Doula Misconceptions

Here is a snippet of a recent conversation at a party when I was introduced to a friend of a friend.  I was being introduced to another person when I overheard the following...

E: Nancy's a doula
Friend: Oh, what's a doula?
E: Well, you know, like, some people want to have their babies, like, in a bathtub or something, or in their house, or some other strange place like that, and so Nancy helps them have their babies.
Friend (looking slightly puzzled): Huh.  

WHAT?!  And this coming from someone who helped me set up my website!  Are you kidding me?  I HAD to interject with a quick, "Wellllll, that's not quite how I would describe it," to which she responded with a shrug and said "We're from LA... they don't do stuff like that there!"  

We had a good laugh about it at the time but I've been thinking about it ever since.   And then, a few weeks ago, I was relating the story of a rather odd couple that I interviewed with (wanted to birth with their pets in the room, talked about perfect energy flowing between them and me and the animals during the delivery) to a friend and her response was "well... that's normal for the folks that you work with, right?  I mean, that's the sort of people who hire a doula, isn't it?"  All of which has lead me to believe two things:

1. My friends have absolutely NO IDEA what I do or who I work with and
2. If my friends are clueless, the general population must be clueless as well.

So in an effort to inform, enlighten and get the word out, I'm going to start blogging about some of these misconceptions and see if folks (or at the very least, a few of my friends!) can get a better picture of what it is that I do.   Here's the first one I'd like to address:

True or False?
You work with new-age, crunchy, hippie-dippie type folks who birth at home, in the water, or some other "out of the ordinary" place, and you are, of course, opposed to epidurals.

FALSE.  Here's an example: I attended two births recently.  Both of them were hospital births.  Both mothers had an epidural.  I met up with them at home during early labor and once things were well underway, we headed to the hospital.  One mother was 5 centimeters when we arrived, the other was 6 centimeters.  And like I said, both of them had an epidural.  

My job is to assist a woman and her partner throughout the labor process.  Every doula is different, and while some doulas might be more interested in attending home or water births, I am actually more partial to hospital births.  Many people believe that if they are (1) birthing in a hospital or (2) very closely connected to their partner and "just a normal couple," there is no need for a doula.   This is not the case.  Think of a doula as having a personal servant during labor and delivery.  Who wouldn't want that?   Not only do you receive unlimited support during pregnancy (phone, email, face-to-face) but you and your partner get uninterrupted care throughout your labor and delivery.  Not to mention the postpartum care following the birth.   I think I will have to blog about each of these things in turn, but for now, let me leave you with this...

Every woman should consider having a doula, even if she is planning to birth at a hospital with an OB and an epidural as soon as she walks in the door.  Here are just some of the benefits of enlisting the help of a doula...

• 25% shorter labor
• 33% less likely to be dissatisfied with your birth experience
• 36% reduction in use of pain medications
• 40% reduction in pitocin use
• 50% reduction in forceps delivery
• 52% reduction in cesarean rate
• 60% reduction in epidural requests

And after the baby arrives, women are...

• less anxious and depressed
• more confident with baby
• 23% more likely to be breastfeeding

So think about it.  And here's to hoping I'll hear more accurate depictions of doulas at the holiday parties this month!  In the meantime, I'll keep blogging...