Questions for Doula's

[Rainbowbrite]

I was just wondering when I do go into labour, when do I call my doula?

Do I wait to make sure its the real thing or do I let her know that I think I may be in labour?

Does she come to my house or meet us at the hospital?

Just starting to worry, have just under 8 weeks left & everything seems so unorganized. That & I went in early with MJ so want it all sorted ASAP.

I'm a sucker for a plan :o

[draught]

RB - I am not a doula, but had a doula for DS's birth and she and I just stayed in touch, talking regularly about what we would do if and when something happened. There are no hard and fast rules - it is what you want - it is your birth after all! We agreed that I would ring her as soon as I thought I was in labour and we would start from there. (I was guaranteed to be having a fast labour so we had plans about her breaking the speed barrier to meet me either at home or en route to the hospital!)

As it turned out I let my doula know that I was in labour by turning on the light - she was asleep in the chair next to my bed in the hospital! Probably not the normal route but worked for us!

[Rainbowbrite]

:laughing: Good story :)

Might have to start calling my doula & keeping in touch more. MJs birth was pretty quick & she was posterior, so the midwives are saying this will be alot quicker more than likely.

[QTB]

I usually get clients to let me know when they *think* they are in labour, then keep me updated til they want me to go out there... i go to their house and support her there, then go to the hospital.... but iv supported a few extreamly fast labours that iv had to meet them at the hospital! lol

Basically you just do what feels right for you! And good luck for the upcoming birth :D

[Rainbowbrite]

Thanks Mel :)

I would prefer her here before I go to the hospital too I think.

[QTB]

Not a problem :D

Just have a chat to your Doula, she may do things differently... but most do come to your house beforehand ...

[~Emmylou~]

The same as QTB here - I tell my clients to just give me a call when they think something is happening just so I can get myself organised and be "on alert" lol.

Then they can call me again when they're ready for me to come. I'm happy to go to their homes in early labour or just meet them at the hospital if they want that. I would think most doulas would be happy to do either but it's something you should talk about with yours.

All the best for your birth!

[shed]

I rang my doula when my waters broke. I actually rang her before I rang my DP! I had read up so much and as soon as my waters broke it all just fell out of my brain and I panicked.

She said to wait for a contraction and to either ring her back or she could come over then and there. I told her to wait and I would ring her back when something was happening.

Turns out it was full steam ahead from the first contraction which came about 20 minutes later so she had to meet us up at the hospital.

I will never forget her walking in that door at the hospital, I will never forget that as long as I live. I was strapped to a monitor being bossed around by strangers and then she walked in and I was like "yay, now I am going to have a baby woot woot!!" and it was as much fun as labour could be from then on, lol. I was SO happy to see her. The monitor was ripped off and I was in charge from then on.

We did have the bed made up in the spare room for her in case she needed it though, so just ring her when you need some support. There is no 'wrong' time to ring :thumbsup:

[reAllytee]

Im obviously not a Doula lol but have used one as you know.

With mine we kept in contact every so often through the pregnancy then in the final weeks it was a case of me SMS'ing her to keep her informed & she called me too. We had already discussed the birth plan, talked about fears, she also got to talk with DP about what he wanted ( loved this especially due to his fears ! ) & we also talked about anything else we thought necessary eg. what would happen when i went into labour etc.

When it came to my due date being overdue & stressed about induction she talked me through this also. Then when i started my labour knowing i had some time we just advised her what was happening every few hours & then the plan was she would come to the house if this was the case otherwise i would meet her at hospy. A lot of things we decided to play by ear depending on how i was feeling at the time.

I held her off because i thought i still had plenty of time :rolleyes: idiot that i am lol but even having her here for the hour or so before we went to hospy was awesome. She had this amazing calming voice that kept away my fears ... I still wanted drugs though :laughing:

So in the end she was just amazed that i did it all myself lol & felt bad she hadnt been there for me through it all but realised that i did what i did because it was how i felt.

Thats the thing to remember its all about you !!!!

Do what you want & how you want it !

[doulacara]

I ask my clients to call me when anything happens - even in the middle of the night - as it gives me time to organise myself. Esp if you suspect you might have a quick labour, I would call even if you are having prelabour just so she knows things are happening.

[lilpearl]

Yep - agree with everyone - I tell clients to call me "even if you just think there is a chance you MIGHT be going into labour". That way, I'm on 'red-alert' and can start to make plans. A doula can meet you at your home to support you in early labour (and, of course, if one is having a homebirth!), provided you have called the hospital before their arrival to get advice from the hospital staff on when to come in. A doula cannot adivise a client on when it's best to go to the hospital, as this is classified as medical, as it could have a bearing on the end result. The doula will comet o you when you feel you need her. keep in mind, some doulas can stay with you for two days if you have a very long labour, but realistically, once 18 hours or so have passed, a doula is likely to have to call her back-up so that she can go home and have some rest (the doula doesn't ahve the labour hormones keeping her going! ;) ). So, if you feel like you're coping well on your own, it's good to "get into the swing of things" before your doula arrives. If people show up too early, it can slow your labour down, as you're not yet in :"the zone" and the doula arriving could get you thinking, which disrupts the flow of labour hormones.

[Rainbowbrite]

Ok great, thanks for all the advice :D

[Talsm]

Hi Liana
I am currently researching birthing options at the moment. We have not yet started TTC for our second bub and had a "normal" pregnancy first time round. However the birth process was not as I'd hoped - ended up being induced at a week over with drip; ended up having an epidural after 6 1/2hrs and only 1 1/2cm dilation - once I'd had the epi was fully dilated in 1 1/2hr; then only 45mins pushing (didn't feel urge to push either) told needed forceps delivery and if not able to deliver with forceps would need c-section. Ended up delivering with forceps praise God but was not ideal and felt "over-ruled" in birthing process by OB.
So am seriously looking into water births, private midwives etc for the next baby. Please would you let me know about your water births, preparation and pro/con arguments and where abouts you live and who to contact to find out about in my state of WA?
Sorry to bombard you but am excited to see someone who's actually gone through this!! :-) I know it's off track of the original discussion...
Many thanks in advance!