Almost everyone I told I was haing a doula didn't know what a doula was, so I'm going to share some of what I've learned on my blog.
What's a doula? The greek word doula means woman caregiver. We now use the word to descrive a trained and experienced labor companion who provides the expectant mother and her partner continuous emotional support and physical comfort. A doula also assists the parents in obtaining information before, during and just after labor.
I had an epidural with Stetson and Kandace, and while Stetson's epidural was fine, Kandace's was not. It only worked on one side and the laboring process was completely miserable. It was traumatizing and very unpleasant. Ever since then I've thought about other alternatives for managing the pain and eventually called the woman who will be my doula and have since hired her and I am so glad she's going to be there! She's given me lots of books that I've been reading and it all makes more and more sense the more I read. Natural birth isn't for everyone, and there's lots of instances where medical intervention is necessary, and I'm grateful for it. I have an MD who will be at the birth and I will be haivng the baby at the hospital.
It seems like medical interventions have led to lots of c-sections where it wasn't even necessary. The woman's body is an amazing thing and I think if we listen to our bodies during labor and trust ourselves, we can give birth naturally in a much more fulfilling way. I didn't really experience labor with Stetson or Kandace. They delivered me, instead of me delivering my baby. I am scared of the pain, but I think since I have realistic expectation of what its like (since I've experienced it) and I've been reading a lot about this, I'll hopefully have the confidence to do it. ALSO, I had postpartum depression with both of my kids, and my doula said that a natural delivery has reversed this for a lot of her moms. I was thrilled when I heard that. Anyway, if there's any of you out there who have some experience in this, please share.
8 comments:
Do it natural! You will not regret it. You will feel so awesome right after delivery. It does hurt during the labor, but don't be afraid of the pain. Think of it as empowering, use the pain to "get the job done". When I'm in labor, what ever position hurts the worst is the position I get in, because it means it's progress. A lot of women lay back more to minimize and deal with the contractions. I sit up as much as possible and use the pain as an incentive. All you have to think is "the pain will end, I can do anything for a short period of time." That always helps me.
Way to go! We did hypnobirthing... I don't know if you read my birth story or not (see January posts if you want to read it), but I say go for it. Mine didn't go exactly as I had hoped, but I was so glad I had the training and it was a beautiful and perfect experience! Your birth will be perfect for you! Good luck!
Hey lady! I have gone natural with all three of mine. Things that have helped me are: breathing (of course), walking around, getting in whatever position is comfortable, whether standing on your head, down on all fours - whatever, baths, and especially focal points - in G-Baby's labor it was the word "POWER" on the tub - appropriate, don't you think? :-) Good luck!
I didn't go without meds but I did most of it without it. I do however know that traumatizing births result in post-partum, paiglee's not ideal and I had bad post-partum. And e=with Emery her labor and delivery was amazing and I only had baby blues a little bit, but of course I went on meds right away just incase, I didn't want it again. I think when your labor is under control and you are calm and things are peaceful a women feels impowered after birth the feeling after Emery's was completely different than Paiglee's I would re live it over and over if I could. I loved the feeling of feeling like I birthed my baby and she wasn't cut out of me. Good Luck, your stronger than you think. Also one thing I did for Emery's birth I put no expectations on it, I actually expected a c-section even when I was pushing I thought man get this baby out or i will have a c-section, although I didn't need one. I think a lot goes into the whole depression thing when women go in with high expectations and their birth wasn't at all what they wanted, I mean that was how it was for me.
If your labor is going to be short and sweet (like Nina) Then natural is great. But I also think it is quite natural to not want to want to be in excuriating pain for hours on end.
it really can up your chances for postpartum depression .
You'll love having a doula. I had one on my 7 th child and for the first time ever did not rip or need stitches thanks to her special care. Good luck.
I'm all for natural. I've never done it but I'm planning on it! When are you due? Good luck!
I wish I could have talked to you more about this when I saw you. I do think having a doula is a great decision for your first time going natural. Just trust yourself and Michael and I'm sure you'll do just fine.
I'm excited for you, and hope it all works out well. I might be a little bias, but Melanie is amazing and she will be a great support for you. You can do it, it will be hard, but worth it. You will feel so empowered when it's all over.
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