[BirthInStyle]

So... we are talking about TTC #2 and obviously this decision will greatly affect my Doula-ing. My 1st pregnancy was pretty easy, just a little bit of controllable morning sickness in the first trimester and a very easy and comfortable 2nd trimester. I would stop at the beginning of the 3rd trimester b/c last time I had a lot of insomnia towards the end and I think it would be too much for me to be on call under those circumstances. Has anyone here been a Doula while pregnant? Or had a pregnant Doula? Or just have an opinion on it in general?

 

[Dwmama]

Let's see. I did a birth at 6 weeks, 10 weeks and about 25 weeks pregnant. I say if you feel up to it, to do it

 

[homemademomma]

yea, you can do it. i averaged 2-4 births a month (as a midwifery student) through both of my pregnancies. BUT a friend of mine had to stop going to births in her 3rd tri~ so i think it really depends on how your pg is going and your individual temperament. nak

 

[homebirthing]

Attending a birth as a doula and as a midwifery student are completely different. I could see going to births late in a pregnancy as a midwifery student, but a doula...been there and done that! NO WAY I would do it again.

It is just too hard on your body. I was at two births at seven months pregnant with my last one, and I was so tired. I didn't want to wake up at 2am, but did twice. I didn't want a 10 month pregnant mama leaning on ME for support, but did that twice, and it was just too much. It is really hard to take care of yourself, which is so important, when your main focus is on someone else. I am talking about mostly the physical comfort measures.

I have been to births as a doula and as a apprenticing midwife, and the doula role is definately a lot more physically demanding on your body. If you attend a birth late into your own pregnancy, I would highly suggest another doula coming along! Good luck!

 

[BirthFree]

I did a doula birth at 34w+ pg and it wasn't bad at all. It was however for someone I really wanted to have a doula - and she really wanted it to be me - but I do have my twin sister due any day and plan to be her doula (I'm 38+w now). We have a back-up though, just in case, obviously.

I made sure the Mom I had earlier on in July understood that I really needed to have a back-up and if at any point I felt I was giving them sub-care that I would pass my role to the back-up. They were fine with that so I agreed to be their doula. It was really important to me that I didn't give her sub-standard care just b/c I was pretty pg. (Esp. b/c she was a VBAC).

Early on in my pg (right from the start really), I was on call as a midwife assistant and ended up doing quite a few births - but a few times I was able to spend some of the time throwing up off someone's deck or what not rather than being a totally-on-call doula.

Gross, sorry.

SO, my thoughts are you can doula just fine, just respect your body, bring good things to eat and know your limits (and let them know too) so that all expectations are in line.

I will be stopping my doula work for about a year soon, so it was good to do a few more... I truly love my job.
~Julie

 

[gemasita]

How have you all dealt with the emotional aspects of doula'ing while pregnant? We are TTC our first child and I've been a doula for about a year. I am planning a homebirth but when I doula, I mostly get clients that are giving birth in the hospital. Most of the hospitals in my area are not very forward-thinking so I find it traumatic the way that babies and moms are separated, etc, etc, etc. At my last birth, I called my DH almost in tears and told him there was no way I could do a birth while pregnant. I don't know how to stay positive about my own experience when I hear the things I do at the hospitals (like what some of the OB's tell their clients! Yikes!).

Do you think it's easier when you've already had a baby so you know what to expect? I just don't want to fill my head with negative images while I'm pregnant.

 

[doula and mom]

I've never attended a birth while pregnant BUT as far as the emotions of pregnancy while watching a birth that you find uncomfortable, just keep drilling it into your head that "this is not MY birth." I hope that helps. I'm planning to ttc #4 early next year, and I'll see how I feel during the pregnancy as far as getting clients. I'm in a small town, nobody knows what a doula is or does, so I don't exactly have clients beating down my door.

 

[pumpkin&bean]

I am 34 weeks pregnant with #3 and have been attending births my entire pregnancy. My last client gave birth on Sunday and supporting her for 20+ hours of hard natural labor in hospital was difficult but not impossible. It would have been a hard birth even if I wasn't pregnant. The births I attended during my 1st trimester were actually harder because I was so tired.

I am glad I continued to doula during this pregnancy but I am also glad I have no more clients right now and can focus on my own upcoming birth.

Good luck!

Allison

 

[BirthFree]

I think Jamie, when you are pg you take some time to renew (ie. protect) your belief that birth is natural, strong, normal and works WITHOUT other hands being there, before you have your baby. I don't know many (any) doulas that doula all the way through pg. And if it wasn't my twin sister (my only sibling) due right now I wouldn't be either.

