Doula's -would u or have u had one?

[SANA]

pg for the first time and due to lack of suitable birt partners, thinking of getting a doula. anyone had one if so how was it?? can u recommend any on south london?

Have you tried looking here ?

I haven't used one, but would def consider it in the future.

I used one for the birth of my second because I was widowed, and she was a big help. I never thought about it for the first, but I think it would have helped even though I had my very supportive husband with me.

If you can afford it I definitely recommend it. Just make sure you get someone who either agrees with, or at least is willing to advocate for, your views on childbirth (whether that be that you want a drug-free delivery, or you want an epidural).

No sorry, no personal experience.
But there are other threads about using them, have you searched the archived messages ... think princesspeahead had one

Yes, I had one for the recent birth of my DS3. She was excellent.

If I didn't have a suitable birth partner then I would definitely look into using a doula.

I would have loved to have one both times, sadly there were none in my area when I gave birth. I was really frightened towards the end of my second pregnancy when I found out my dd was breech, my instinct told me I needed a birth partner who had been through labour and somone I could really trust and had the chance to know and build up a relationship with.....never managed to find this person, ended up with the support of my dh, fairly harsh midwife and my sister who has not got kids - but the labour went well anyway - dd born quickly with no complications. A friend had a doula for her vbac and said she was fab.

Yes, had a birth doula (3 weeks ago) and she was fantastic. I can thoroughly recommend her. E-mail me through contact another talker if you like (I live in south London too).

Dinny,

I have just e-mailed u for the details of your doula

Many thanks

I had one and it was the best decision I made during the whole pregnancy/childbirth experience. It took a lot of pressure off of dh as it was our first and he was quite nervous about the whole thing.

Sana, think my email was not receiving messages. can you resend?

Didnt have a doula, but they couldnt get hold of dp at first when things started moving and a volunteer came to help and i asked her to stay even after dp finally arrived, she was brilliant! Good luck!