Is there a doula in the house?
Labor assistants can help women have happier, healthier births
By Jacqueline Tourville
An increasing number of Granite State moms are opting to have a doula on hand for extra support during labor and delivery. Just what does a doula do? Allison Connor, Jaime Caryl-Klika, and Kelly Collins, three certified doulas from BirthRoots Doulas in Hooksett, explained how doula services benefit women and their families.
Q: What is a doula?
A: The word doula is Greek for "woman's servant." Doulas are trained in the physiology of childbirth and provide continuous physical, emotional and informational support to a mother and her family before, during and just after childbirth.
Q: What types of services do you offer as a birth doula?
A: A birth doula is a professional labor assistant. While different births require various kinds of support, women and their families can expect a birth doula to provide reassurance, assistance in gathering information prior to and during labor, various non-pharmacological pain relief and comfort measures, encouragement, advocacy and non-medical advice regarding positioning, breathing techniques and relaxation methods. Additional services offered by doulas include prenatal and/or birth photography, bellycasting, babywearing instruction and mother's blessing/blessingway ceremonies.
Q: Why might a woman choose to have a doula with her during labor and delivery?
A: Studies have shown that when doulas attend births, labors are shorter, risk for complication is reduced and babies are healthier and breastfeed more easily. Specifically, the presence of a doula reduces length of labor by 25 percent, pain medication use by more than 30 percent, the need for forceps or vacuum extraction by 34 percent and requests for epidurals by up to 60 percent. Doula-attended mothers also reduce their chances for Cesarean delivery by almost half. Even after giving birth, moms who were assisted by doulas show significantly less anxiety, fewer signs of depression and report greater satisfaction with their birth experiences.
Q: Are local hospitals accustomed to working with doulas? How does a doula differ from nurses and other hospital staff?
A: Most nurses, doctors and midwives have a supportive response to doulas and [if not accustomed to working with labor assistants] local hospitals are at least familiar with the kinds of services a doula provides. Doulas are considered a guest of the laboring mom, just like any other family member, and no special permission is needed to have a doula present. A big difference between hospital staff and doulas is a doula has a prior relationship with the mom and her partner. There is a trust that is built there. In an optimal situation, nurses, doctors or midwives, and doula work together as a team to make the family’s experience a positive one.
Q: Does a doula take the place of support from a husband/partner?
A: Absolutely not! If a doula does her job, a partner actually feels more empowered to help the mom during the labor and delivery process. Dads do not have to remember all the details of childbirth education courses. With the help of a doula, a partner can simply love and support the laboring mom. Doulas can enhance the intimacy between parents by teaching the partner how to massage in just the right way, the words to say (or not say) for encouragement and other tips for how best to show support.
Q: What are some of your tried-and-true doula techniques during labor and delivery?
A: Although most of the births we see on television or in movies depict a mom laboring on her back in bed, this is generally one of the most uncomfortable and unproductive ways in which to labor. A doula might suggest putting gravity to use by walking, sitting or standing with support to help move labor along. Squatting is even better as it significantly increases the diameter of the pelvic outlet. For a mom with back labor, providing pain relief by alternating heat and ice therapy while applying pressure to the hips is especially effective. We’ve also had great success with massage, aromatherapy and guided relaxation imagery. The support a doula provides during birth can also be purely emotional. Often, a woman needs to stare deep into the eyes of someone she trusts and hear, "You can do this. You are doing this." Magic happens in those empowering moments.
Q: How do women hire a doula?
A: Generally, most women will start searching for a doula midway through pregnancy. Word of mouth is always a great way to find a doula and national doula certifying organizations provide lists of locally-based labor assistants. Some questions to ask a potential doula include: What training have you had? What services do you provide? What made you become a doula? What is your philosophy on childbirth? Could you meet with me at home before the birth to discuss my birth plan? What happens if you are not available at the time I go into labor? Doulas meet with clients in the weeks leading up to a woman’s due date. Meetings might serve as a chance to create a birth plan, discuss past birthing experiences or any fears about birth, and are an opportunity for the labor assistant and the mom-to-be’s family to bond before the big day.
Q: How much do typical birth doula services cost?
A: Though doula service pricing varies widely in the state, women should expect to pay somewhere between $300-$900 a birth. Also, check to see if your health insurance covers labor assistance. According to Doulas of North America, several insurance companies now reimburse for doula services.
Jacqueline Tourville is a freelance writer from Nashua.
Doula certification organizations
Contact these agencies to find a certified doula in your area.
Association for Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators (ALACE)
P.O. Box 390436
Cambridge, MA 02139
888-222-5223
www.alace.org
Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association (CAPPA)
PO Box 491448
Lawrenceville, GA 30049
1-888-MY-CAPPA
www.cappa.net
Doulas of North America (DONA)
P.O. Box 626
Jasper, IN 47547
888-788-DONA (3662)
www.dona.org
By Jacqueline Tourville
An increasing number of Granite State moms are opting to have a doula on hand for extra support during labor and delivery. Just what does a doula do? Allison Connor, Jaime Caryl-Klika, and Kelly Collins, three certified doulas from BirthRoots Doulas in Hooksett, explained how doula services benefit women and their families.
