My Doula

This morning Aaron and I had our third "Centering" session at the Birthing Center. "Centering" being sort of group prenatal appointments, involving seven couples all due in the same month, in our case, July. Nutrition, bodily changes, sleeping positions as well as yoga, preparation for birthing/labor, breastfeeding, are some of the topics covered in these group appointments. Basically one big informal information session, mostly designed for first time mothers.

Today the topic of doulas came up. What is a doula? "A birth doula is a trained professional who provides physical comfort measures, emotional support, and information to help parents make informed decisions during labor and birth." Already going to a Birthing Center and having a midwife deliver our baby, I never thought a doula was necessary. But as the midwife who leads our Centering session discussed, the midwife cannot always be present. Sometimes more than one woman goes into labor at the same time, therefore the midwife must juggle two labors at once, a task I would not envy. Or if the laboring woman is in labor for quite some time, the midwife will need a break at some point. The doula is there to provide nonstop support. We learned that many patients at the Birthing Center hire outside doulas to help guide them, something that surprised me. After discussing with Aaron whether we would hire a doula or not, we decided that while it sounds beneficial, our labor and birth is something we want to share solely together. Any outside help might make us feel less like the team we already are. So it was decided that Aaron will be my doula. Doula Aaron, has a nice ring to it doesn't it?

So after a quick trip to BookPeople, a local Austin bookstore, we are on the way to preparing for birth and Aaron's first experience as a doula. Four books, and $80 later, Aaron will be the best damn doula around. Here are the books that were recommended to us by the midwife that we purchased:

• The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth: Husband-Coached Childbirth by Robert A. Bradley, M.D.
• The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin
• Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way by Sarah McCutcheon
• Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin
 
 

As we go through the list I will be keeping you all updated on what we discover/learn while reading these books.