Would you have a Doula?

[InMemoryOfSleep]

I’m considering training as a Doula, and I’m interested to know people’s reasons for choosing to have one (or not!). Is cost a factor? Also, do people find it a bit ‘woo’?! One of the issues I had when searching for a Doula locally is that the few available offer things like shamanic healing, placenta encapsulation, etc, which is just not for me . I wondered if there is a place for a sensible, supportive birth Doula, without the new age approach, or is that missing a vital part of what the role is about?

@impishgal77 unfortunately that just is not true all of the time, or even most of the time, as several other posters have pointed out. My midwife was fab and very kind, and followed my birth plan to the letter, however I would still have benefitted from a Doula - even just to suggest moving to a different position, helping with hypnobirtbing, supporting DH, etc.

@impishgal77
That's the ideal, but it's not the reality given the current shortage of midwives.

None of the new mums in my village had a midwife with them throughout their labour (with the honorable exception of one home birth), and very few of them had the same midwife from start to finish either. I'm not gambling that I'll be the lucky odd one out.

If it wasn't for the fact that I had absolute confidence in my husband to be the support I needed in labour and advocate on my behalf as I wanted then I would definitely have considered a doula. A friend used one as she was giving birth in a town she'd only just moved to, and found it really helpful for getting to know how things were done there (her previous birth was overseas).

I wouldn't have any issues using a male doula as long as I had a good rapport with them and confidence that they'd provide the support I need.

User14567891 was that in the US? A friend of mine did similar for her first, except the baby died and she needed a hysterectomy. Her doula was completely woo and anti-medicine, but then so is my friend (Reiki practitioner) so I expect she sought out somebody aligned with her own beliefs.

The doulas I’ve met in the UK have tended to be mums who have really enjoyed the process of being pregnant, and want to be present at more births as they find it magical. Which is fine, but I’m not sure why I’d want to pay for them to do that. You don’t get people offering to be paid “cancer appointment partners” - I guess oncology is less cocklewarming than obstetrics.

I can see why you might pay for a birth partner if you didn’t have one, but I was quite happy to advocate for myself and have DH for support.

I would love to have a doula that specialises in hypnobirthing but it's so expensive that it's not an option.