Doulas?

JoniL&DRN · Jun 17, 2005

Thanks BabyRN2b... We have only one hospital that does L&D and it's a pretty small one at that. They do have a birthing room type setting but a bad rep for not being too good when it comes to birth. There isn't even an in-house anethesiologist so no epidurals.. only intrathecals and stadol here! Many women travel 30 minutes to the next largest town.

My grandmother is president of the volunteer board so talking to them shouldn't be too hard! I'm taking my certification course the end of October but I'm worried about the three required births I need to be certified... how did you get yours? I know the woman who teaches the high school that is exclusive for pregnant teens (told you we had a high teen pregnancy rate) I bet she'd let me come do a presentation and offer doula service for free to them. Hm.... now that I think of this I'm totall off the subject of the OP. Sorry. But this a been a good thread for me! Thanks!!

BabyRN2Be · Jun 17, 2005

Joni,

It's great that you have your foot in the door as far as your grandmother being on the volunteer board. Look for a book by Cheri Grant (mine was stolen). The title is something like "Running Your Own practice or Starting a Hospital Practice." Try Amazon. Incidently, Cheri Grant lives in my city and she's the one who started out volunteer doula group.

You have a great idea on how to get your first 3 births. I had to recertify and working as a volunteer, that wasn't really a problem, although I was recertifying during the slowest months in our unit, but I did it! :) All I have to do is write up the essays and send in my $60 to DONA.

If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me. I don't want to hijack the thread but I'd love to help anyone getting started.

Good luck, and you'll do great!

huladancer, ADN, BSN, MSN · Jul 4, 2005

Has any one ever worked with or used a doula for labor support? How did it work out? What did the L&D staff think? What about the docs?
Thank you in advance! :)

Perhaps this is a silly question, but what's a doula??

mitchsmom · Jul 4, 2005

Perhaps this is a silly question, but what's a doula??

http://doulanetwork.com/

http://www.dona.org/

HTH!

AngelMedic · Jul 14, 2005

I am an "old medic"....no longer in the field after a decade. I am now a surgical tech on an O.B. unit, and loving my new medical path! I am also returning to obtain my RN this fall......and next week I am off to doula training. I am shocked to find that 90% of the nurses I am working with discouraged me from going. I tried so very hard to explain that they should want to have someone from their own unit going, rather than someone they are unfamiliar with. I won't be a stranger to them, but a part of their "family". Most remain unwilling to grasp the thought. There's even one nurse who wanted to go with me, but has now changed her mind. Wish me luck as I try to bring this new world to my coworkers!!!

SmilingBluEyes · Jul 14, 2005

Angel: doula training can only help you be a BETTER OB nurse. DO NOT listen to naysayers; follow your heart. MAYBE the others feel threatened. Maybe they don't like doulas; I don't know. But I think you can only enhance your practice as an up-and-coming OB nurse by training as a doula now. GO FOR IT and GOOD LUCK!!!

onehusbandsevenkids · Jul 14, 2005

I am an "old medic"....no longer in the field after a decade. I am now a surgical tech on an O.B. unit, and loving my new medical path! I am also returning to obtain my RN this fall......and next week I am off to doula training. I am shocked to find that 90% of the nurses I am working with discouraged me from going. I tried so very hard to explain that they should want to have someone from their own unit going, rather than someone they are unfamiliar with. I won't be a stranger to them, but a part of their "family". Most remain unwilling to grasp the thought. There's even one nurse who wanted to go with me, but has now changed her mind. Wish me luck as I try to bring this new world to my coworkers!!!

Hmmm...I would be questioning nurses who were so against any furthering of their knowledge base. Do they think they don't have anything left to learn?

I've heard of several whole OB units sending all of their nurses to doula training. I think its an awesome idea.

I think many OB nurses are just threatened by doulas, and lots don't understand what a doula's role or contribution is. And I'm a doula so I see this all of the time. I see alot of "deer in the headlights" looks when a nurse realizes that I'm there. Some are great, don't get me wrong, but I definately think there are still a lot of misconceptions out there about doula's. And then there are the doula's who go outside the scope of practice or just act like fools who give us all a bad name.

Maybe your area has a doula group who could come in and give an inservice?

