Your Chico Doula -- Stacie Bingham
Certified Birth Doula (DONA) ♥ Certified Childbirth Educator (Lamaze) ♥ Accredited Breastfeeding Peer Counselor (La Leche League)
What’s a Doula?
Jane is 5 months pregnant with her first baby. She has just heard the word "doula" for the first time, and she decides to find out more about what a doula is, what a doula does, and how a doula helps families during birth.
An internet search quickly provides hundreds of links for "doula." She chooses the first listing, "DONA International," clicks it open, and begins reading.
Jane learns DONA was the first certifying organization for doulas, and that still, today, they only train and certify birth and postpartum doulas, not venturing out of their mission and expertise. Jane reads:
"Giving birth to a baby is so much more than a physical phenomenon; it engages parents-to-be in a transformational experience, a key life event full of emotion and meaning. A doula who accompanies a woman in labor mothers the mother, taking care of her emotional needs throughout childbirth. A doula also provides support and suggestions for partners that can enhance their experiences of birth. A postpartum doula continues that valuable emotional support and guidance, helping a family make a smooth transition into new family dynamics" (www.dona.org).
Jane wants more information about the advantages of having a doula. After skimming around the internet she learns of the following benefits of having a doula present at birth:
♥Labor length is shorter and there are fewer complications
♥Women have more positive feelings about their births and their babies' health
♥Breastfeeding rates are higher and postpartum mood disorder rates are lower
♥The need for pitocin (a labor-inducing drug), forceps, and vacuum extraction are reduced
♥Requests for pain medication and epidurals, as well as the incidence of cesareans are lower
Jane's curiosity piqued, she wants to see if there are any doulas in her area that she can talk to, and maybe meet with. That's where I come in. Whether she searches DONA's Doula Locater, or she does a Google Search for "Chico Doulas," she sees my name in a few different places and she decides to give me a call. She introduces herself and the questions begin.
After our phone conversation, Jane now knows a doula is a birth support person who accompanies families during labor to offer physical, emotional, and informational help -- like a walking, talking, practicing childbirth education class -- so families can have the positive birth experience as they define it. She also learns that unlike doctors or midwives, doulas provide no medical care -- they see to the needs of the mother and her partner to help them cope with all aspects of labor, birth, and breastfeeding, but they do not perform clinical procedures, such as vaginal exams or obtaining fetal heart tones. Jane discovers the practical aspects of doula support, like how a doula can help with the most normal of births, to how she can help in the event a cesarean birth becomes necessary.
A doula mothers the mother and aids in supporting the birth partner. If you would like the benefits a doula has to offer, but your family is feeling the economic crunch of our current times, please do not let this deter you. I have different fee options, such as payments, trade, credit cards, or a reduced fee for lower income families. Also, I may know of doulas working towards certification who may be available at a greatly reduced cost. If you would like to talk more about whether I might be the right doula for you, please contact me.