Finding a doula who shares my faith?

[ethele]

I've realized that I've come to see birth as not just a physical experience, but also as a spiritual experience. Because of this, I find I want a doula who can support me spiritually as well as physically - not as a religious professional would, but just as a friend who shared my faith might (sort of like how they support me physically not as a medical professional would, but as a fellow woman would). From reading, it seems that most women get spiritual support from their husbands, but mine does not share my faith.

Does anyone have any idea how I might go about finding a doula who shares my faith? Do you think this sort of request would make a doula feel uncomfortable, or do you think this is just simply beyond the role that a doula fills?

I'm hesitant to ask a friend with my faith to fill this role for several reasons. One, all of my friends who share my faith are very busy and don't really have the flexibility to drop their lives to attend my birth. Two, I would like the physical and spiritual support to be "in sync" - sort of like how yoga combines physical and spiritual exercise - and I think this would be done best by a single person supporting me in both ways. And three, I'm worried that having three people (doula, husband, and faith-sharing friend) all giving very critical support in different roles could be confusing, stressful, and inefficient. Not really the atmosphere I want for my birth.

Thank you for any feedback or advice you might have!

[MyLittleWarrior]

I think it's very appropriate to have a doula that shares your faith. When you interview doulas, make it one of your interview questions. Doulas work better when they are a good fit for you , and I don't think any doula would be offended by the question. If you have any friends that do share your faith and used a doula at their birth you could ask for recommendations. I'm using the same doula this time as for my last birth, and it was actually a question that she asked me in our initial interview. She works with a practice of doulas and tries to match families to women in her practice that they would fit with best, and faith/religion is a big part of that.

[dewi]

Say what you are looking for over the phone. Make sure this conversation happens on the phone, don't waste your time or doulas time meeting in person to ask this question. Your local doulas usually know the other doulas and can refer you to her.

I'm a moderator of a local yahoo doula professional group, we get requests to the forum from pregnant women looking for labor doulas that do share faith or spiritual practices.
It's not an unusual request.


I can help you find out if there is a professional doula forum where you can post your request.
You can also post it in your local tribe area on MDC