I'm a Doula - AMA

[DoulaDaisy]

Just as the title says!

I'm a birth and postnatal Doula, ask away!

Do you have kids? Did you have awesome births?

I've 4 kids. My births weren't amazing but they weren't terrible either. I had two vagina births and two ceseareans.

Vaginal not vagina

Do you do more first or subsequent births?

(My experience is that I was recommended by a couple of people to get a doula for my first but didn’t see the point and thought it was a bit indulgent or precious, but then employed one for my second and third because I saw with my first how I really needed someone just there for me. When I mention it to first timers though they largely respond like I did.)

How do you pronounce doula?

It's mostly people who have already given birth before and want to have a 'better' experience the second time around.

Doula is pronounced 'doolah'

What training have you done?

I’m currently 39 weeks with my first. Do you have any top tips to share?

What sort of hours to you work and how much do you earn?

Thanks I’d always wondered as I’ve never heard it spoken

How did you get into it? How much do you earn from it? And do you get a lot of clients and what is it usually for i.e more births or postnatal help?

I’ve looked into doing this so curious! Thanks

@MintTeaLady - For both birth and postnatal (postnatal includes newborn care specialist title) I've done 2 separate 20-hour training courses plus afterwards I've to do prescribed reading of specific birth and baby care books, write essays about those books and take a comprehensive test for each title. I can attend training again at any time too if I wish to refresh any part. I have to recertify every year.

For tips - not much really, I do recommend having a 'birth plan' (and I use this term loosely, always have alternatives in place in case things aren't going exactly the way you want them too) and always asking questions - my big one is using your BRAIN so -

Benefits - What are the benefits of choosing to do this?
Risks - What are the risks if we do go ahead?
Alternatives - Are there any alternatives we can discuss?
Instinct - What is it telling you to do?
Nothing - What if you decide to do nothing right now but revisit the idea of it later on?

Discuss it with your birth partner too.

@Tentomidnight - Hours can vary! Birth is unpredictable so I've often been at a birth for 4/5 hours or up to 20 hours. Key is having a back up system with another doula so that if I feel I'm too tired to support a family I can get them to take over, similarly, if they have a family they're working with they are at a birth for a long period and need to swap out then I do that too.

I'm in Ireland so payment in euros, for a typical birth that doesn't go over 15 hours my rate is €950 (that includes being on call from the minute they sign the contract, unlimited phone and text support up to birth, 1 prenatal appointment to discuss birth plan/birth support , after 15 hours and I charge 35 euro per hour on top of that. For postnatal, it is 25 euro per hour during the day with a min of 4 hours, overnight care is 35 euro per hour with a min of 8 hours.

@ElizabethS22 - I got into it because I wanted to be a midwife when I was younger but four years of uni with 4 young kids didn't seem very appealing right now. Bonus is with being a doula is that we don't do anything medical, we're there to support the birth person so rather than being rushed off our feet in an understaffed maternity unit we get to be with the person giving birth 100%.

How many clients have you had since completing training? How many do/can you take on at the same time?

I am debating getting a doula.

Do they or can they help with first feed? I am debating whether a lactation nurse would be better or...

Also if I am consultant led. Does this make a differance to having a doula?

Thanks

How do you schedule clients given that you can't predict when they'll go into labour? Have you ever had two women go into labour at once and have to cancel/ call in reinforcements?

@Lonesurvivor - Around 20 since I've completed my training for birth, I've had 10 postnatal clients so far. I only take on 3 clients in the same month (so far I've only ever had 2 clients in a given month but would be comfortable with 3) but I am a solo doula if I worked for an agency I could have more because back ups are better in agency work.

@Notquiteagandt - Yes, we can help with latching on for first feed, but again, we're not experts in lactation so if you're having problems, we would always refer you to a lactation specialist if we felt you needed help with that. No, doesn't matter if you're consultant led, we work with both OB's and midwives.

@VimFuego101 - A doula decides on how many people they feel comfortable taking on per month, as above, mine is 3, if I worked in an agency I'd probably have more but I'd have a more reliable back up system too so it would balance out. And no, thankfully haven't had two women go into labour at the same time yet, I have had to rearrange post natal shifts around births though!

Sorry if this is a strange or crude question, but do you actually see/watch the baby being born, or stay up at the mum's head?

Was the first birth a shock for you?

How do the midwives/doctors usually feel about you being there?

Not so much a question as a comment, sorry. A doula basically ruined my antenatal classes for me and many others when I had mine. She accompanied someone and was loud and took over, making sweeping comments, guffaws, shouting over "yes, we KNOW that" etc...and breaking the stride and flow of the classes. It was dreadful.
That's really bad, isn't it.

@doesthisseemright - that sounds awful! On a similar note I had an initial meeting with a doula - I had emailed her my birth plan in advance and she had rewritten a suggestion for me in very long winded and combative language and kept telling me that I would have a lot of trouble with getting the things I was requesting (no VEs, physiological fourth stage etc). It was almost as though she wanted a fight with a midwife. In the event (I didn’t use her!) I had absolutely no trouble with any of my requests.

This was very much in contrast with my first doula who met with local hospital regularly, was very up to date with current practice and very positive about working with midwives.

I wonder if ones like the one I encountered and the one in the antenatal class above give others a ‘bad name’ and mean HCPs can be wary of having you there?

Have you had any problems with women wanting births you don't approve of? Either from a safety point of view, like a homebirth for a high risk pregnancy, or a clash of values, e.g. you've got the aromatherapy and whale song out and she's demanding opiates and formula.