Primal and Preggo: Why I've Hired a Doula & Preparing For D-Day

INFORMATION PROVIDED BY www.donna.org:

A "doula" is a professionally trained birthing coach. The word "doula" comes from ancient Greek meaning "a woman who serves". Doula's are trained to provide continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to mothers before, during and just after birth. "Studies have shown that when doulas attend birth, labors are shorter with fewer complications, babies are healthier and they breastfeed more easily."

Why I've Hired A Doula

The main reason I've decided to hire a doula is that I will be PCSing (relocating) to Ft Bragg North Carolina when I am 8 months pregnant. I plan to deliver at Womack Army Community Hospital which has anywhere between 8-12 providers (doctors) and 6-10 midwives. I've heard Womack described as "an assembly line of births" because of the large population at Bragg. This doesn't seem so far fetched because, lets be honest, us military folk are really good at two things: Blowing stuff up, and reproducing! ;-) Due to the large amount of providers at Womack I will probably have a stranger delivering my son. There is no way to meet every provider and midwife before the birth. Hiring a doula from the area will ensure I have a professional by my side who knows my fears, my history, my hopes for the birth, my preferences, and has an established relationship with me. This will help me relax and allow my son to come as quickly as he'd like to.

Check out this great video my Doula sent me on the benefits of having continuous support during D-Day:

Fear

My biggest fear is not the pain of labor, but that unnecessary medical intervention will be performed which can have repercussions throughout my labor, the rest of my life, and even worse, can effect my son negatively (see video below "Avoid Unnecessary Interventions"). Our bodies are designed to do this. Any intervention (small or large) could have consequences immediately or down the road for mother or baby. I pray I will have an uneventful birth and can bring him into this world naturally, but am also learning as much as I can about what could need to be done in the event of an emergency. Having my doula there will help me make INFORMED decisions about medical intervention if the situation presents itself. She may also know of natural alternatives that I am not familiar with. She will NOT replace sound medical advice in the event of an emergency, but she WILL add more to my "bag of tricks/tools" to make the day more comfortable for my husband and me.

Another perk of having my doula present is the "safety blanket" for my husband. Although he will be my "head coach", having an "assistant coach" there will help him relax knowing that he has back up, doesn't have to remember EVERYTHING we've learned from our birthing classes, and has someone who can step in if multiple people are needed to support me in different ways (or if he needs a break). He is probably MORE nervous about D-Day than I am, and has repeatedly volunteered to go through the pain for me. Which I have graciously said "Okay" to! Ha! I wish! :-D Having our Doula present will give him the added confidence that together we will be able to do this. Having her there will take stress off of both of us so we can enjoy the birth of our first child and strengthen our bond as husband and wife even more.

Finding A Doula

I got a list of Doula's in the Fayetteville area from my Bradley Method Of Natural Childbirth instructor. I contacted all of the ladies and did several phone interviews (googling "questions to ask during a Doula interview" to help me conduct the interview), and decided on one who I felt most connected and in tune with. She is well educated, has lots of experience, and is supportive of my choice of natural birth. She has also taught me a lot since hiring her. She's answered endless amounts questions, and is my "go to gal" for credible information. Google is great, but you never know how credible the info is. She's been a wonderful addition to my "birth team" already, and I haven't even given birth yet!

Show Me The Money!!!

Since insurance usually doesn't cover the cost of hiring a doula I was a bit worried about how much it would be. I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the ladies I interviewed worked on a "sliding scale". There was a very reasonable base line cost ($200 for my doula), and then another payment of anywhere between $100-500 due upon birth depending on how much my husband and I can afford. My doula gave us the option of making payments at our convenience. After speaking with the ladies about payment all of them ended the conversation with telling me that if finances were the ONLY thing keeping us from hiring her that she would work with us to find a cost that fits our budget. WOW! These ladies are truly doing their work for the betterment of their clients vs. to make a living. I was very impressed.

Training For The D-Day (insert Eye Of The Tiger music)

On a different note, after speaking with many moms I've realized that a lot of woman don't do much to prepare for the big day. That surprises me. Maybe my HUGE fear of this major event has made me more information hungry than most, but like I've said in past posts, I look at the labor/birth process as the most physically and emotionally demanding event in my life. Just as an athlete would train for an Ironman race, I am going to train for my sons birth. There are a lot of things you can do to help condition your body and mind for it. Most of the exercises make me look ridiculous and have given my husband endless amounts of laughter, but by golly, I'm gonna pelvic rock till the cows come home if it will help this boy get out easier! :-P

This is an amazing compilation of real woman speaking of their personal experiences. "Birth doesn't have to happen to you". Get as much info as you can to prepare for one of the most important days of your life. From lamaze.org.

The following are videos my doula sent me (see full site here) in order of how labor progresses. They are great snip-pits of information and are about 2 - 3 minutes in length. I hope if you are pregnant (or planning to have children in the future) that these videos will "wet your appetite" for more information on the subject. You can prepare for this. You can train your body for this. You don't have to be a patient in a hospital... Birth doesn't have to "happen" to you. You can be a participant of your child's birth. You have the chance to make it a beautiful and wonderful experience rather than a horror story. (Of course I say all of that without actually having ever experienced it (haha), but I've read inspiring stories of others who have achieved beautiful births that have given me hope of following suit.)

INTRO: Safe and Healthy Birth