Why would I want a doula?

Unless you are having a home birth, your midwife or physician will not be coming to your home for prenatal visits or to attend your labor in the early stages.  I am available for you at any time by phone or e-mail, and I will meet with you several times before the birth, assisting you with preparation for labor, birth, and breastfeeding.  I prepare my clients and their partners for birth in the location of their choice, with the midwife or physician of their choice, and assist them in learning about the options available so they can make educated decisions at the time of labor. Being a midwife myself, I can help explain the sometimes confusing options and choices which have to be made.

I work in your home, recognizing that many women find laboring in their home to be more advantageous as well as more comfortable than going too early to the hospital or birth center. It is also important to be aware that once you are in the hospital or birth center, your midwife, doctor, and hospital nurse may have other patients for whom they are responsible, as well as charting and medical tasks to perform, but your doula is there to attend you only, with no other obligations.

If your midwife or doctor is in a large practice, or shares call with providers with whom you are not familiar, having a doula means that you will have one person that not only knows birth, but knows you, and whose goal it is to help you to have the most safe and satisfying birth experience possible.  Whether you give birth in your own home, a birth center or in a hospital, you will benefit from the presence of a knowledgeable and attentive support person.

How are outcomes different when a doula is present?