Milwaukee Doula Martha at Doula Woman: Why a doula for homebirth?

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Birth doulas serve people during pregnancy, labor, birth, and postpartum with physical, emotional, and spiritual support.

When a doula serves at community based birth the  role is somewhat different than with hospital birth.

Since community birth accounts for a tiny percent of births in southeast Wisconsin, the vast majority of the time doulas work at hospital birth.   With hospital birth,  doula support is much more “running interference” in that we must be hyper alert for potentially damaging protocols, emotional abuse, probability of infection, chance of csection and many other  iatrogenic harms (medical acts that negatively effect the patient).  So, while doulas focus deeply on the birthing person in-hospital, there is a split-focus since part of the in-hospital doula role is to clear the path to minimize potential harm while staying in scope of practice.

With community based birth, such as midwife attended home birth, doula support is free from the clutter of split-focused hospital birth and 100% of the doula support is focused on the birthing person.  This is the main difference between hospital and community based doula support.

Since the birthing person is free maximize all the health benefits of physiologic birth,  why have doula support during community based birth?  Here are some reasons:

  • Physical support: counter pressure, position change suggestions which even at home are sometimes needed especially with a long labor, hydrotherapy, aromatherapy, specific cues such as hypnobirthing, and more.
  • A strong foundation to trust yourself.  This foundation is established during the prenatal meetings
  • Reassurance that “yes” this is just as it should be
  • Read your cues in the moment and respond accordingly
  • Bring food and water
  • Provide a break for your partner
  • Spiritual support
  • Take notes and write a birth story
  • Sibling support
  • Go with you if you transfer to  hospital
  • Open the path for you  to re-ground and focus and breath if things get super intense
  • Remind you of your birth preferences
  • Postpartum support including feeding YOU and breastfeeding your baby and emotional support
  • All of the above can be in addition to your partner’s or other birth support people’s help, as stand-alone doula work, or fluid.

In Milwaukee Choice Matters Midwives offer home birth services.

Sincerely, Martha at Doula Woman 262 902 8714.

 

 

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