How Can a Doula Help you? By Victoria Hartmann - New York, Connecticut and Massachussets
/How Can A Doula Help You?
Hi there, I'm Tori! When I first tell people that I am a doula, most people's response is "What's that?" Well, I'm here to give you the scoop! A doula is a person, mainly a woman, who helps provide guidance and support for a mother through labor and beyond. Doula's are the ultimate labor support companions through formal training to enhance skills that provide physical, emotional, spiritual and informational support.
What Does A Birth Doula Do?
A birth doula helps prepare for the upcoming labor and delivery. They usually assist the mother and partner create a birth preference template that meets their needs and wants for their birth experience. A birth doula educates the mother or couples on possible birth outcomes and provides evidence-based information to families to help them better make their decisions. Once the time has come for labor, the doula is typically in the room providing support to the mother and advocating for her in hospital or home settings, or in COVID times, that can be in the form of face chat.
Benefits of a Birth doula:
- 25% decrease in risk of cesarean section
- 8% in likelihood of spontaneous vaginal birth
-10% decrease in the use of any medications for pain relief
- Labor is shortened by an average of 41 minutes
-38% decrease in low Apgar score after 5 minutes
-31% decrease in risk of being dissatisfied with the birth experience
What Does A Postpartum Doula Do?
When bringing a new bundle of joy into the world, most new parents prepare for the labor and delivery but aren't sure what happens after the baby is born. That's where a postpartum doula comes in handy to help new moms or mothers of multiples learn how to navigate parenting. The fourth trimester, or the period of time after birth, can be different for every parent. Every newborn is different and it takes time for parents to learn their cues, but a postpartum doula has more extensive knowledge on newborns to assist families during this transition.
Postpartum doulas can help in a variety of ways such as:
* providing reassurance of your parenting skills as you navigate your new role
* teach different feeding positions
* providing resources for outside help and set up appointments
* providing older sibling with quality attention
* watching the baby so parent can give older children quality time
* helping establish how to prepare for outings
* helping create and establish new routines
* providing snacks for older children or bottle feed the newborn, if mom desires
* offering a safe space for mom to vent and ask for help
* guiding partners in ways to assist the mother, hold and feed the baby, and learn how to manage older children by themself
and so much more...
There is the right doula out there for every family! Interviewing doulas in your area is the best way to find the support person for you and your families needs! If interested, any clients can reach me at toribeedoulaservices@gmail.com or find out more information about my packages on toribeedoulaservices.com
