Doulas Of North America

Birth assistants offer moms-to-be psychological comfort and ease the physical ...

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — With her contractions coming less than five minutes apart, Jennifer Hermus did something most women in labor wouldn’t have the resolve to pull off.

She started baking brownies in her kitchen.

Yes, the sweets would endear her to the hospital staff who would help deliver her baby, but the activity would also keep her on her feet — both great moves for someone in labor, according to her doula.

Birth doulas (doo-luhs) support parents through labor and delivery, helping them navigate through the labyrinths of birth and hospital procedure.

“It’s more than emotional and mental support,” says Ms. Hermus, 29, a high school English teacher from Sunnyside. “There’s a tenderness.”

Ultimately, a doula’s role is to empower moms to make informed decisions, says Laura Saba, Ms. Hermus’s doula.

“Once they’re in the hospital, they feel things happen very quickly. Things are unfamiliar, so they’re vulnerable and they may not make their best decisions,” says Ms. Saba.

Although doulas don’t deliver babies — that’s the job of obstetricians or certified midwives — these mothers’ helpers offer a psychological balm and instructions to help ease the physical discomfort of labor.

For instance, in the months before labor, moms-to-be practice pelvis-opening maneuvers with a stability ball to help the baby move into birth position. On game day, moms bring the oversized rubber balls right into their hospital rooms.

“You create a safety net, a zone for the mom so all she has to do is focus on her body,” says Lori Hill, director of public relations for Doulas of North America (DONA), the dominant doula organization in the nation.

Furthermore, doulas provide consistency. Nurses change shifts and doctors are commonly part of practices, often leaving parents unsure of who will actually be in the delivery room when the magic moment arrives, says Hill. Doulas lessen that concern because they are there from start to finish.

About 3,000 doulas across the country hold certifications from DONA, with 252 in New York state and 102 throughout New York City.

Included is Ms. Saba, founder of Birth Right Now, a group of three doulas operating at various locations in the borough.

Doulas of the Reign of God « Rock & Sling

For Patty, with love and groaning

Wendell Berry argues that only when we begin to do the necessary things for each other will we build true communities again. He means eating together and feeding each other, tending the land and making homes. Raising children. Birthing them in the first place.

Giving birth in this world should not be done alone. We recognize this at some deep level, but in the context of our highly medicalized and individualized world, we lose sight of it easily. Pregnancy can be treated as a kind of sickness, and birth a problem to be cured in a hospital. Though medicine and hospitals have helped make mothers and babies safe, they have also distanced us from our body’s own knowledge and our bodily need of one another.  Gathering a loving group of other human beings around us to help us birth our children is one part of radical Christian parenting. Radical, because doing so implies the medical model is not enough. Christian, because it affirms the holiness and worth of all bodies and communities.

Patty answered the phone and shrieked for joy when we told her the news.After the peals of excitement waned, she continued in all seriousness, “I’ll come out there if you want. I’d like to be your doula.” In making that offer, she was agreeing to finagle her work schedule, hop a plane from Chicago to eastern Washington, and do everything she could to help us through the birth of our first child. Patty is a skilled nurse, a veteran of the first gulf war, a practicing Mennonite, and my dear friend. She brings calming strength and deep wisdom into all settings. She also has a lifetime of labor-and-delivery expertise and makes some kick-ass baked oatmeal. All of these traits together make her an amazing person, and the perfect doula. I was humbled by her generous desire to be mine.

Doula , meaning slave or servant. It’s used all over the New Testament. Though I had tender feelings of gratitude toward Patty for being my doula, it is not a sentimental term. Being a slave is about obedience to a master, not tender gratitude. Yet, there is a special kind of obedience in being a doula, a servitude to the wondrous dance between a mother and the coming child. At times, doulas are advocates and guardians of a mother’s needs and space. Doulas of North America reports that the quality of emotional care received by a mother during labor, birth, and immediately afterwards is one vital factor that can determine the emotional ties between mother and child. Doulas comfort, encourage, and empower mothers in labor, helping mothers feel the safety and freedom to birth and nurture their children at the time of birth. They are servants of healthy births and happy mothers.