References

With special thanks dear Fran, for your help and confidence in the birth of our beautiful son. Thank you for being part of our dream birth and for helping us to believe we could do it.

Birthing women need people like you in their lives, you're a fantastic doula and you should be very proud.

"I'll be your brain, let me think for you." When you said this to me Fran, you took so much pressure off me and it felt great. Saying that to a hormonal pregnant woman with 3 children was truly the right words.

Good luck in the future, with your career as a doula.

Diane, Scott and boys. April 2007

With a history of having a small pelvis and a large baby that had to be born by emergency caesarean, I was advised that I should have my third baby by caesarean section. (This is known as True Cephalopelvic Disproportion and is very rare.)

We felt that it was better to have a baby arrive safely into the world, rather than risk the chance of losing their life because I was unable to deliver them naturally.

However, when speaking with my friend, Fran who happens to be a Doula, I confessed to her my sadness that I could not deliver my babies naturally. I explained how it feels so clinical having a caesarean section and how the baby is whipped out and taken away, with the father in tow, to be examined, weighed etc, whilst I am left alone, baby less, being stitched up.

Fran told me that it didn’t need to be that way. She told me that I had a right to request the baby to be placed on me straight after birth, and that normal skin to skin bonding between the baby and me could occur. She also gave me strength to request this of my Obstetrician, which I did and the experience that I had with my birth was absolutely beautiful. The closest possible experience to nature and I have Fran to thank for this incredible experience.

Thank you Fran!!!!

Gayle, Richard and Family. 2006

Services I offer

Labour Support Package $800
• Four antenatal visits to the woman’s home of approximately 2 hours per visit
• 24 hour on-call from when you employ me until 2 weeks after the birth
• Full support in labour
• Back-up doula if primary doula is ill or exhausted (where available)
• One postnatal visit to the hospital of approximately one hour
• Two postnatal visits to the woman’s home of approximately 2 to 2.5 hours

Supporting a Birth Only
It is far better to build rapport with a woman and her partner and get to know each other prior to the birth but if a doula is called in at the last moment to support a birth the fee is $300.



Please contact me if you feel you cannot afford to pay for my services. I am more than happy to create a package that suits your budget as I believe that every woman deserves her own
Magical Birth.

What about Dad?

Together we'll make a Great Team!

Dads and Doulas: Key Players on Mother's Labour Support Team


There was a time when expectant fathers were portrayed as anxious, floor-pacing, cigar smoking men who were tolerated in hospital corridors until the long-awaited moment when a nurse or doctor would announce they were the proud father of a daughter or a son. Today's expectant fathers are different.

When it comes to pregnancy, birth, and parenting, today's father wants to share everything with his partner. He wants to be actively involved; ease his partner's labour pain, welcome his baby at the moment of birth and help care for his newborn at home. A Birth Doula can help a father experience this special time with confidence.

The word "doula' which comes from ancient Greek, today refers to a woman trained and experienced in childbirth. A doula provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to the expectant mother and her partner during labour, delivery and in the immediate postpartum period. The wisdom and emotional support of experienced women at birth is an ancient tradition.

Studies show that when doulas are present at birth, women have shorter labours, fewer medical interventions, fewer caesareans and healthier babies. Recent evidence also suggests that when a doula provides labour support, women are more satisfied with their experience and the mother-infant interaction is enhanced as long as two months after the birth. With doula support, fathers tend to stay more involved with their partner rather than pull away in times of stress.



Today, a father's participation in birth preparation classes or his presence at prenatal visits and in the delivery suite is a familiar occurrence. Yet, we sometimes forget that the expectations of his role as a "labour coach" may be difficult to fulfil. Sometimes it is also culturally inappropriate for an expectant father to be so intimately involved in the process of labour and birth.

The father-to-be is expected among other things to become familiar with the process and language of birth, to understand medical procedures and hospital protocols and advocate for his partner in an environment and culture he is usually unfamiliar with. A doula can provide the information to help parents make appropriate decisions and facilitate communication between the labouring woman, her partner and medical care providers.

At times a father may not understand a woman's instinctive behaviour during childbirth and may react anxiously to what a doula knows to be the normal process of birth. He may witness his partner in pain and understandably become distressed. The doula can be reassuring and skilfully help the mother to cope with labour pain in her unique way. The father-to-be may need to accompany his partner during surgery should a caesarean become necessary. Not all fathers can realistically be expected to "coach" at this intense level.

Many fathers are eager to be involved during labour and birth. Others, no less loving or committed to their partner's well being find it difficult to navigate in uncharted waters. With a doula, a father can share in the birth at a level he feels most comfortable with. The doula's skills and knowledge can help him to feel more relaxed. If the father wants to provide physical comfort such as back massage, change of positions, and help his partner to stay focused during contractions, the doula can provide that guidance and make
suggestions for what may work best.

Physicians, midwives and nurses are responsible for monitoring labour, assessing the medical condition of the mother and baby, and treating complications when they arise. But childbirth is also an emotional and spiritual experience with long-term impact on a woman's personal well being. A doula is constantly aware that the mother and her partner will remember this experience throughout their lives. By "mothering the mother" during childbirth the doula supports the parents in having a positive and memorable birth experience.

The benefits of doula care have been recognized worldwide. The Medical Leadership Council of Washington, D.C, the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada and the World Health Organization are among the many healthcare organizations that value the benefits that doulas provide to women in labour.

The father's presence and loving support in childbirth is comforting and reassuring. The love he shares with the mother and his child, his needs to nurture and protect his family are priceless gifts that only he can provide. With her partner and a doula at birth a mother can have the best of both worlds: her partner's loving care and attention and the doula's expertise and guidance in childbirth.


Dads and Birth Doulas
BOD Original Approval: 2001
Last Revised: 2001

This pamphlet is distributed by DONA.

What is a doula?

A Doula is a trained Birth Companion who meets the emotional and
physical needs of the Birthing Woman.
A Doula can provide informational, emotional and physical support during
your pregnancy, labour and birth.
Birthing your baby is so much more than a physical phenomenon.
Bringing your baby into the world is a life-changing event which is filled with meaning and emotion.
It is an experience that will be with you for the rest of your life.

Welcome

As your Doula, my mission is to assist you, the mother
during your pregnancy and labour
so that you can realise the kind of childbirth that you want.

Based on the premise that childbirth should be an Amazing and Empowering experience, one that you will remember forever, Magical Birth is committed to supporting women and their families before, during and after childbirth.

Research has shown that having a Birth Doula:
• Decreases the Length of Labour by 25%
• Decreased the rate of Caesarean Section by 50%
• Decreases requests for an Epidural by 60%
• Decreases the need for Pain Medications by 31%
• Decreased the need for Forceps Delivery by 34%
• Decreases the need for Oxytocin by 40%
Source: Klaus, Kennell & Klaus. (1993)

Birth Doulas "Mother the Mother", taking care of your emotional needs as well as providing informational support to your partner and family. By drawing on the extensive training and experiences of childbirth, a Birth Doula can help the mother have the best birth experience possible-the birth she wants.
A Magical Birth.