World Doula Week 2017

Wow! I feel like it has been an eternity since I sat down and wrote a blog post. Life has been crazy lately... But I'll get into all of that in another blog post that I plan to publish sometime next month. 

For now, we talk about Work Doula Week! March 22-28, 2017 is marked as World Doula Week and its purpose is empower doulas all over the world to improve the physiological, social, emotional, and psychological health of women, newborns and families in birth and in the postpartum period. 

We are celebrating doulas all over the world this week! The word “doula” first used in an article published in 1969 by Dr. Dana Raphael, a medical anthropologist who believed in the need for female companions to guide mothers through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. In the midst of their research on maternal-infant bonding, Drs. Marshall Klaus and John Kennell verified the benefit of labor support. They first published an article documenting these benefits in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1980. Several years later they followed up with more research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. 

"Doula" comes from the Greek word meaning "women's servant" and is now used to refer to a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and after the birth as a complimentary member of the woman's birth team. Some Doulas even provide emotional and practical support during the postpartum period. 

Women have been "mothering the mother" in childbirth for many centuries and studies have shown that a doula who attends births can help women experience fewer interventions during labor, increased maternal satisfaction, improved breastfeeding rates and have a positive impact on the overall labor process. 

The benefits of the presence of doulas in birth and in the postpartum period:

**Your risk of having a cesarean section, forceps delivery or episiotomy drops

**Your ability to cope with pain improves, decreasing the possibility of needing pain medication 

**Your relationship with your partner is likely to grow stronger

**You're more likely to succeed with breastfeeding your newborn and reaching your goals

**You're more likely to be confident in your mothering skills

**You're more likely to view your birth experience in positive terms

**You're more likely to see your body as strong and capable

So, now that you know what the role of a doula is, I will share with you my very own personal experience with having a doula present at my third child's home birth in April 2015! 
Jenni was absolutely a God-send for Barrett's pregnancy and birth journey! After several frustrating OBGYN visits she never faltered in telling me "it's never too late to make your home birth dreams come true!" and at 30 weeks, that's just what we did!

During my 22 hour labor, she helped me in so many ways. Talking over the phone during contractions, encouraging me over text and then being my first birth team member to arrive when I said "I need you now, contractions are 3-5 minutes apart... Not 10 minutes like I thought!" 

With essential oils providing calming aroma's, peaceful music to fill the air, a gentle touch to help distract me through the intense contractions and a relaxed voice to encourage me. Jenni provided that much-needed atmosphere to keep adrenaline at bay and keep the peace heightened. Even through a hose mishap in the living room while filling the birth tub, she never wavered in keeping me focused on the task at hand; birthing this baby peacefully. 

Without Jenni, I know our home birth would not have been possible. In hindsight, I am beyond grateful for Jenni giving us that gentle push we needed to follow the home birth calling. We got the exact birth we had been dreaming of. With Ben's death just 5.5 months after Barrett's birth, I'm incredibly thankful we followed our hearts and prepared for a peaceful, calming, empowered birth at home. Ben and I worked together as a team flawlessly throughout my entire pregnancy and our birth team knitted together carefully to provide the atmosphere we needed to pull this off. 

Whether you want to home birth, have a hospital birth, go drug-free, plan to get an epidural, or plan to even get induced or have a c-section. No matter what kind of birth you have, get a doula! Doulas are angels walking this earth to empower women to take charge in their pregnancy and births! 

My own personal experience with having a doula present, attending a friend's birth just three months after my home birth and getting the opportunity to watch a doula in action from the other side of the spectrum; it was in that moment that I knew what I was meant to do with my career life! I was being called to become a doula!

As I mentioned earlier, my husband passed away when our littlest babe was just 5.5 months. It was in that moment that I thought my dreams of becoming a doula and all the other training/certifications I wished to pursue would be well out of my reach. Raising three kids on my own and trying to live as a single parent... How would I make it all work? 

But, in May 2016 I took the plunge and completed my ICEA Birth Doula Training! Ever since I've completed my training, I have felt right at home as a doula! I have attended four births currently as a doula and have become officially an ICEA Certified Birth Doula! I am also studying for my Placenta Encapsulation Specialist certification and in the very near future I plan to begin my certification process as a Childbirth Educator! 

Being a doula is incredibly rewarding and I've never felt so passionate about anything in my entire life! Work just doesn't seem like much work when you are in love with what you've chosen to do as your "life's work!" This is right where I'm meant to be and I'm rolling with it! 

I am very excited to be celebrating my very first World Doula Week on the other side of the spectrum as a doula myself! Every time a couple invites me into their sacred birth space, I feel incredibly honored that they have chosen me. They trust me, they have faith in me and they feel I am the right person to support them throughout their pregnancy, childbirth and into the postpartum period. Such sacred times in a couple's life and they've chosen me to support them every step of the way! 

There is just something about the birth room atmosphere. The transformation that happens as a baby is being born, the joy on the parents' faces when that sweet little baby is finally laid upon the mother's chest, the tears in their eyes, the pure love that just radiates into every corner of their birth space. New life has surfaced Earthside! To experience that moment over and over again will never grow old. 

Being a doula is very important work to me. It is something I cherish, something I hold very dear to my heart and something I know I was led to with every birth experience I've ever had personally. This is where I'm meant to be; this is what I'm meant to do.