Do I need a Doula?

[jen&james]

I am planning a hospital birth, it's right down the street and I am seeing a midwife/OB team. I was planning on doing Leclaire hypnobirthing and was wondering if it would be a good idea to get a Doula who has hypnosis backround to support me. I am planning on laboring mostly at home and may need someone to tell me when I should go to the hospital since this will be my first unmedicated birth and I have no idea what to look for other than when my water breaks. I am really lookling forward to being part of birthing this baby since with my son I felt nothing and pushed forever since I couldn't feel him. I didn't realize how robbed I was and that is why I decided to birth diffrently. Any suggestions would be great . TIA

[azjen43]

I would definitely recommend you take a comprehensive childbirth ed course (I know alot of people who have loved hypnobirthing, and of course I'm partial to Bradley ) and hire a doula. The more information and support you have, the better your chances of having the kind of birth you want. Just remember, just walking into a hospital, you have a 1 in 3 chance of having a C section.... have you considered birthing in a birth center or at home?

[SublimeBirthGirl]

Yep, I was going to say childbirth class too. Hypnobabies is good. If you have no idea what to look for as to when to go to the hospital, you'll probably get there way too soon, and that is never good. I think all hospital birthers should have doulas. JMO.

[Veritaserum]

It definitely doesn't hurt to interview a few doulas and see how you feel. I'm not familiar with the LeClaire method. If it doesn't include consumer information I strongly encourage you to read some comprehensive books like The Birth Book by Sears or The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth. I know that Mongan's HypnoBirthing doesn't cover consumer topics. I teach Hypnobabies, which does cover consumer info.

You'll want your doula to become familiar with your specific hypnosis tools so that she can help you with them if you want or need her to. I personally wouldn't give birth in a hospital without a doula.

[jillc512]

I agree with the other posters. In a hospital setting, the most important role a doula can sometimes play is as a buffer between you and the hospital staff (making sure they respect your wishes, taking time to discuss options with you should the hospital decide some intervention is 'necessary', etc.).

From someone who wished she had hired a doula, I say always err on the side of too much support!

[Chic_Mama]

Get the doula! I never would have made it through my hospital birth naturally if I hadn't had my two amazing doulas there with me!

[Ironica]

My husband and I took a great Bradley class, and had a wonderful midwife hospital practice, so we didn't bother with a doula.

OOOPS!

We'd only been in the hospital for maybe three hours when we realized that this was a BIG mistake. I didn't want DH to leave me "alone" (my mom was there, but she was so not briefed on our birth plan), and he was hungry! (So was I, and my only food option was to send DH or my mom down to the cafeteria.)

We're soooo hiring a doula this time. We do want to find a hypno-doula of some sort, though I'm having trouble tracking them down.