Vintage

Birth doulas offer professional labor support to women and their partners. They are an integral part of the birth team and are dedicated to helping families stay with their birth plan. As a birth doula I accompany you during labor, tending to your emotional, physical and informational needs throughout birth. I also provide support and suggestions for your partner or family member that can enhance their experience of birth. How this applies to each woman will vary widely: some women want a gentle, reassuring presence at their birth to help them with breathing and comfort measures... others want a full-blown labor coach to enforce their birth plan... still others just want an extra person on hand to take pictures, coordinate relatives, watch kids and run errands. I don't go to births with any personal preconceived ideas of how it should unfold; your birth plan is my birth plan. I am there to discover what your wants and needs are, then exceed them in every way possible.

In research studies doulas have been proven to...

Decrease medical intervention in labor:

• Reduce the need for cesarean by 50%
• Reduce the length of labor by 25%
• Reduce the use of oxytocin by 40%
• Reduce pain medication use by 30%
• Reduce the need for forceps by 40%
• Reduce epidural requests by 60%

6 weeks after birth, mothers who had doulas were:

• Less anxious and depressed
• More confident with their baby
• More satisfied with their partner (71% vs 30%)
• More likely to be breastfeeding (52% vs. 29%)

 *These statistics appear in “A Doula Makes the Difference” by Nugent in Mothering Magazine, March-April 1998. **Study cited in “The Doula” by Klaus in Childbirth Instructor Magazine, Spring 1995.