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DOULA SERVICES What is support?
Support is unconditional. It is listening... not judging, not telling your own story. Support is not offering advice... it is offering a handkerchief, a touch, a hug...caring. We are here to help women discover what they are feeling... not to make the feelings go away. We are here to help a woman identify her options... not to tell her which option to choose. We are here to discuss steps with a woman... not to take the steps for her. We are here to help a woman discover her own strength... not to rescue her and leave her still vulnerable. We are here to help a woman discover that she can help herself... not to take that responsibility for her. We are here to help a woman learn to choose... not to make it unnecessary for her to make difficult choices. -Anonymous What is a labour doula? Modern Greek: doula, from Greek dialectal dou·la, servant-woman, slave. A Doula is a person who attends the birthing family before, during, and just after the birth of the baby to help ensure a safe and satisfying birth experience. The certified doula draws on her knowledge and experience to provide emotional support from home to hospital, ease the transition into the hospital environment and be there through changing hospital shifts and alternating provider schedules. The doula serves as an advocate, labour coach, and information source to provide reassurance and perspective to you and your partner, make suggestions for labour progress, and help with relaxation, massage, and positioning and other techniques for comfort. Doulas are independent and self-employed. There are a variety of titles used by women offering these kinds of services such as "birth assistant," "labour support specialist", "labour assistant" and "doula" Before your labour, I prefer to become familiar with your Birth Plan, including your preferences regarding labour/birth management options and the use of pain medications. I also want to know your own ways of coping with pain and fatigue and how you and your partner foresee working together. Why Choose a Doula? The choice to hire a doula may be for any number of reasons, most of which are based on the desire to have the support of an additional, experienced person. According to Mothering the Mother, How a Doula Can Help You Have a Shorter, Easier and Healthier Birth, by Kennell, Klaus, and Kennell (1993), having a doula can give you a:
Questions to ask a perspective doula.
The bottom line is: do you and your partner like her. Local Doula Service: At present, I am not accepting doula clients. I do however highly recommend, both from professional and personal experiences:
Mary McArthur, CLA, ALACE and CAPPA Mary McArthur is a Certified Windsor Doula and a married mother of two girls. After hiring a Doula during her first pregnancy, she was deeply affected by the role the Doula played in her pregnancy and birth and subsequently left her career to pursue her passion in Labour Support. Mary is an ALACE Certified Labour Assistant, one of only a few in the Windsor Doula community and the first in the area to complete the program's certification requirements. She is a member of The Association of Labour Assistants and Childbirth Educators (ALACE), Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association (CAPPA), La Leche League International, Essex County Midwifery Consumer Group and a number of continuing education forums. Mary has experience with both home and hospital birth, and is well know to both the local midwifery practice and hospital staff. As a Windsor Doula, Mary's goal is to provide fact-based information that will prepare women and their partners for pregnancy, labour, birth and beyond. She provides helpful education, well rounded physical, practical and emotional support in an effort to facilitate the most fulfilling birth possible.
Best wishes in your pregnancy, birth and your journey as a parent, "If there was a machine that cost $200,000.00, reduced the cesarean rate by half, cut the length of labour by 2˝ hours and decreased other interventions, hospitals would have 2, 3, or 4 of the machines. It's hard for us to believe that human support can have such a profound effect on a medical outcome." Dr. Klaus talking on the "Today Show" regarding doulas |