Doulas at a Home Birth

[Karennnnn]

I am planning on having a doula at my home birth. She was also at the birth of my son, but that was in a hospital.
I'm curious about those who have had a doula at a homebirth; if they felt it was really necessary and why.
I still want her to be there but I was analyzing my own reasons for having someone there in the first place when my son was born and it was really to have an advocate more than anything. At home I shouldn't need one (an advocate) since my midwife and I really speak the same language.
It will be nice to have at least two strong women who have a lot of faith in me and a lot of faith in birth. I think it will be empowering! I'm probably also having some family over while I'm in labor as well so having her there rather than just the midwife will be a good thing so she can either wrangle people up or wrangle people away She was awesome at that at the hospital. I'll never forget her answering the phone when it would ring while I was in labor. She was so protective over me; she even screened my phone calls lol!!
So what do you all think?
Karen

[AngelBee]

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[CrunchMama]

Karennnn,
I didn't have a home birth. I had a birth center birth and it was a total home setting (except of course the drive home!).

I had a wonderful doula and I couldn't imagine having another baby without her. She didn't answer a phone or anything like that. She didn't have to protect me from hospital stuff like some doulas (brave women) will do. She was just with me. My midwife was great as well as the assistant. They didn't need to be with me all the time as I had Shea (doula) and my husband. That was great during the times I wanted as few people around me as possible but still needed support. It was our first baby, neither my midwife nor her assistant had had a baby and my doula has 4 children (# 5 on the way). I was happy to have someone there who knew what the bloody heck it was like to be going through labor!

Plus my husband got to have a break and I was still very taken care of.

I think, too, if it feels good to have her there with you, whether you think you "need" the support or not, then you should have her. We know everything goes best when we feel safe and supported.

Hope that helps and blessings on your upcoming birth!

[Tummy]

Greetings,
I did have a doula with my last birth. She was wonderful. My DH was in the middle east my entire pregnancy, came home on tuesday and we birthed on thursday night. The way this woman came into our life was just by chance.
I had it all planned out in my head to have an UC.. DH was very unsure of this... with waters leaking for 4 days we decided to go to the hosp and make sure everything was ok thursday morn... I had FINALLY began contracting over night.. well after getting to the hosp and the oncall doc telling me that I WOULD be having a c/s (due to one 10 years previous, mind you this was my 4th vbac) I told him to kiss my @$$ and went home.
My mother called the LM who was there for my last HB. (she could not take me this preg due to my ins. not covering LM)... She was at another birth and called this doula to come to my home to be with us. She was absolutley wonderful.. it was great to have her there!!! She gave me so much support. Support that my DH (bless his heart) honestly did not know how to give me. This was our first child together, his first birth. He was great but the doula made all the difference in the world.

[orangebird]

Sounds like it is all about what you feel will help you. Just hearing that there will be lots of family over tells me that you welcome people around, maybe the doula would be good for you since you are comfortable with more people and she would be a good advocate for you if the need arises, like you said, to herd people away.

I am totally the opposite, the more people around the more horrified I am. It is already a stretch for me to feel comfortable having my midwife there, she brings a partner with her and that is way over the top for me, a doula on top of that would totally freak me out. In my perfect world it would be just me, a little DH thrown in here and there and the kids come in at the very end. With a midwife living next door just in case!

It sounds like you have a great relationship already formed with her from the last birth, of all the people that are potentially going to be at your birth she sounds like one of the more supportive and comfortable ones. So heck, if you like her and feel like you may want her it sounds like she would be perfect.

[sarahwebb]

There was another thread on this that you might want to search for and read.

I didn't have a doula, but I had people supporting me. My midwife suggested it. She said she could be my primary support, but she felt she was at her best when she could focus all of her attention on mine and the baby's health without worrying about fetching me ice or massaging my feet or whatever.

It made a lot of sense to me!