Q: What is a doula?
A: The word doula is Greek for "woman's servant." Doulas are trained in the physiology of childbirth and provide continuous physical, emotional and informational support to a mother and her family before, during and just after childbirth.
Q: What types of services do you offer as a birth doula?
A: A birth doula is a professional labor assistant. While different births require various kinds of support, women and their families can expect a birth doula to provide reassurance, assistance in gathering information prior to and during labor, various non-pharmacological pain relief and comfort measures, encouragement, advocacy and non-medical advice regarding positioning, breathing techniques and relaxation methods. Additional services offered by doulas include prenatal and/or birth photography, bellycasting, babywearing instruction and mother's blessing/blessingway ceremonies.
Q: Why might a woman choose to have a doula with her during labor and delivery?
A: Studies have shown that when doulas attend births, labors are shorter, risk for complication is reduced and babies are healthier and breastfeed more easily. Specifically, the presence of a doula reduces length of labor by 25 percent, pain medication use by more than 30 percent, the need for forceps or vacuum extraction by 34 percent and requests for epidurals by up to 60 percent. Doula-attended mothers also reduce their chances for Cesarean delivery by almost half. Even after giving birth, moms who were assisted by doulas show significantly less anxiety, fewer signs of depression and report greater satisfaction with their birth experiences.
Q: Are local hospitals accustomed to working with doulas? How does a doula differ from nurses and other hospital staff?
A: Most nurses, doctors and midwives have a supportive response to doulas and [if not accustomed to working with labor assistants] local hospitals are at least familiar with the kinds of services a doula provides. Doulas are considered a guest of the laboring mom, just like any other family member, and no special permission is needed to have a doula present. A big difference between hospital staff and doulas is a doula has a prior relationship with the mom and her partner. There is a trust that is built there. In an optimal situation, nurses, doctors or midwives, and doula work together as a team to make the family’s experience a positive one.
Q: Does a doula take the place of support from a husband/partner?
A: Absolutely not! If a doula does her job, a partner actually feels more empowered to help the mom during the labor and delivery process. Dads do not have to remember all the details of childbirth education courses. With the help of a doula, a partner can simply love and support the laboring mom. Doulas can enhance the intimacy between parents by teaching the partner how to massage in just the right way, the words to say (or not say) for encouragement and other tips for how best to show support.
Q: What are some of your tried-and-true doula techniques during labor and delivery?
A: Although most of the births we see on television or in movies depict a mom laboring on her back in bed, this is generally one of the most uncomfortable and unproductive ways in which to labor. A doula might suggest putting gravity to use by walking, sitting or standing with support to help move labor along. Squatting is even better as it significantly increases the diameter of the pelvic outlet. For a mom with back labor, providing pain relief by alternating heat and ice therapy while applying pressure to the hips is especially effective. We’ve also had great success with massage, aromatherapy and guided relaxation imagery. The support a doula provides during birth can also be purely emotional. Often, a woman needs to stare deep into the eyes of someone she trusts and hear, "You can do this. You are doing this." Magic happens in those empowering moments.
Q: How do women hire a doula?
A: Generally, most women will start searching for a doula midway through pregnancy. Word of mouth is always a great way to find a doula and national doula certifying organizations provide lists of locally-based labor assistants. Some questions to ask a potential doula include: What training have you had? What services do you provide? What made you become a doula? What is your philosophy on childbirth? Could you meet with me at home before the birth to discuss my birth plan? What happens if you are not available at the time I go into labor? Doulas meet with clients in the weeks leading up to a woman’s due date. Meetings might serve as a chance to create a birth plan, discuss past birthing experiences or any fears about birth, and are an opportunity for the labor assistant and the mom-to-be’s family to bond before the big day.
Q: How much do typical birth doula services cost?
A: Though doula service pricing varies widely in the state, women should expect to pay somewhere between $300-$900 a birth. Also, check to see if your health insurance covers labor assistance. According to Doulas of North America, several insurance companies now reimburse for doula services.
Jacqueline Tourville is a freelance writer from Nashua.
Doula certification organizations
Contact these agencies to find a certified doula in your area.
Association for Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators (ALACE)
P.O. Box 390436
Cambridge, MA 02139
888-222-5223
www.alace.org
Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association (CAPPA)
PO Box 491448
Lawrenceville, GA 30049
1-888-MY-CAPPA
www.cappa.net
Doulas of North America (DONA)
P.O. Box 626
Jasper, IN 47547
888-788-DONA (3662)
www.dona.org
Last updated by Parenting NH Administrator Jun. 30, 2009.
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