First things first, let's establish what a doula is.
Doula, from the Greek for Servant, is someone that provides emotional, informational and physical support to laboring couples.
What on earth does that mean? Let's make it more relatable.
When you are facing fears and confusion during pregnancy, I'm there. When you're in active labor and feeling like you don't know what you're doing or can't continue on, I'm there. When you are walking through the baby blues and feel like you're crazy, I'm there.
I've got your back (or hips) when you are feeling the discomfort of contractions. Need help breastfeeding? I've got tips. And if you need more help than I can give, I have a network of resources for you to choose from!
Your partner knows you intimately. I know birth intimately. Put us all together and you have one powerful team. I offer an extra set of hands during labor, allowing partner to take a break when needed and still provide continuous support to mom.
Having a doula on your birth team has been shown to decrease:*
Interventions
Cesarean
Epidural usage
Length of labor
Length of second stage of labor (pushing)
And improve:
Maternal experience
Chances of unmedicated birth
APGAR scores
Breastfeeding success
It is common for doulas to offer 1-2 meetings before birth in order to establish the relationship and birth plan, provide continuous support during labor, and a postpartum visit to debrief the experience and provide resources for the postpartum journey.
Ready for a free consultation? Fill out this form and I'll be in touch!
This post is brought to you by the Song of the Week!
This week's song is Team by Lorde
Birth is a transition. You'll want people on your team.