doula's in Canada (bit long winded)

[clairemarie70]

hi, i live in Saskatchewan..i have come here from the UK and used to work on a maternity ward..we did everything a midwife did apart from give drugs and deliver babies (although i did deliver one)...we took care of women after c-sections, before and after delivery..assisted with instrumental deliveries and suturing...i was also classed as one of the midwifes as normaly when a women was about to give birth a midwife would want another in with her but if i was there supporting the mother during labor i would stay and help out..or be called into the room to assist...i worked in this fast paced environment for over 4 years...i have also been to college and have a-levels in healthcare...since moving to Saskatchewan i have realised that this type of job doesnt exsist and that midwives round here have only just gone into the hospitals...my only hope of doing the job that ive always loved is to train to be a LPN or RN...the only uni near me is 2 hours away and i have 4 kids to think about...so the next best thing for me is to be a birth doula..i have bags ofcompassion, experience and knowledge...i do feel though that the hospitals in Canada keep there maternity units locked away from anyone trying to get a career in this field except for those that have a licence..(just from personal experiences ive had here with my enquiries)...anyway i would love to here from anyone that has any experiences or knows of any doula's that would be able to give me advice on getting started...also how the nurses view a doula being in the delivery room..thanks Claire

[Fiona59]

Doula training programmes do exist in Canada. They act only for the mother during the L&D process. As far as I know they are NOT permitted to administer any medications nor would they be permitted to assist with sutures, etc.

The mother to be has to hire the doula as the services are not covered by provincial healthplans.