Offering birth and postpartum doula services, breastfeeding support, childbirth education classes and contraceptive counseling.
What is a doula?
Simply put a doula is a birth coach who really provides emotional and physical support during your labor and delivery. A doula does NOT provide any medical care. She has a unique position that they have often experienced labor herself, so she is able to walk through the labor with you and share in your experiences, but also have the ability to keep you focused and help you stick to your goals for your planned birth. A doula differs from a friend or a family member because they have received specialized and on-going training to help support families during the entire journey-pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum.
How can a doula help my birth experience?
There are so many ways that a doula can make your birth experience the one you dream about. From helping you design your birth plan to providing a constant reassuring voice for those common pregnancy worries to helping you focus during your contractions in active labor, our goal is to help you experience the birth you dream. Each birth experience is uniquely yours, so each doula experience is also unique.The most common ways a doula supports a mother/family are:
> Lactation Support> Contraceptive Education
> Birthing Coach
> Emotional/Physically support from pregnancy through the postpartum period
> Provides ongoing education
> Helps create and maintain the birth plan for each family
> Help to understand the medical procedure and provide unbiased information to facilitate the family making a decision that fits them best
> Alternative pain management practices during labor
> Childbirth education classes and training
> Keeps the sacred space and creates a safe environment for the mother to labor in
Does a doula really make that big of a difference?
Yes! Several studies have shown that having a doula leads to an overall better birth experience. This studies have shown that having a doula present can:>Decrease the length of birth
>Decrease the number of interventions
>Reduce the chance of having a cesarean delivery
>Reduce the need for pain medication and epidurals
>Reduce the chance of the mother having negative feelings about her birth experience
>Help you have a better breastfeeding relationship
>Decrease your and baby's stay in the hospital
These are just the tip of the iceberg in how a doula can help make a difference. The biggest one, I believe, is giving the mom more strength to make sound decisions for her and her family because she has someone "in her ring."
Does having a doula push my partner out of the process?
Not at all! In fact, the doula supports not only you, but your partner too. Often, our partners are very worried about us and really want to focus on helping us, but don't know how to go about it. Having the doula there gives the partner the support and confidence they need to help support the mother better too. Plus an extra set of hands goes far when you are massaging, apply counter-pressure or getting ice chips!While there is a short list of things a doula does not do (medical related things, speaking for you, etc.), overall doula is your "do-all" during pregnancy, labor, delivery and postpartum!
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