I’m a Doula - AMA!

[CakePigeon4]

I’m an antenatal Doula, currently in bed with a rotten cold - keep me amused and ask away!

How much do you earn annually? I looked at becoming one and just can’t see how you’d made decent money.

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat I charge £800 as I’m in the north, if you’re down south fees will be closer to £1000+. It’s not my sole income, and really you would struggle to earn a living from it - max of one client a month caps your income!

How long do you stay? I was in labour for 3 days, I’d have felt awful for someone else to be going through that with me.

Do you feel more women nowadays are opting for doulas?

How many births have you attended? What kind of reception do you get from hcps?

@DobbyTheHouseElk I arrive when the woman wants me there, and stay until a couple of hours after the baby arrives, so potentially it’s a long haul! However I have a chat with the client first to discuss how they can best use me as a resource - think about when you call me, is not worth me being there in mega early labour unless you’re very anxious and you need me there. I work with a backup Doula, so in the case of a seriously long labour we might swap for a few hours to enable me to get some sleep.

@SweetMelodies yes definitely; I’m in the north and it’s still very much a new idea up here! However many second-time mums have had negative hospital experiences and are looking for ways to ensure their next birth is more positive, and I think this is increasing due to the increasing medicalisation of birth.

I limit my client numbers, so I’ve attended 6 births so far.

@SweetMelodies sorry missed your last question - generally very positive reception from HCPs. Many MWs haven’t worked with a Doula before, I would say the main reactions are surprised/interested/jealous that I’m doing all the ‘nice’ bits they don’t have time to do!

That’s what I struggled with. And even though I live in the south that wouldn't be enough.

Don't the midwives get annoyed with you? In my experience anyone who is over invested isn't appreciate my medical staff ( I can be very assertive and when my dad was I'll I found some of them didn't like my input )

@gubbsywubbsy I’ve never been in a position where they’re annoyed with me, no. I’m very careful not to overstep my boundaries, and to respect their expertise. I don’t speak on behalf of my clients - unless they are unable to speak for themselves - as I am there to support them. So I’m very rarely in a position of direct conflict with the HCPs, and if there is an issue I’m pretty good at communicating in a way that doesn’t cause friction.

Do you only support home/midwife-led births? Would you support or have you supported someone who has an elective caesarean for example (so they know it's happening in advance rather than emergencies which I appreciate can happen with any birth)?

@KatnissK nope, I support any type of birth - in fact, nearly all of the births I’ve supported have been hospital births (not much other choice up here!) So yes, I would absolutely support a caesarean - the only complicating factor with that is you’re only allowed one birth partner with you, so you couldn’t have a Doula there with you alongside a partner.

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat yep it’s definitely not going to make me a millionaire! I do it because I absolutely love it and I am hugely passionate about it - I wish I could do it for free!

What makes you qualified to be a doula?

@PreschoolPlease some Doulas would argue that you don’t need to be ‘qualified’ in a professional sense, and I would agree in some ways - personal qualities such as being calm, kind, empathetic, and also having strong boundaries are extremely important in a good Doula. However, for me having a professional qualification is very important. I trained for two years with NCT on a degree-level course, and have also completed several other training courses since then.

What role do you find your clients want you to play? Personally I wanted to be alone in labour, so I can't imagine what there would be to do for most of it, but I appreciate every labour and every woman is different.

@Squashpocket it massively varies from client to client. Some want advocacy and support if they feel that HCPs will try to pressure them to go down a route - such as induction or pain relief - that they don’t want to go down. One woman didn’t have a partner so would have been alone for labour. Most want help with techniques to manage pain, labour positions, massage, etc.

Would you like to be a midwife?

@Squashpocket sorry posted before I finished! Some also want support for partners - sometimes they are nervous, squeamish, etc, or unsure how to help in labour. Or women want to make sure their partners are looked after so they don’t have to worry about them in labour!

@MadamePompadour before I started as a Doula I thought I would probably end up doing midwifery. Now, there is no way I would want to do it. I think if you get a great MLU then it can be a great job, however the vast majority of it seems to be taken up with paperwork and managing inductions. Every midwife I’ve met has reflected that as a Doula I actually get to do all the ‘good bits’ that they no longer have time for

How many births have you attended?

6 as a qualified Doula, one student birth, 4 as an observer. Plus my own!

How do you organise yourself? You can’t predict when labour occurs and what if two clients go in to labour at the same time? How do you plan your time off?

@PixieLumos I’m on call for two weeks either side of the due date, and it’s very rare for babies to be born outside of this timeframe. So I only take one client a month to ensure no overlap. Regards time off, I don’t take that many clients - certainly nowhere near one a month - and I don’t take anyone near Christmas or birthdays/important family events.

Do all doulas restrict their clients to one a month like you? Also when you are with the midwives, at the point of delivery, who is giving the'instructions' to assist with baby coming out? Wondering if there wouldn't be too many people trying to do the same thing!