A Doula Visit

Today, our doula, Heidi, came to visit. I decided to hire a doula because I am not the type of person who wants family or friends in the delivery room except for my husband, yet I also knew we wouldn't have time to take a childbirth class so I wanted someone educated who could provide support. I also wasn't sure if Jason would be there if I ended up going into labor early and unexpectedly since Jason does travel a fair amount, so I wanted someone that I knew would be there. Plus, because I have two other small children, I wanted to do everything possible to make sure I had as natural of a birth as possible since I didn't want to do anything that wasn't medically necessary that would up the risk of intervention. I felt like there was a lot of value in having someone who had coached many women through natural childbirths before, and because a doula is a support-person and not a medical professional, her whole job is to support me in my choices. Of course, I did end up with a very natural birth, but Heidi wasn't there for the labor (since I told her I didn't think I was in labor yet and she didn't need to come).

Even so, I still feel like it was very worth it to have a doula because she gave me a way to ask any questions I had in pregnancy and was there for post-birth medical treatment, and I thought her postpartum visit gave us some good education too. And when we were still in the house and the EMTs were all there, she asked them if I could hold my baby, which I really wanted to do, but I wasn't in the right condition to think to ask. Since there was no medical reason that the firefighter was holding Hannah instead of me, I got to hold her from then on until we got to the hospital and they had to examine her. Heidi specifically was a great fit for me because she was very knowledgeable and experienced, but wasn't a hippie, which a lot of doulas are super natural and I am not that into stuff like that.  I would definitely recommend a doula to anyone, but especially if you want to try a natural birth and you haven't done it before or if your husband is the type that wants some guidance on what to do when you are in labor and you don't want anyone else in your family in the delivery room.