We believe the role of a birth doula is to offer you emotional and physical support and encouragement, to enable you to focus on the job of birthing your baby.
In order to achieve this, I will:
- Visit you (and your partner if he/she plans to be at the birth) 2 - 3 times whilst you are pregnant, in order for us to get to know one another, and to give me the chance to really discover what your hopes and fears for the birth are, and how to best meet your needs.
- Go on call for you 2 weeks before your due date, until 2 weeks after. I will provide 24 hour cover during this time.
- Provide continuous emotional and physical support for you throughout your labour and birth. Examples of this support include:
- Acting as your advocate
- Massaging you
- Cooling you down with a cold flannel
- Helping you to change positions
- Giving you a hand to hold
- Reassuring that all is going well and you are doing great
- Explaining any processes that are being suggested/offered and the implications of them
- Visit you and your new family 2 or 3 times in the early days. I will provide you with a written account of the labour and birth and whenever you are ready, you will then have the opportunity to talk through your birth experience with me.
- Help you in the early days in whatever ways are most useful. This could include offering breast feeding support, taking the baby out so you can rest, doing the shopping/laundry etc, or just chatting together about the common worries and concerns all new mothers have, and reassuring you that what you are feeling/experiencing is normal!
What I will not be doing is:
- Replacing the midwife. I am not medically trained, and it is not my job to make clinical decisions - I leave that to the midwives. I will be there in a purely supportive role, for you and your partner.
- Replacing the father (unless he chooses not to be at the birth, or is unable to be there).
- Offering advice to you (or your partner) during the labour. However, I will be able to explain any processes that are being suggested/offered, and the implications of them, and I can act as an advocate for you if appropriate.
- shorten the labour of a first time mother by an average of 2 hours
- reduce the need for a Caesarean by 50%
- decrease the need for pain relief
- help new fathers to participate with confidence
- increase rates of breastfeeding success
Having a doula present at your birth can give you peace of mind that someone is there for you, who knows you, your hopes and fears, who can advocate for you and support you, who believes in your ability to birth your baby and who can act as a bridge between you and your medical caregivers if necessary.
Research has shown that having a birth doula can:
Ref: Mothering the Mother by Klaus, Kennell and Klaus 1993
"It was incredibly empowering having all of your knowledge, strength and support in my "tool box". It's amazing that as women, we're sort of left to navigate this part of life on our own. That there isn't a tribal elder or group of women around each new mother helping and imparting the wisdom of hundreds of previous births upon us. It's incredibly important what you do." Mum to baby born October 2014.
