The Adventure Begins
Growing a human is just the start of the amazing adventure of parenthood.
By providing emotional and informational support, doulas can help reduce anxiety and increase confidence in the body's ability to give birth. We get it, pregnancy, birth, and having a tiny newborn who is fully dependent on you is a huge life shift. It can be difficult to "know what you don't know" or come up with questions you're not sure you have!
Remember, every parent's experience is unique, and there is no one "right" way to approach pregnancy and parenthood. However, there are strategies that can help you feel more confident and prepared.
Doulas can help connect expecting parents with evidence-based information and resources that can aid in decision-making throughout pregnancy, labor, and postpartum.
A doula supports YOU to make decisions that are best for you. Because people make the best decisions with the information they currently have - not what we thought was going to happen.
Your decisions regarding pain management, interventions, tests, or pain medications are yours to make, and a doula can help you tease out your thoughts and desires through active listening. Whether the birth is taking place at a birth center, at home, or at the hospital.
Doulas provide personalized, non-medical support. They want to understand your individual needs, preferences, goals, and birth plan. Think you may be in labor? Your doula can help. Wondering about how to encourage baby into an optimal position? That's in your doula's thought process.
Research has shown that having a doula can lead to shorter labor, fewer medical interventions, and lower rates of C-sections and other complications. Additionally, many people report feeling more empowered and confident in their ability to give birth when they have the support of a doula.
Doulas help reduce the need for medical interventions such as cesarean births, which can mitigate potentially severe complications associated with those interventions.
You don't need to wait 6 weeks to talk to someone about your birth. Doulas typically offer an in-home visit within a week after delivery. This gives you the chance to process your birth experience, answer normal newborn questions, and give some tips for life with a newborn.
A postpartum doula specializes in assisting a new family in interpreting and understanding your newborn's behavior, helping parents (or baby!) get some sleep, and assisting in household tasks such as meal prep, laundry, and light cleaning. Need assistance with breast or bottle feeding, nervous about bathing your baby, or just needing reassurance, this is absolutely the job description of a postpartum doula. See Jen's doula page for more information about her services.
Navigating your journey through pregnancy, birth, and beyond with our resources and guides.
Doulas play a vital role in childbirth and beyond, offering support, comfort, and knowledge. They empower parents to make informed decisions, creating positive and empowering birth experiences.
Embracing fear as a natural response to the unknown can transform anxiety into confidence. Equip yourself with knowledge, create positive affirmations, build a supportive birth team, seek out uplifting stories, and practice self-compassion. This approach helps counterbalance fear, empowering you to make informed decisions during labor and transition into parenthood with greater assurance.