I say, of course, go for it! The doula training can only enhance your career as an OB nurse.

tntrn, ASN, RN · Jul 14, 2005

I can see if from both sides. Many OB RN's repot the experience of having a doula who didn't know what her role was. If everyone does their own job and work together, it can be great---but when the doula tries to take charge and dictate to the patient and/or the RN, it mesh begins to unravel quickly.

We have one doula who also teaches childbirth classes. I like her a lot, but during a labor, I can't see what, if anything, she actually lent to the experience (since the patient had an epidural and slept most of the time.)

Since she has a family of her own and young children, she's not one who goes postpartum to the home and takes care of things. In this case, I guess I missed the point of having her there.

SmilingBluEyes · Jul 14, 2005

I can see if from both sides. Many OB RN's repot the experience of having a doula who didn't know what her role was. If everyone does their own job and work together, it can be great---but when the doula tries to take charge and dictate to the patient and/or the RN, it mesh begins to unravel quickly.
We have one doula who also teaches childbirth classes. I like her a lot, but during a labor, I can't see what, if anything, she actually lent to the experience (since the patient had an epidural and slept most of the time.)
Since she has a family of her own and young children, she's not one who goes postpartum to the home and takes care of things. In this case, I guess I missed the point of having her there.

not every situation calls for the services of a doula, but as nurses, that is not our decision to make. As long as they do not step outside their scope, we need to work with them and respect the patients' choices to have them present. That is the bottom line.

And doulas can be VERY valuable in many situations. I have seen a good doula make all the difference, particularly for a family choosing natural childbirth. Even our military hospital is offering doula services free of charge for military wives whose spouses are deployed. I think that is wonderful--and very progressive of them. We need to work WITH, not AGAINST one another as health care professionals.

AngelMedic · Jul 14, 2005

Thanks so much for the input everyone!

I work midnites and see many moms come in alone, and I have spent much time with these moms.

I have delivered a few babies in the field (as a medic), and again was the birthing partner there as well, prior to the delivery...when I wasn't able to move them fast enough to get to the closest hospital!

It just breaks my heart to see someone go through all of this by themselves. And since i am a surgical tech, I know there are times when a c/s has to be done (for the health of the mom and the baby), and for the women this may unfortunately happen to, I hope to ease this, and make it more acceptable to them. To help them realize that there may not have been another option. I don't ever want any woman to blame herself if she has to have a section, or needs pain meds or an epidural. I want each one of these women to enjoy their birth experience to the best of their ability....however it may be. I would love to help the moms who truly want the birth to be natural to be able to reach that goal!

I also want to help my coworkers (who are the best group of women, outside the doula acceptance issue) get adjusted to what is a very wonderful new experience....well, relatively new. I think if i can show them how it can be, they can accept this and then when a truly horrid doula comes along, realize how much they enjoy the help a good doula can offer.

I hope this wasn't a huge rambling.

Personally, I had 3 births without anything and 3 with an epidural. Luckily I had none alone. This would have terrified me.

Thanks again!!!

FrumDoula · Jul 15, 2005

We have one doula who also teaches childbirth classes. I like her a lot, but during a labor, I can't see what, if anything, she actually lent to the experience (since the patient had an epidural and slept most of the time.)
Since she has a family of her own and young children, she's not one who goes postpartum to the home and takes care of things. In this case, I guess I missed the point of having her there.

I can tell you as a doula that one of our most important roles is as a continuous presence for the woman in labor. Most of the L&D units have shift changes, right? So maybe a woman has bonded to a nurse, loves her, and then has to deal with the shift change when she's feeling very vulnerable. A doula can help bridge the gap and be a constant presence for the woman and her family.

Also, doulas are great for giving the main support person (husband, boyfriend, mother) a break during labor.

As for using doulas if you have an epidural, I have found that while epidurals may take away pain, they do not always take away anxiety. So the woman can be assisted through her emotions, if not her pain. I had a birth where my client had an epidural, but didn't really relax because of her fear and anxiety. Her nurse was in and out due to all her clinical demands, and when I showed up, the nurse came over to me and expressed her gratitude for my presence. "She kept asking for you, Alison! I don't think she was going to come off the ceiling without you!" I was so touched by that nurses' words.

So doulas can be really helpful during epidurals as well.

Alison