Doula Bootcamp

Last week I went to what I would tenderly refer to as doula bootcamp.  It was a DONA approved birth doula training, and it was amazing!  Three days for 8 hours a day learning about prenatal care, labor, birth and post-partum care.  I know so many possible birthing positions, it really is amazing all the ways woman can use gravity and their body to make the work of labor easier.  We also learned different comfort measures for labor.  Things like a double hip squeeze, knee press, massage, pressure points, and hydrotherapy.

I am amazed that I feel more prepared to work with a woman during labor.  I feel confident that I would be able to help a woman enjoy the birth of her child, no matter what type of birth she has.  A doula really is there to give the woman a positive experience, no matter what happens.  To in a way cocoon the mother from the things that go wrong and to promote in her mind the things that go right during the birth.  Having a positive birth experience is so important to the woman's psyche and the way she views herself.

I even processed my own births a little more while I was there.  I actually came away remembering a lot of comfort measures that I did do in labor with my son.  I really am not sad about the way his birth went, it was a great experience that changed my views on a lot of things.  One thing I came away with for me, just me not my clients, family, or friends, is that I do not ever want to give birth in a hospital again unless I have too.  The needles, the ligths, the atmosphere, the blood pressure cuff, the bed.  Things that I just do not want to deal with unless I absolutely have to.  It is just not for me.

I learned how to help a woman having a cesarean birth.  There are things you can do, you can change, you can say to help a mother have a more positive experience with her birth.  For example simply telling her what the doctor is doing, telling her about the baby after he/she is born.  Holding her hand, the comfort of just knowing someone else is there for you during major surgery.  Helping her hold the baby skin to skin before he/she is taken to the nursery, that promotes a lot for the mother to see and touch the baby.  As a doula I also can stay with the mother and let the father go with the baby as she is being stitched up.  Doulas are for every kind of support, physical, emotional, mental, we are there to mother the mother.

For a mother having an epidural, she still needs comfort and often still needs help dealing with the contractions.  Helping her know how or when to push, encouraging her.  There are so many ways we as woman want and need to be supported during this momentous occasion as we either become mothers or add children to our lives.

I have to admit I cried at least a little during every birth we saw at the training.  Birth is so amazing and so special.  We did a word web during our class and came up with a statement about our perception of birth. I wrote:

Birth is the sweet experience of new life coming to earth.  It unites families in love and tenderness.  It is a sacred and emotional event for all involved. 

I am so excited as I continue on my journey to becoming a birth doula and helping woman to have a positive experience through out their pregnancy, during the birth of their baby, breastfeeding, and during those precious first weeks their babies life.