I think it is still upsetting when a baby is roughly treated or treated at all at the hospital... but it isn't my birth and my baby - and I know that not all babies are born that way either. It can be hard to sort through pregnant or not. Only once since I've been pg did I have to go cry about it before I felt better... this probably wouldn't have affected me quite so deeply either except that I'm pg.

I also don't have a lot of respect for the junk that the OBs and some MWs tell some of my clients... but only b/c experience (both on the delivering and educational end) tells me differently. ("No Mr. OB this baby will not self destruct if Mom is "let" to go to 40w gestation or beyond even if she *is* a VBAC").

Maybe you can make a list of things you KNOW to be true about birth and then read it and remind yourself when you feel shaken. I've had times where I had to talk to my MW friend that I worked with for a while to re-boot my brain... but each time it helped immensly. Keep your good birthing community around you when you can and just do as much as you think you can or want to handle. No extra bonus points for being pg and being a doula.

~Julie

Quote:

Originally Posted by gemasita How have you all dealt with the emotional aspects of doula'ing while pregnant? Do you think it's easier when you've already had a baby so you know what to expect? I just don't want to fill my head with negative images while I'm pregnant.

 

[Jowchar]

I am expecting our second child and I have continued to work as a doula. I have made arrangements though with another doula to work with me during my pregnancy. That way if I need a break, or if labour (sorry I'm Canadian, hence the spelling

) is long I have some support of my own.
I just have split the fees with her.
You could, if you were so inclined, find a newer doula who is both competant and looking to do cert births shadow you during these births and that way you could make arrangements so you'd retain the entire fee.
(we tend not to charge for our cert births in our community)
Best of luck

 

[bobandjess99]

I think it depends ....i know the one birth i "doula'd" for a friend, scarred me for life...I will die with the hatred for that OB in my heart, and given a "freebie" from God, i would kill her with my bare hands and feel no remorse.......I could NOT do that again, ever, but certainly not while pregnant.....That's the emotional side...on the physical side..i would think you would set a limit for yourself...doula'ing is not only hard emotionally, but physically...what if you get a mom with a 48 hour labor who needs massaged the whole time ? You have to look at your ability to physically do the job...for me, there would be a cutoff point...

Also, there are no guarantees about your physical state...itsa great your first pregnancy went smoothly..but you could end up with raging morning sickness this time...or a complication..so i think you would just need to know that and be flexible going into it....

Personally, i would be possibly hesitant about hiring a pregnant doula....depending on how far along you were...my midwife with dd, was pregnant and due about 3 months before dd...she was out that month(my 7th month), but then came back to work...when i was 8 months...it worked out fine...

anyway, those are just thoughts i have.......I think you could easily do it, if things work out......but if it is something you depoend on, for income or something, i would be hesitant to assume you are "definitely going to be able to", you know what i mean?

 

[yonit]

I am currently 14 weeks pregnant and have one more client due in September. I am not planning on taking any during my 3rd trimester this time.

However, there is something else that I never would have thought of that happened to me during my last pregnancy and was a bit of a problem.

I attended a birth as a doula when I was 32 weeks pregnant with #3. I am on the short side and look HUGE when I am pregnant. I don't gain much weight but I am all belly. At 32 weeks I looked ready to deliver.

My client was a first timer who was 5'10 and very long waisted. We had our first appointment when she was about 7 months along and she was still in her regular clothes, and I would have sworn she was in her 1st trimester. She only wore maternity for the last 6 weeks. She looked about 4-5 months pregnant when she went into labor - actually looking down, she looked about what I look like now at 14 weeks. LOL

When we got to the hospital, the nurses assumed that I was the one in labor. Then they questioned if my client was even pregnant! They refused to believe she was full term and actually called her midwife to confirm dates - they basically accused her of lying about it.

Even after they were convinced that she was a normal full term laboring women, they seemed much more focused on me - since I looked more pregnant. Every time a nurse came in she asked how I was doing and if I needed anything, before addressing my client. I had to keep redirecting them to her. I felt really bad for her, because the day really should have been completely about her, but the hospital staff was way too focused on me.

We discussed lots of ways my pregnancy might be an issue at her labor, and made contingency plans but she really wanted me there (I had previously been her sister's doula before - and have since been again) so I agreed to the birth. But it really never occured to me that the hospital would be so focused on me.

So, that is the big reason that I am not planning on attending any births during my 3rd trimester this time! However, I will still keep my hand in the birth world..I will still teach, both CBE and new doulas, and I also do a lot of birth planning with couples that want some private work before hand but don't want a doula at the actual birth.