Got Questions? Get Answers.: doulas & childbirth

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Topic: doulas & childbirth

lostcat
Activist
Member # 3295

posted

have any of you moms out there had a doula assisting your childbirth? if you did, was it a good experience? would you say that it significantly helped with the birth?

i'm strongly considering hiring one for my birth. mainly because i'm using an obstetrician, not a midwife, and i'd like it to have more of a personal feel. also, i feel that the entire labor will go easier if i have a professional coach. (not to say that i don't adore my partner, but... he's known to be a little squeamish. i can picture him standing my me with his eyes closed )

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"i need to wash myself again to hide all the dirt and pain, 'cos i'd be scared that there's nothing underneath"- radiohead

Posts: 73 | From: chicago, il, usa | Registered: Apr 2001 | IP: Logged |

unhappykoger
Activist
Member # 1514

posted

i didnt have one for either of my births and i was just fine. my nurse and my husband helped me through it.

Posts: 365 | From: dayton,ohio,u.s.a. | Registered: Oct 2000 | IP: Logged |

Aria51
Scarleteen Volunteer
Member # 653

posted

I didn't have a 'professional' doula, but I did have my mother, who'd given birth 4 times. One of my friends who had her baby a month before I had mine hired one, then fired her because she kept getting in the way.

My mother helped on the personal level, but when it came right down to it, she was a little bit of an annoyance and didn't quite do what I intended her to do. My partner was more helpful in keeping me comfortable than she was

Many women, however, do find doulas to be a great help during childbirth. It's important to interview a few and pick one you click with -- good luck!

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And there's nothing I can do, as I realize with fright, the spider-man is having me for dinner tonight!

Yet Another Online Diary

Posts: 1287 | From: Missouri | Registered: Jul 2000 | IP: Logged |

Bobolink
Activist
Member # 1386

posted

Lostcat, are you and you partner taking childbirth education (Lamaze or other)? That is a great help in preparing yourselves for the birthing experience. In my case, I got to faint during the birth movie and therefore didn't faint on the delivery room floor.

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The most exciting phrase in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not "Eureka!" ("I found it!") but rather "Hmmm... that's funny...."

- Isaac Asimov

Posts: 3442 | From: Stirling, Ontario, Canada | Registered: Sep 2000 | IP: Logged |

CrazyGirl
Activist
Member # 2648

posted

I'm such a dork. Never heard of a doula, so had to look it up.

In case there's other people, who like me didn't/don't know what a doula is... What is a doula?

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"So I speak to you in riddles, cause my words get in my way" -Aaron Lewis of Staind, in Epiphany.

[This message has been edited by CrazyGirl (edited 05-30-2001).]

Posts: 136 | From: City of Angels | Registered: Feb 2001 | IP: Logged |

ErinK
Scarleteen Volunteer
Member # 1371

posted

I have to put in another plug for childbirth classes, even if you decide not to use their methods. My parents taught them for years, and they used to take me along. They would also have "sibling classes" for the soon to be big-brothers-or-big-sisters that would allow them to tour the hospital maternity ward and to understand what their parents would be doing when the baby was born.

A lot of hospitals will also let you tour their birthing section and meet with the labor and delivery nurses. My partner Allan's mom is a L&D nurse, and I know that she works really hard to help keep her "ladies" comfortable and well taken care of, and to try and work with whatever plans they have for a birth.

Erin

Posts: 3077 | Registered: Sep 2000 | IP: Logged |

LilBlueSmurf
Scarleteen Volunteer
Member # 1207

posted

I'm and L&D nurse in training

Or ... i will be soon. From what i've heard, most women prefer to have them. But i don't know from personal experience b/c i don't have any kids yet ...

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When mom found my diaphram, I told her it was a bathing cap for my cat.
~ Liz Winston

In a Smurf's world ...

Posts: 7168 | From: Ontario | Registered: Sep 2000 | IP: Logged |

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