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Episode 48: Obstetric Change
If there’s one thing that doulas know for sure, it is that there is a very real need for obstetric change. Yet many doulas do not know how that change typically happens. For many doulas, there is a belief that it is their direct activism that will bring about a quick change. However, if history has taught us anything it is that change in the field of obstetrics is dependably slow. In addition, it is not a simple process. When change does happen it is typically catalyzed from either research that forms best practice. Or from provider experience. However, change also comes as a result of consumer demand. The consumer’s…
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Episode 47: Season Two Wrap Up
Welcome to the Season Two Wrap-Up! To say that 2020 has been a strange year full of struggles would be an understatement. First, a global pandemic. Next, doulas being shut out of hospitals. As a result, many doulas faced challenges and obstacles to pursuing certification. The impact of the pandemic on doulas with children who are now facing remote learning has been particularly difficult for many doulas. Some have had to pause work with families. Others have become creative in juggling the changing needs of clients and their own families. However, there have been many positives this year here at Doulas of the Roundtable as well. As of the time…
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Episode 46: The Impact of Language During Birth
As we work with laboring individuals it is important to understand the impact of language on the birth experience. When working with families in the postpartum period, hearing a client’s birth story is often a part of the doula/client relationship. Understanding the subtext of a client’s birth story is a process that isn’t often taught in many doula workshops. As a result, it is vital that labor and postpartum doulas understand the power that words have. Words that can either build up or strip away the confidence of the birthing person. Birth is a process that brings both mental and physical vulnerability. In this episode, we break down one doula’s…
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Episode 45: Postpartum GPS
Postpartum planning – Helping your clients set their course for postpartum success. Birth planning is a common discussion between doulas and clients. However, postpartum planning is just as essential to growing families. Some clients will hire a postpartum doula before their baby is born. Others will seek postpartum care once their baby has arrived. As postpartum doulas, our goal is to help families explore their preferences and options. What feels right when making decisions about how they will care for their babies? What are their parenting philosophies? Teaching a newborn care class is a great way to help growing families become aware of the many benefits of postpartum care. It…
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Episode 44: Part Time Doula
Can I be a part-time doula? How do I transition from a full or part-time job into doula work? These are common questions in the doula community. We each come to this work from our own unique perspectives. For some, full-time doula work is the ultimate goal. For others, supporting growing families while maintaining a full or part-time job is the desired goal. While passion is the foundation of this work, many individuals do not realize that becoming a doula is more than just supporting clients. It is starting a business. For many, building a doula business can take a good 12-18 months to become sustainable without outside support. For…
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Episode 43: Supporting VBAC
Supporting VBAC clients. What is VBAC? Vaginal Birth After Cesarean. This can be a rewarding yet challenging experience for doulas. Understanding where your client is coming from is the first step to supporting VBAC clients. Understanding the client’s previous birth experience(s) will help you determine where your support may be needed most. Identifying what barriers or anxiety triggers may exist will also help you help them navigate labor with more confidence. As well as identifying what milestones or decisions they may face in labor that may be especially challenging or triggering. In addition, validating our client’s experiences and emotions is essential. Even if we do not share our client’s experiences…
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Episode 42: Postpartum Doulas: Client Choice
When working with postpartum clients, the choices they may make surrounding the care and keeping of their babies can challenge postpartum doulas. Those hot button parenting topics such as cosleeping, vaccination, circumcision, and breast versus bottle can be particularly challenging for doulas. Especially when the doula has their own strong opinions about these topics. Yet as postpartum doulas, we may be the very first person that a family encounters that does not judge or give an unasked opinion on their parenting choices. Identifying and drawing our own professional boundaries is essential when working with families. Knowing how to communicate those boundaries can be a learning process. It is a reality…
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Episode 41: Hospital Policies, Doulas & COVID-19
As hospitals begin to relax their visitor guidelines to include doulas, the requirements surrounding the standards that doulas must meet to gain access to hospitals is changing. Hospitals that previously welcomed any doula with open arms have instituted doula policies requiring proof of training and/or certification. Some are providing PPE for doulas to utilize as they support clients. While others are requiring an extensive list of PPE that the doula must provide at their own expense. Some doulas believe that it is not within the hospital’s right to create doula policies surrounding doula certification and training and encourage doulas to make their own certificates of training or certification. However, hospitals…
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Episode 40: Free Doula Services
A doula walks into a Facebook group and asks about providing free doula services, suddenly a rigorous debate ensues. Some doulas are encouraged as a part of their training to provide free services in order to get certified. Other doulas have felt the financial blow that those offering free doula services have on their community. Specifically their ability to charge a living wage. Then you have the doulas who come into this profession from a place of financial privilege that just wants to help families and doesn’t need to earn a wage. For many years the discussion centered on the scenarios above and how they impact other doulas. More recently…
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Episode 39: Birth Plan vs. Birth Preferences
As birth professionals, we are often mindful of the power of the language we use. Words have power, and at times the language used surrounding pregnancy and birth can have an unintended impact. As experienced doulas, we have developed our own approach to helping clients explore their options and preferences for birth. The language we use in our approach to this process is birth preferences. For some clients, having a plan shapes their experience into one that they will pass or fail. When the birth goes according to plan, they feel that they have succeeded. Yet when the experience doesn’t play out as they had hoped or intended, they can…
