- my iParenting
- quick clicks
- pregnancy today articles
- pregnancy today q&a
- message boards
- research baby names
- prepare a birth plan
- content channels
- ip channel rss feeds
- read birth stories
- read parenting stories
- recommended books
- e-newsletters
- safety recalls
- ip diaries
- ip store
- mom of the month
- dad of the month
- editor's letter
- letters to the editor
 |
- e-newsletters
- Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters
- award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Want to be a Doula?
How to Become a Certified Doula
By Felicia Hodges
Marjorie Sumner of Raleigh, N.C. says she had little idea what a doula was until she went to Oregon to help her sister prepare for the birth of her second child last August.
"Lynn [the doula] was great," she says. "[She] helped my sister feel like the birth experience was something she had more control over than she had when her daughter was born two years before. I wish I'd have had one when I had my own daughter."
Doulas are special people. Designed to assist the woman during labor, while she is giving birth and after the delivery, doulas have gained popularity in this country over the last few decades.
"Basically, a doula is a woman who is experienced and has knowledge of childbirth," says doula Kristin McCaffery, who operates Hudson Valley New Birth Doula Services with her business partner, doula Diane Fitzgerald, in upstate New York. "She provides physical, emotional and informational support to Mom. She is also a liaison between Mom and the [hospital or birthing center] staff." This includes making sure the birth plan is adhered to and keeping any unwanted and unnecessary people out of the delivery room while being as unobtrusive as possible.
"A labor doula's job is to be invisible but there," she says.
McCaffery says doulas usually begin helping the birth mother anywhere from four months into the pregnancy to several weeks before the due date. "It is very often a personality match between the mom, the doula and the partner," she says, adding that doulas are there for the partners, too. "Doulas help massage the shoulders of dads as well."
Want to see more?
Comments
There are no comments for this article yet.Be the first to 
|
Post As:
|
||
| Enter your comment below: | ||
| Title | ||
| Comment Text | ||
| CAPTCHA | ||
| Please note that any comments submitted become the property of Disney Family / iParenting and can be edited and posted at our discrection. | ||
