When I found out I was pregnant with my second baby I started planning, cause I’m a planner. Where I would have my birth, what it would look like, the affirmations I wanted said to me, but most importantly, the people I wanted in the room. I was pretty indecisive about many things on my birth plan, but having a doula wasn’t one of them.
I knew I needed a doula there for ME. Let’s face it, significant others are vital to the birthing process, but no one supports like a doula. The interview process was very quick, I called a few doulas until I found mine. And that’s the thing, you need to find YOUR doula. Not the person everyone recommends. The person that you feel the most comfortable with, the one you can call friend, the one that when you have it all hanging out, you wont feel one ounce of embarrassment. You just know when you find her.
The benefits of having a doula are many.
If you aren’t sure of what a doula does here are a few facts:
-Doulas nurture and support the birthing person throughout labor and birth
-Doulas help keep a mother’s birth plan and wishes the primary focus. Her responsibility is to the mother. Not the hospital, nurse, or midwife. She is your advocate.
-Physical Support: compresses, counter pressure, massage, walking around, standing support, etc.
-Emotional support. The best thing my doula ever said to me was that ” You did a great job, you NEVER have to do that contraction ever again.” She is your cheerleader, will coach you and encourage you the entire way.
– She will help guide your partner on how to serve you better whether that means positional, emotional, or physical.
Here is more information on the benefits of Doulas.
Research shows that continues support can drastically decrease the likely hood of Cesarean and even if it doesn’t the support you receive is never lost. I’m so thankful to have found my doula. She helped me through my very hard and traumatic birth, she led us to our church family, and she is now a forever friend. Having a doula was the best decisions I ever made for my birth.
If you need a fantastic doula for your next birth, give Katy Cordell a call.
