Why Doulas Rock? And mamas too!

Recently, I had a friend who asked me to help her as a doula. The problem was she was many miles away in Virginia while I was stuck here in Texas. Anyway, she had tried to find a doula in her area and they were all booked for her due date. So, I told her I had heard of doulas offering “virtual doula” services where you help out long distance via phone, etc. So, she agreed to hire me. I named a reasonable price and she agreed! 

So, let’s back up a little bit, What’s a doula anyway? The word “doula” in Greek means “servant”. A doula is a trained “life coach” to help a mother through birth, labor and postpartum time frame. A doula does not do anything medical; she offers comfort, physical, mental, emotional (spiritual) help during this time frame. A doula advocates for the mother during her decision-making process.

I came across recently a website with a guide about doulas, called Ultimate Guide to Doulas, that I would like to share with you – Jenny Silverstone wrote this guide for you to learn more: https://momlovesbest.com/benefits-of-doulas

So, back to my story above, my friend ended up getting induced recently and called me a couple of times in the wee hours of the morning for some much-needed doula advice on decision making. After deciding on the epidural, everything went pretty smoothly till pushing (three hours) and then she had some issues with that (tearing/episiotomy); but she did end up getting the baby out without a C-section. I told my client that “she rocked it” because it doesn’t matter how the baby came out it is how she felt about the whole experience all together. It sounded like she was just happy with the whole experience and being able to stay in touch with me via phone and texting during the birth. By the way, she had a girl!

Doulas do a lot more than just hold hands. If I am at an in-person birth, I can offer light massage, music for the mother to relax to, essential oils (aromatherapy), etc. if so desired. I offer tips on relaxation. I help with using the birth ball. One of my favorite tools is the Mexican rebozo. I could write a whole article on that one; so maybe I will save that topic for another time. The important thing is that I am there for the mother and father/partner. I am there to help the couple make the important decisions at their birth. I help with just being their advocate to make sure their wishes are known to the hospital staff as well. After birth, I usually stay for up to an hour after to make sure breastfeeding is well established. The mother also gets an in-home visit from me around two weeks after birth if not sooner. The mother could hire me as a postpartum doula to do more tasks with her after the birth.

Another thing, if a mother wants some Birth Tips – I recently wrote a guide called “Birth Tips Guides for Mothers”. If you this guide for Free; please go to our website front page www.catholicdoula.com and click on the first section tab that says “Free Birth Tips Guide”; fill out the form and we will be glad to send this to you!

One last note; doulas that train through our Catholic Doula program have a unique training program that not only mixes in what a doula needs to know, but also a spiritual aspect in our training. If you feel that becoming a doula is perhaps your calling, please contact us at catholicdoulaprogram@gmail.com and let us know this. We will give you a 10% off special just for saying you heard about us through Catholic365.com.

Another resource for finding a Christian or Catholic doula is here at http://findacatholicdoula.weebly.com
Bettering Lives of Outstanding Moms support groups coming soon: http://momsofbloom.weebly.com 
Thanks! Let us know if you have any questions about doulas!