The other day I had a phone call with a perspective client and they said, “thats great but what does a doula DO?” It took me a second to gather my thoughts because I thought I was explaining it pretty well! Sometimes when we’ve been doing something for so long, it starts to feel like a second skin. I can’t imagine NOT knowing what to do in a birth situation and that can make explaining it to others very difficult.
Instead of trying to explain what we do during a birth i’m going to share a few experiences that embody the essence of a doulas job. In all of these instances the couples said “we could NOT have done that without you!” Now this isn’t always the case as circumstances don’t always go the way we hope they will but we hope our clients and perspective clients know that we do everything in our power to help you have the best experience possible.
Experience #1: This couple called us around 36 weeks gestation. We get calls anywhere between 5 weeks and 40 weeks gestation so this isn’t abnormal. She had about a month before her due date. This mother knew that she wanted an unmedicated delivery but was having a lot of anxiety and fear surrounding the experience. The first call that I had with her was great but fairly short. She was excited and had already made up her mind that My KC Doula was the direction she wanted to go. She signed the contract that night and we were officially on call for the family.
Over the next few weeks, these parents worked closely with their doulas discussing their fears, anxieties and excitements. Mom was able to text the doulas often and ask about different ailments or questions that she had during the last few weeks of pregnancy. Their prenatal was great with lots of talk of birth planning and mind preparation. The doulas showed dad a few positions for early labor and told them to call when they were ready.
The night that the client went into labor, she had been texting the doulas some of her symptoms and the doulas instructed her to sleep and rest. Everyone got a full nights sleep and at 10 AM the clients decided to head to the hospital. Once at the hospital, after paperwork and getting settled in mom was ready to push. The doula made it just in time to help greet the new baby and help initiate breastfeeding!
This client utilized her doulas understanding of prenatal planning perfectly for her needs. She felt supported, not because the doula was there with her for every contraction, but because she had a professional, trained in what a normal birth looks like and was able to process decisions before they happened. The clients partner felt supported and was able to patiently watch and listen as his laboring wife embraced the rhythms of labor. There was no rushing, yelling, or chaos that ensued with this labor. Dad knew exactly what to expect and felt supported as well. He knew he didn’t have to make decisions based on the very little info he got from their classes and childbirth books. He had a living, breathing childbirth class at his beck and call and he was able to utilize that for a great outcome!
Over the next few blogs, I will try to continue outlining what it looks like to have a doula work with you during your birth. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at mykcdoula@gmail.com. We can’t wait to hear from you!
