We have a doula!

By kate on February 26th, 2006

Steve and I had gone back and forth on whether we wanted to have a birth doula or not. After interviewing one woman who was not a good fit for us, we were leaning against it. However, one local doula, Alissa Wehrman, was highly recommended by both our midwives and an aerialist friend, so we met with her as well. We both liked her a lot and found her calm and unobtrusive style to be what we were looking for.

Basically, her role is to be an emotional and practical support person for Steve and I during labor. She’s attended over 150 births in all kinds of settings, so she’s very experienced and knowledgeable about what comfort techniques are useful when. Her presence will allow Steve to spend more time focused just on me during labor, as well as giving him a chance to go to the bathroom without leaving me alone.

The midwife that is attending the labor will be more focused on medical/physical things like vital signs and measurements and equipment preparation, so she won’t be able to focus so much on helping us cope with labor. We’re confident that Alissa will contribute a lot without taking over or getting in the way (as we originally thought might happen).

In addition to helping us through labor, Alissa will do two post-partum home visits to make sure we’re OK and answer questions. She’s a trained lactation consultant, so she can help with any breastfeeding issues that come up. Finally, she takes detailed notes throughout labor and at her last visit will review all the details with us (such as what time I went into transition, etc.). It will be nice to have such a written record without having to do one ourselves.


Filed under: pregnancy
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