Doula

[MAK]

Hi!

Could anyone please recommend a Doula for me?

I'm due to have my baby in January 2011 at Kings College Hospital and I've heard that there are a lot of benefits of having a Doula with you. If anyone here has had a Doula during their labour - please do share your experiences!

Thank you!!

[Gussy]

Hi Mak, I had a doula with me for the homebirth of my son and she was worth every penny. I had a horrible experience in hospital with my daughter and I was too scared to go back, but I also lost trust with the whole system, so I badly needed someone on my side and to give me confidence. I also had no family nearby and a toddler in tow, so needed daddy to look after toddler while I had someone with me.

We (husband and I) interviewed 3 doulas to make sure we got the right person. I went on the doula.org website and did a search for people within a mile radius from my house (you can extend search). On there, most of the doula's have a personal profile so you can contact them if you like what you read. The interview is free of charge so you can decide if you like one another. It's funny, but I knew as soon as I saw the third doula that she was the one for us. She said the same too, which was nice. We had another 2-3 meetings before the birth to discuss the birth plan and I spoke to her on the phone a lot in the last few weeks as I was anxious about quite a few things, and she was great and put my mind at ease every time. We built up a trusting relationship.

I called her to come out to me when I was in active labour and she turned up within 5 mins and began to massage my lower back (was amazing!). She also used some essential oils and homeopathy. It was wonderful to have another woman there, it really seemed to centre me and give me comfort. My husband was great, but I did ask him to leave at one point to look after toddler, while I was just with the doula. Thankfully the birth was really straight forward and fairly quick so she didn't need to 'do' much, but had things gone wrong I knew she would have made sure that my wishes were carried out to the letter (we went through every possible scenario before hand just incase). In short, I could totally relax and concentrate on the job rather than worry about what everyone else was doing!

Afterwards she also made us tea, got me some food, cleaned up everything, looked after family that turned up a bit earlier than planned and was generally a star while I sat on the sofa with my new baby. She made sure the midwives checked everything and supported me while I tried to breastfeed. So I would thoroughly recommend getting one. I would give you the name of my doula, but sadly she's moved away from London. Some doula's offer post-natal packages so they stay with you for a few weeks after the birth to look after you, ie cooking, tidying, help with breastfeeding and newborn care in general.

Good luck x

[MAK]

Thank you so much for your reply and sharing your positive experience! :)

How much are their charges and how long are they able to stay with you during labour? Sad to hear she's moved away as she sounds like a dream doula I would simply love to have!

[sillywoman]

here you are MAK, hopefully a list of SE LOndon doula's is attached?

[KristinH]

how exciting that your baby will be here soon. It's great that you have doulas to contact and I hope you've found someone to support you during your birth.

You may have taken birth preparation courses such as HypnoBirthing already but if not, and if you are interested in finding out more then please do contact me through edf or directly by email/phone on [email protected] or 07963 046 456.

I run group classes of varying types and also work with mums-to-be /couples on a private basis to suit their requirements and budget.

There is also a website, www.hypnobirthingdownloads.com, with wonderful mp3 downloads that are very effective for pregnancy and positive birth - do take the free pregnancy relaxation download on the homepage and, if you aren't considering face to face birth preparation classes then the hypnobirth online mini-course is a great alternative.

Do let me know if I can be of any help or answer questions you may have.

All the best, Kristin

Kristin Hayward

HypnoTherapy . HypnoFertility . HypnoBirthing

[email protected]

07963 046 456