Best,
Sarah

[MamaTaraX]

Sarah mentioned the thread about "are doulas necessary at homebirths"...I can't find it. I'll keep looking.
I think doulas are necessary wherever women in need of us feel they are! Home, hospital, birth centre, campground. Doulas are about protecting the sanctity of birth and supporting women, keeping the space and providing physical/emotional support when necessary. I feel we are no less necessary at home than in hospitals. Yes, in hospitals I do a lot more protecting type work but at home I get to do what I really love, being there for the mother with no restriction, no gaurding. I much prefer attending homebirths though I mainly attend hospital. I obviously see a greater need for doulas int he hospital. They provide that feeling of familiarity in a very unfamiliar place. Someething nice about a doula at a homebirth is that she is usualy there before the midwife. Sometimes the midwife is at another birth or doing prenatals or whatever. Having the doula there, you still get the love and support. When the midwife comes, they can compliment each other, or one can move out of the way of the other, however it needs to go.
I'mplanning a homebirth and fully intend to have a doula attend it even though I think we are going to have a midwife (I really want a UC!) THe midwife will be there to monitor the baby, etc (which is really to keep my DH happy), the doula will be there for labor support. Women have had "doulas" attend their births for millenia and when you consider the fact that birth out of the home is arecent invention, I say there is no reason for a woman to not have women supporting her at her birth.
Namaste, Tara and baby #3 Rythm (due 1/06)

[sarahwebb]

No wonder you couldn't find the thread. The title was about single mamas having a homebirth.

Here's the link:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=277739

Sarah

[Patchfire]

My friend served as my doula - it was a great sort of 'party' atmosphere, to be honest with you. Because my friend was from out of town, she was there when I went into labor (she came for two weeks and we hoped I'd give birth during those two weeks - it worked, thankfully!). With everything to 'do' for a homebirth, I was glad to have two people around - but then I tend to mostly skip over 'early labor' and go straight into active labor. So she stayed with me while dh worked on the pool and so on. I wouldn't change a thing about having her there!

[Spark]

The more I birth more I want to be alone. With my first birth, we had the MW, her assistant and then my mom, grandmother, MIL, SIL and of course my DH. With my second birth, I wanted to be as alone as possible. We had the MW without an assistant, my friend doing her doula training, and of course my DH. I REALLY didn't want anyone around me when I was giving birth, except my DH. It was hard to tune out the doula for the 1 hours she was there and the MW for the 40 minutes she was there.

So for me, I won't hire a doula again. But, that's just me.

[MamaFern]

i had a midwife, lots of familky and a doula, who is also a close friend.. it felt good for me to have her there.. my midwife didnt come till morning and i laboured all night. she was there supporting me and i think it helped my family feel good that here was someone there with birthing training and experience. she was just a strong woman at my side which to me felt lovely. i adore my midwife, but her roll wasnt the same as my doula's at all..

[anonymommy]

In my first home birth, I had a midwife. She and I negotiated a birth plan but she betrayed me six ways to Sunday, giving me a violent hospital style birth and PTSD because oh, 'we didn't believe in you because you were a professional primip in your thirties' etc. Then I was blamed afterward for not having a doula there!!!! This woman said all the "right" things in prenatals and her apprentice, also present at the birth, has been a doula for many years!

Just a warning.

[flitters]

early labor began overnight between a monday and tuesday while dh slept. contractions would wake me every half-hour or so, then i would snuggle up to dh and go back to sleep. dh and i went about our tuesday... evening rolls around, by around 5pm tuesday on our walk i need to lean on him every 5 minutes or so for contractions. night comes, the friend i asked to be at my birth arrived with her husband around 9pm while dh began to assemble the aquadoula. her husband left around midnight and she took a nap. dh took care of me, pressing hard on my back with every contraction, also filling the aquadoula. around 3am wednesday our doula came and gave dh a much needed nap until around 6am when both he and my friend woke up. they all took turns with counterpressure, but i liked dh's best. 8am our midwife came. 2:45 our son was born.

dh was incredible, my best support. he was able to handle things so well in part because of the presence of our doula and our friend. our doula kept him reassured so he could support me better. our doula gave him a chance for some much needed rest as things progressed slowly. our midwife felt so confident in our doula (they'd worked together before) that her assistant did not need to come (i preferred this as i'd only met her twice before).

it wasn't that she had to be there, it was just better because she was. both for me and dh.

[melamama]

at my first homebirth, I had my midwife and a doula. it was a great experience as the doula and midwife had a history of working together, and it was only them and me and dh. for my second homebirth all the doulas I spoke with kept asking my why I needed a doula, after I had already birthed at home. I realized that what I really wanted was a supportive woman to hang out with (dh is more of a drink mixer/food getter at my births) so I had my close homebirthing girlfriend come over and hang out. it was perfect.

it sounds like you had a positive experience with your doula, and that she'd bring that great energy to your home experience as well. especially since you're having family over for the birth--your doula has already proven herself as a wrangler and you may need that even though you're in your own house.