents. It can be really difficult to figure out where to find the best and safest information for you and/or your baby. As a postpartum doula, I stay up-to-date on the latest research and evidence-based information regarding infant development, safe sleep, infant feeding and nutrition, physical changes after pregnancy and birth, and perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs). I can help you learn about these subjects so that you feel confident taking control of your new life as parents.
Referral Support: A postpartum doula is not a licensed medical professional, so often there will be medical issues that I cannot diagnose or treat. There are also other services new parents might need that are not within a postpartum doula’s scope of practice. However, part of my support includes helping you sift through all the providers and help you find high-quality care providers who will support your choices as a new parent.
Sibling and Extended Family Support: New parents and the new baby aren’t the only ones going through a transition. Having a new baby in the family can be complicated for new siblings, and new grandparents. A postpartum doula can help new siblings adjust to the new baby, and can help educate and support grandparents or other extended family about the most current information about infant development and postpartum care.
Think a doula is right for you?
First, check out our services and rates.
Then, contact me so we can talk about how I can support you.