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I Signed Up! I’m Really Doing it!

October 11, 2011 By Erika Zane

11 Oct

dou·la (noun/?do?ol?/ doulas, plural): A person, usually a woman, who is professionally trained to assist a woman during childbirth and who may provide support to the family after the baby is born.  (Google Dictionary)

Today, I took the first step in my journey towards becoming a DONA Certified Birth Doula.  I signed up for a workshop!

I’m ecstatic!

In honor of this, I’ve done a little research and have decided to share some benefits of choosing to have a birth doula attend your birth:

  • A laboring mother who has an experienced doula by her side, is less likely to need an epidural. (CNM Data Group, 1996. Midwifery management of pain in labor. J Nurs-Midw 1998; 43:77-8)
  • Due to budgetary restrictions, hospitals are forced to cut down on nursing staff, which leaves laboring women with less support and increases the likelihood of cesarean.  Doulas help to improve “clinical and service quality” by providing a safe way to reduce cesareans and other invasive birthing interventions. (Coming to Term: Innovations in Safely Reducing Cesarean Rates. Medical Leadership Council, Washington D.C. 1996)
  • Though technology is important, medical professionals are often so focused on the newest technological developments, that they lose sight of “the natural, physiologic process”.   This includes the psychological support that doulas provide. (Reducing the Cesarean Section Rates while Maintaining Maternal and Infant Outcomes. Bruce L. Flamm et al. Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Boston, 1997)
  • In a hospital setting, there are procedures in place that the nursing staff tends to stick to, even when those procedures sometimes disregard a mother’s wishes.  It is both necessary and understandable in a busy hospital, but the stress of communicating/advocating one’s wishes can affect the labor process.  A doula can help advocate for the laboring woman’s wishes, so she is able to stay focused.

And those aren’t even all the benefits.  Clearly, doulas provide a valuable service to both hospital staff and laboring women.

I’m so excited to begin this journey and learn more about birth.  Once I’m certified and able to start, it will feel so good to know I’ve aided in a woman’s positive birth experience.

I just had to share my excitement.  I hope you’re all having a great week.  Did you use a birth doula or have you considered using one?  I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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Filed Under: Birth Doula, Childbirth, pregnancy

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Comments

  1. Amber says

    October 11, 2011 at 2:40 pm

    Yay! So excited for you!
    Amber recently posted..Waste and Writing

    • Erika @NaMammaSte says

      October 11, 2011 at 2:41 pm

      Thank you! 🙂

  2. Daneilia @ Anchors Away says

    October 11, 2011 at 5:29 pm

    Oh my gosh, what an exciting journey for you! I’m glad you are doing this, you will be great and I’m sure all the Mommies you get to help are going to be so appreciative.
    Daneilia @ Anchors Away recently posted..Wordless Wednesday

    • Erika @NaMammaSte says

      October 12, 2011 at 3:29 pm

      Thank you! I hope so! At the very least, hopefully, I can learn enough to help moms through this blog if I don’t find clients right away.

  3. Heidi says

    October 11, 2011 at 8:25 pm

    That’s so exciting! I’m so glad that you’re doing it… I think my last post on “I’m a rebel” explains how I feel about it already 😉

    • Erika @NaMammaSte says

      October 12, 2011 at 3:30 pm

      It certainly did. You’re last comment made me cry. Thank you 🙂

  4. Krista says

    October 11, 2011 at 8:53 pm

    that is so great. congratulations! i didn’t use a doula and was really lucky to have a nurse and doctor who I can’t say enough things about. but I know that not everyone lucks into the same thing so I think what you are doing is awesome.
    plus, you’ll be able to share the happiest moment of the parent’s lives. that? is way cool.
    Krista recently posted..Another day, another dollar

    • Erika @NaMammaSte says

      October 12, 2011 at 3:33 pm

      Thank you!

      That’s awesome that you had that support. Unfortunately, I think you’re right.

      That is exactly what will make it worth it. Sharing in that moment with parents!

  5. Diana @Hormonal Imbalances says

    October 11, 2011 at 11:40 pm

    Congrats again!! I didn’t have a doula (as you know 🙂 ) but I did have an awesome doctor and husband who advocated for me every step of the way – even telling the pushy nurses off. lol. Like Krista mentioned, not everyone is that blessed so it’s wonderful to have doulas available. You’re going to do great!
    Diana @Hormonal Imbalances recently posted..A Perfect Fall Day.

    • Erika @NaMammaSte says

      October 12, 2011 at 3:33 pm

      Who needs a doula when you have Sam? 🙂 He’s awesome.

      Thank you! <3

Trackbacks

  1. Doula Love says:
    October 24, 2011 at 9:55 am

    […] Doula Love October 24, 2011 By Erika @NaMammaSte Leave a Comment Welcome to my blog! Thank you for stopping by. If you've never left a comment, please leave me one; I'd love to chat! You may also want to subscribe to my RSS feed, Email updates, or follow me through Google Friend Connect to stay in the loop. Come back soon!Going into this weekend, the weekend of my DONA birth doula training workshop, I was both ecstatic and nervous.  I’ve mentioned my passion for this profession a couple of times here and here. […]

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About me

Hello and welcome.  It’s been a while.  For Lent this year I decided to fast from the thing that took too much of my attention from what is truly important: Social Media.  Though there are countless amazing benefits to Social Media, after about a month offline so far, there are seemingly just as many negatives.  I never realized how much of my brain had been hijacked by it.  I’ve had so many revelations about how much easier it is to move forward when I’m not constantly reminded of the past.  But I still want to record my family as they grow at this ridiculous speed and, I’m realizing, so many of our family’s memories are here.  Those along with so many of the struggles and stages we’ve worked through.  Maybe in the midst of COVID19 isolation and my kids around me so often, I’m brought back to a time when they were too young for school and with me so often.  Writing here during that time helped make up for the limited adult conversation in my days and the overwhelm provided by my… little treasures 😉 My husband, fur babies, three fiesty kids, and I hereby extend an invitation to visit this little sneak peak into our life. We’re super flawed and broken and there aren’t too many dull moments around here.  And I promise it’s not always as magical as some of my golden hour, sun-soaked images would suggest.  There’s usually too much coffee in my system and we welcome all the prayers.  Come on over if you want to process with me.

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