Some of you may find out you’re pregnant and it’s the happiest day of your life. It’s exciting and beautiful. Your family is so happy for you and can’t wait to meet your little bundle of joy. Maybe you feel like finally everything is right in the world.
Or maybe it brings on many fears, a sense of mourning who you once were, and anxiety about your ability to give birth or raise your baby. Maybe you feel unprepared and naive about what is to come.
Those feelings of fear, anxiety, and mourning are caused by hormones, prior experiences or traumas. However, as common as these feelings are, they don’t have to dominate your pregnancy, birth, or postpartum experience with your new baby. I strongly believe that with the right resources and outlook – anyone can have the birth they hope for – and if you don’t know what kind of birth you wish to have, you can at least determine what you don’t want. Many expectant mothers are being coerced into opting to schedule a medically unnecessary induction or C-section. According to American College of Nurse-Midwives, “induction of labor medicalizes the birth experience and may lead to a complex cascade of interventions”. Although inductions have been safe overall, it’s important to learn the risks before electing induction. Of course, you could be at higher risk for complications and in these cases, the birth you hope for may not be safe or probable. But no matter the circumstances, hiring a doula is the best decision you can make for yourself.
Whether it is your first or sixth birth and whether you are ecstatic or fearful, a doula can ease your mind, support your body in preparation for birth, and create a safe space for your partner to be involved – because they LOVE the drama and want to be there to ride the wave with you!
Emotional Support
This is the most well-known benefit of having a doula. Most people know that doulas provide emotional support throughout labor and birth for the birthing person. A lot of times in media, doulas are seen as hippies who speak in a calm voice during utter chaos. This is not too far from the truth, but definitely an exaggeration and understatement of all the emotional support they really provide pregnant mothers.
During pregnancy, especially the closer it gets to birth, hormones are running rampant and your mind starts to become primal. You may have fears and anxiety about birth, you may mourn the person you once were, and you may feel incapable of the act of giving birth. It’s nearly impossible to compare any of your prior experiences to the unknown of giving birth and, for most, the unknown is scary.
Doulas are there to speak words of affirmation and to remind you that your body is doing exactly what it is meant to and to trust in it. Depending on what your emotions are tied to (intellect or physical touch, for example), the doula can support you in a way that caters to your needs specifically. For instance, in order to regulate my emotions, I need to be affirmed and reminded of facts and logic. My doula spoke words of affirmation to me and provided me with evidence-based information that eased my anxieties and shrunk the gap that was The Unknown.
Evidence-Based Information
Doulas are highly trained and knowledgeable of evidence-based practices that encourage healthy labor and birth. They teach you and your partner movements to support the baby in getting in the best position.
If a Cesarean is medically necessary for your birth, a doula is able to provide evidence-based information regarding best practices after Cesarean and/or advocate for you in the hospital if needed. Doulas can also provide lactation education so that you have a successful breastfeeding journey. Usually, as in my husband’s case, the evidence-based information can really help your partner get on board with your birth choice, whether it be home birth, hospital, or somewhere in between!
Because of the stigma against anything that isn’t a hospital “delivery” with only nurses and a doctor in the room, some partners immediately fear the unconventional ways of giving birth on your terms. You may not have studied medicine, but you are capable of knowing what is best for you and your baby with facts to back you up. If you don’t believe this, it just means you aren’t accustomed to listening to or trusting your intuition – and that’s okay! It’s never too late to start. Your doula can give you the tools to learn how to do this and put you and your partner at ease.
Doulas, or birthing partners, are nothing new and have been beneficial to birthing people for centuries! They’ll advocate for you every step of the way so that you don’t have to undergo any unnecessary interventions or remove yourself from the primal state you need to be in to have your baby. A doula can help you avoid pitocin if you’re in the hospital, a medically unnecessary C-section, and pain medication if you don’t want them. They’ll also advocate for you if you do want any of those things.
The most impressive thing about how doulas support mothers with evidence, is that they will remind you of what you stand for and what you want for your birth after you’ve entered your primal state. If you scream out during labor for something you previously rejected, the doula will calmly ask you if you’re sure about your new decision and the risks/benefits of changing your mind.
Physical Support
Doulas also provide physical support during labor and birth in the form of providing pressure where needed, assisting in stretching, massaging, hand-holding, and more to the birthing person and their partner. The physical support may also be in the form of turning lights off for you, lighting unscented candles to create a relaxing ambiance, and feeding you grapes while you labor in your bathtub (yes, my doula was the best). Your doula will also remind you (sometimes force you) and your partner to stay hydrated. They can gently remind you that your body is working incredibly hard and needs sustenance to keep up. It may seem simple, but these methods are well-thought out with you in mind.
I joke that doulas love drama, but as much as they may thrive in the excitement of birth, the real heroism is in their ability to not only stay calm, but create calm. My doulas presence alone brought me comfort and regulated my nervous system because I knew I would be safe, cared for, and advocated for.
Partner Support
Although I have mentioned some ways doulas support your partner, I think it deserves its own section and I’d love to share how our doula supported my husband throughout my birth. At the beginning of our relationship with our doula, my husband told her how important it was for him to be involved in the birth of our son but he wasn’t sure how or if it was even possible. She was able to teach him so much about how to be the best birthing partner for me by opening up a safe space for us to discover and discuss my needs. She provided him with evidence-based information that showed him my dream of having a home birth was possible, and she taught him how to do hip squeezes and use a rebozo during labor to physically support my body. When I finally went into labor, I didn’t have a single worry and my husband was confident in his ability to support me emotionally and physically alongside a wonderful doula. I know that I physically gave birth, but my heart and soul know that we had our baby together.
Whether or not you know what kind of birth you want to have, speaking to a doula can help you figure it out and give you the confidence to birth your baby on your terms. According to World Health Organization, “not all CS [caesarian section] are done for medical reasons with rapidly increasing rate of nonmedically indicated CS” (Angolile). Angolile goes on to say that a WHO study also shows that “2005 through 2014 indicates that C-section rates beyond 19 percent do not improve maternal or infant outcomes. With the U.S. rate stuck at around 32 percent for the last 15 years, the difference amounts to about half a million unnecessary surgeries every year.”
Maybe you don’t have a partner, maybe you’re a teen with minimal resources, a new parent, a veteran parent who wants a more empowering birth this time, or maybe you’re a parent having a baby via surrogate. No matter what the circumstance, speaking with a doula is the start to a beautiful birth and relationship with yourself and/or your partner.
Sources
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. “Benefits of a Doula.” DONA International, 26 July 2022, https://www.dona.org/what-is-a-doula/benefits-of-a-doula/.
Angolile CM, Max BL, Mushemba J, Mashauri HL. Global increased cesarean section rates and public health implications: A call to action. Health Sci Rep. 2023 May 18;6(5):e1274. doi: 10.1002/hsr2.1274. PMID: 37216058; PMCID: PMC10196217.
American College of Nurse-Midwives; Carlson NS, Dunn Amore A, Ellis JA, Page K, Schafer R. American College of Nurse-Midwives Clinical Bulletin Number 18: Induction of Labor. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2022 Jan;67(1):140-149. doi: 10.1111/jmwh.13337. PMID: 35119782; PMCID: PMC9026716.