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Doula - Purpose and Value

There are many purposes and much value to having a labor support person (ie: a Doula) attend your birth. The benefits are far reaching and affect not only the birthing mother but your baby and the father as well.

The purpose of the Doula is to provide emotional and physical support to the mother before, during and immediately after you give birth. The Doula is also available to provide information as needed throughout the birth process. It is the goal of the Doula to help you, the mother, have a satisfying, rewarding and successful birth.

Should you hire a Doula?







Some of the benefits of having a Doula attending your birth include emotional and physical support to you, the mother and your family. The results of this have been shown in recent studies to have this impact:
•    50% less likely to give birth by cesarean section
•    41% less likely to give birth with a vacuum extractor or forceps
•    28% less likely to use any analgesia or anesthesia
•    33% less likely to be dissatisfied or negatively rate their birth experience

The benefits for the baby... are obvious in the above statistics also; fewer drugs, fewer medical interventions, and a mother who is awake and ready to embrace and breastfeed him or her immediately.

When the mother has a satisfying birth then she is much more likely to successfully bond with her baby within the first 2 hours after the birth. This also greatly increases her chances of success in breastfeeding.

 

Support of the Father

For the father, some of the benefits are that he is able to enjoy the miracle of watching the birth of his child without feeling the stress and responsibility for coaching his wife through labor, a process which he’s never gone through himself. It would be like having someone watch 6 lessons on how to play football then sending that person out to the biggest game of their life and expecting him to understand everything about the game.

The father or partner can also watch the Doula and see things that he can do practically and emotionally for the mother. These include comfort measures such as massage, cold or hot packs, applying pressure to mom's low back if she has back labor and encouraging words at appropriate times.

The Doula in no way takes the place of having the father present at the birth of his child and the loving support that only he can bring to the birthing mother. The father can relax and enjoy the experience more if he doesn't feel responsible for the mother's level of pain. Instead the Doula can reassure him of what is normal and what can be expected to happen next.

What is a Doula?

The role of the Doula includes being trained and experienced in childbirth and being there for the whole labor and birth.  The Doula can meet many of the mother’s needs by simply providing continuous, encouraging support throughout her labor.  Studies have shown that this alone can shorten a woman’s labor and make it a more positive experience for her. The Doula can also make suggestions on breathing, relaxation and positions.

The responsibilities of a Doula... are to give emotional reassurance to the woman as she labors and any information that might be needed regarding choices that need to be made by the mother and father. The Doula also needs to be responsible to respect the scope of practice for her role. This means not stepping into any kind of medical role, not performing any kind of clinical tasks and not making any of the decisions for the mother. The Doula is only there as a support person to the mother.

The main role of a Doula is to bring a sense of confidence and reassurance to the birthing mother so that she can trust the process that her body is going through and not try to 'think' about what is normal or what she needs to do next. The Doula gently guides her through the labor process, making suggestions when needed.

I will join you when you ask me to come to your house or to the hospital and I will not leave you until your baby is happily nursing at your breast. I will help you to make this the best Birth Day possible.
 

Who needs a doula?

Given the positive statistics and the positive feedback from many mothers who have had the experience of having a Doula attend their births, we hope that many more mothers will choose to have a Doula. We love this age-old but newly rediscovered concept and we hope to be facilitators of promoting women helping women in this way.

Who needs a Doula? Every woman giving birth needs someone whom she can trust to encourage and support her in practical ways as she goes through labor.

We volunteer our services for free to teen-moms.

Doula Birth Services

I charge only $300 per birth because I believe that every women should have a Doula available to her for the labor and delivery of her child.

This includes a prenatal meeting, attending the labor and birth from the time you call me to come, and a postpartum meeting. Call or email today for a FREE interview!

Lori Pritchard
Ph: 951 970 6151
Email: Lori@DoulaBirthServices.com

Serving Sequim, Port Angeles and Port Townsend, Washington.

Lori's Bio ~ I am a mother of 4 and grandmother of 9! I love babies and kids. I have been attending births for the last 4 years in Europe where my husband and I were living. I attended births of Hungarian women, a friend from Ethiopia, and American women. Now that we're back in the United States I finished the training in Seattle, Washington and look forward to continuing helping women through this special time in their life. I'm also a Certified Massage Therapist, I believe these two skills go well together.

Contact

Lori Pritchard
Ph: 951 970 6151
Email: Lori@DoulaBirthServices.com

 

Doula Birth

Reviews

"Sweet Lori I really would like to thank you for what you did for me, I will not forget forever! You did a wonderful thing for me!..."

Read more here...

Doula Fees

I charge only $300 per birth to attend your birth.
This includes a prenatal meeting, attending the labor and birth, and a postpartum meeting.
Call or email today for a FREE interview!

Extra massages (other than during labor) : $60 per hour or $30 per 1/2 hour

How to choose a doula

Doula BirthI believe that being a mother and having children of my own gives me even more credibility. I am trained in childbirth and labor support and bring you the combination of experience and training. Most importantly, I believe this is a ministry God has given me and put in me hearts as a desire to do. I pray that I can do this to the best of my ability and as a way of honoring God who is the author and giver of all life.

You should choose a Doula trained in Labor Support and Childbirth Education, someone who lives close by and someone you can trust enough to be comfortable with during your labor. Someone who will be a support for you and your family in order to have the safest and best birth possible for your little baby who is about to come into this world.

Do you have a birth plan?

Doula Hospital birthWhere will you give birth to your baby? Who will be there for the birth? What level of involvement does the father want, will he cut the umbilical cord? Which interventions are you ok with: pain medication, epidural, episiotomy, cesarean? What tests/procedures do you want your baby to have when he/she is first born: PKU, hypothyroidism, antibiotics for eyes?

These are some of the questions you should be researching and asking yourself as you prepare for the birth of your baby. We would love to make it easy for you by sitting down with you and helping you explore your options and the many choices that you have. We can help you work through these questions and write your preferences into a plan so that you will be prepared when the big day happens. Call today for a free consultation.