Did your having a doula annoy midwives and hospital staff?

[dan39]

I am thinking seriously about having one for the support but just wondered what sort of response people who have used them have had - do midwives feel 'untrusted' and questioned? We are planning a hb but its my first and I mostly want the support in case we end up in hosp, as I am worried my dh will just agree with everything suggested by people in uniforms. Your experiences would be useful food for thought?

IN my experience, midwives are happy to see someone with a doula because they know that the woman will need less of their attention (and they are often stretched to the limit with their workload anyway) and most of the time less intervention.

I guess my midwife chum whom i mentioned in a post on here earlier today coulda been seen as a doula
she didn't intervene, and was there for moral support and, i guess, an extra body had anything gone wrong - she didn't seem to annoy anyone at all
during a brief time i was unattended, she was there and calmed a couple of tense moments without having to summon the midwife
go for it

as a doula, i have to say that i have had only positive and welcoming responses from the MWs

i had however joined to maternity committees at the hospital before i started actively doualing, so my face was 'known' and i think that has really helped, the head of midwifery has gone out of her way to make things easy for me

but i do go out of my way to ensure i don;t appear to overrule or ignore or antagonise the MWs in any way

i make sure my clients have a birth preferences sheet to give to the MW so that it does not look as though I am telling her what to do or making decisions for her

MWs seem to welcome an extra pair of hands for doing non clinical tasks and for the emotional side of things too

interview local doulas and ask them what sort of responses they have had with the MWs

I'm planning for a HB with my second baby (due any day now) and have booked a doula. When I mentioned this to my MW she was really enthusiastic and supportive.

I have only done two jobs.

On one I felt very welcome.

On the other one I felt the midwives got cross with me - got some eye rolling and tutting - because I requested them to do something for my client which is not common practice in their unit - basically to not to give her an injection of syntocinon to deliver her placenta.

She was unable to request it herself as it was a precipitate labour - she was brought in pushing.

I suspect that some midwives are happy for you to adopt a supportive role, but get a bit gippy if you advocate for you client against hospital protocols.

Thanks everyone - I am going to meet one next week to talk it over. My dh thinks its s good idea. If I had a good friend who felt like I do I would ask her, but I have mostly gotten negative responses to hb/any aspect of 'natural' birth from them - especially my sis which is a shame!!

Make sure you tell your MWs you are having a doula. I told mine I was having one, who it was (which drew a relieved smile) and why (I wanted help for me to get through the labour). 'Twas all academic in the end as MWs failed to respond to our messages for over two hours . Thank God for the doula keeping us calm .

can i just ask out of interest what is a doula?

I used a doula and in my experience the hospital staff were fine about it (slightly disinterested if I'm honest - they were happy for me to have one and were polite and helpful, but sort of just got on with the job in hand anyway.)

What I would say though, is the doula made me feel uncomfortable, and in the end I wish I had not bothered. Just to be clear to all doulas - that was just MY experience, and I'm sure there are some fantastic doulas out there, but mine wasn't. So just make sure you are 100% comfortable with her before you take her on.

the midwives at the 2 births that i have attended as a doula were lovely and didn't seem at all bothered with me being there.

My job isn't to interfere with what they're doing, I'm there for my client

Considering it led to a good discussion with DH about his role and he reassured me that he would support me so I feel much better now and we are going to try it alone. I also didn't really 'click' with her on the phone so that's fine.

Thank you all so much for your comments tho!