Doula Services
My Training
A doula is a trained professional to help a woman and her partner throughout labor with physical and emotional support. I am a certified labor doula through CAPPA as of 2009, and have been attending births since 2003 as a Bradley® doula/teacher. Through helping at these births I have gained valuable experience in helping laboring women. I offer my services as a doula to my students, and limited availability to other expectant parents. I am a member of the Pike’s Peak Regional Doula Association. They have an informative website about the benefits of having a doula at your birth, as well as a listing of other doulas in town. (www.csdoulas.com)
My Role as Your Doula
As your doula I will meet with you before the birth to get to know you and develop a relationship with you and your partner. We will discuss your birth plans and how I can help support you in the choices you have made. My goal, in addition to helping you have a healthy baby, is to help you have a joyful birth experience and feel your choices were respected. Most of my clients have unmedicated, natural births. To me, this means, labor started on its own and continued on its own. The mother did not receive any pain medication during the birth and she pushed out her baby on her own. As a Bradley® teacher, this is my area of expertise, and I can help you achieve natural childbirth. If it becomes necessary to use medication for the birth, to induce or manage pain, or the mother decides to use drugs during the process, I will support this decision, whether it was by choice or by medical necessity. Sometimes when a birth that was intended to be natural becomes a birth with medical interventions the mother can be left with mixed feelings. If you have a Cesarean, I will be with you and stay with you as much as possible to support you through this and help your choices be honored. No matter what your birth was like, it is important to talk to someone about the birth and talk about your feelings. In my postnatal follow-up, we will debrief your birth experience, and I will give you an opportunity to share your feelings with a supportive listener. I want you to be able to bridge the transition to motherhood feeling confident and respected with a strong bond with your baby.
Before labor begins I will be available for phone support and to answer questions. If you need me to come with you to a prenatal appointment to meet your caregiver or if there is a special situation for which you need additional support, I will be available. Once labor begins, I will come to your home or meet you at the hospital to stay with you for the duration of the labor. If you’re having a hospital birth, I can help you interpret where you are in labor and help you make your decision of when to leave for the hospital.
If you are having a home birth, I will come to your home as soon as you feel you want my support and will stay until you’re settled in with your baby.
During your labor, I will help you with your comfort and relaxation during the process. I help keep the birthing environment feel safe and relaxing. I will offer comfort measures like finding effective labor positions, counter-pressure, relaxing touch, heat, aromatherapy, and hot compresses for pushing. I will be an advocate for you during the birthing process to help your birth wishes be followed as closely as possible. After your baby is born, I will see that you are happily bonding with your baby and help you get started with breastfeeding if you wish. I am very sensitive to the couple hours after birth that need to be filled with undisturbed time with your baby. I will be available to help or give you privacy depending on your preference.
A Word on the Coaches’ Role:
In the Bradley Method® the father has a very important role of supporting, motivating, and encouraging the mother. (We call them “coaches”). When the mother and father are married, they have a unique relationship that is a benefit in birth because of the intimacy they share and also that this is the birth of their child together. Most mothers I talk to feel they want their husband close by during their birth. The role of the coach is not to dictate what the mother does, but to help her with what she feels she needs during the birth. I realize that it’s not the situation of every expectant mother to be married. That’s why the coach can be any person the mother feels close to and who is committed to helping the mother during pregnancy and birth.
The process of labor can be very demanding on the mother of course, but also on the father (or other birth partner), whose comfort level with involvement may vary from person to person. If the couple has a doula, she can help be a support to both the mother and the father and be a calming, comforting presence for them both. The doula can also give ideas of things that might work to help in the labor process and remind the couple of what is normal during birth, or the things they learned during childbirth classes. The doula does not replace the role of the father, but rather enhances his ability to be there in the way he does best for his wife.
Even though I had a midwife for each of my births, we also had a doula at both as well. My husband, Sean, will tell you that these women were very valuable to help with the many things that needed to be done during the labor, and they were a great comfort to me as well. I think everyone should have this kind of support!
My fees for doula services are:
- Doula service for current childbirth class students $300
($200 savings with childbirth class/doula combination package) - Doula service for non-students $500