LONG BEACH, Calif.—LONG BEACH, Calif.—The Doulas Association of Southern California (DASC) met recently to hold their Seventh Annual Awards Banquet celebrating the many people involved in the birth community.
Probably the most encompassing description of a doula would be a “mother’s mother.” In history, it has been women supporting women in childbirth.
According to the DASC website, a doula in today’s world is a trained and experienced woman who accompanies a new mother through birth and/or the postpartum period, offering emotional support, physical comfort, practical assistance, and non-medical care, she helps moms and newborns during pregnancy, the birthing process, and thereafter as requested by the family.
The Celebration
Speaking at the event, Ms. Tracy Hartley, a certified birth doula since 1996 and the DASC membership director said, “The original goal of DASC was to educate doulas in the area and to help them network with each other, so that we can support women with childbirth and their newborn. It’s about education and networking. I have been a member for 14 years. I think we are accomplishing [our goal].
“Tonight we are here to honor all of the child birth community: the professionals who work with childbirth, including doctors and nurses, and we also have an anesthesiologist here who was nominated tonight.
“We also have lots of obstetricians and a lot of doctors that have come over the years, especially when they are supportive of what we are doing in helping women have babies.”
Ms. Hartley explained how working in collaboration with the hospitals has improved care giving. “When a doctor sees a woman come into the room that is 8 or 9 centimeters [dilated] and is serene and sensible and has not had any pain medication, I have had doctors tell me that they have never seen this before. Sometimes, I will make a suggestion in a situation and the doctor will say, ‘Oh, I have never thought about that.’ So I think that on a one-to-one basis, we are teaching the doctors and medical staff by letting them see what can be accomplished just by a simple human touch, by comforting words, and supporting the women. I’ve had many doctors and nurses really change the way they do their jobs after watching doulas at work.”
Regarding the number of members and interest in DASC, Ms. Hartley said, “DASC is really changing and growing. We now have about 250 members; mostly doulas, but we do have midwives, educators, and doctors as members, and other members of the community. I do think we are growing and bringing more people in from the birth community and I’d love to see us do even more.”
Dr. Elliott Berlin, DC, a local chiropractor was also one of the speakers. “I’ve been practicing for almost seven years. Tonight I’m here to celebrate the seventh Annual Awards Banquet,” he said.
Dr. Berlin continued, “The banquet is to celebrate all the diverse efforts of the Culver birth community, the diversity of care givers, nurses, obstetricians, pediatricians, midwives, childbirth educators, and doulas—everybody who supports women and their families through pregnancy, labor, delivery, and post partum—and help them break into the environment of hospitals with the natural process, which is unknown [to too many].”
Regarding the changes in the process using doulas and others, Dr. Berlin said, “For myself, we had our first natural birth baby in 2004, right around when I found DASC. Before, we would go to the hospital and let them take care of it from there. We didn’t know any more than that. When we talked to the doulas and saw what they were doing, we learned a lot more about going ourselves as a couple to support each other and with the doulas, and things were all done naturally. Many of these [medical] interventions have become medical excesses. [Now] with the help of the doulas, those births have become beautiful experiences doing it all naturally.
“In the six years I’ve been here, I have seen the growth, with more and more obstetricians who are going above and beyond to support women in their training … more and more are joining us here and learning the facts. You don’t want to medicate people if they don’t need it. We see more and more women who are now able to help [as doulas].”
He discussed how many medical teams are able to accept doulas’ suggestions in a non-confrontational way to help the patients. The doulas discuss how doctors are used to looking for warning signs they have studied, and doulas can help them understand the natural process and consider other approaches without medical intervention. Many medical teams are now working closely together with the doulas, accepting them as members of the team.
Natural Doula Assisted Childbirth and Medically Assisted Childbirth
Natural childbirth has some distinct and validated benefits for both mother and child.
1. Doulas often use the power of touch and massage to reduce stress and anxiety during labor. According to physicians Marshal Klaus and John Kennell, massage helps stimulate the production of natural oxytocin. The pituitary gland secretes oxytocin to the bloodstream, which causes uterine contractions and also secretes it to the brain. This results in a feeling of well being, drowsiness, and a raised pain threshold. Synthetic IV oxytocin cannot cross into the blood stream and brain, so it increases contractions without the positive psychological effects of naturally released oxytocin.
2. More alert mothers and infants. In the world of mammals, the newborn immediately knows to approach its mother and her udders for bonding and nourishment. This is actually the case for newborn human babies. Some doulas will place the infant on the mother’s stomach and the infant will actually move toward the mother’s voice and breasts and start to suckle.
3. Some doulas have training in hypno-birthing, which adds another factor for reducing pain and stress, thus enhancing relaxation. One study on the American Pregnancy Association (APA) website showed that delivery times are reduced by 25 percent compared to medicated pain relief regimens.
4. Another study cited by the APA reports that caesarian births are reduced by 50 percent when doulas assist in the birth.
5. Bonding before birth. There are a number of reports promoting communication with unborn children through touch, gentle talking, music, etc. It is clear the children are cognitive and alert in the womb. This is a good time to consider positive interaction between family members during pregnancy.
6. Fathers are given the chance to be involved before birth and during delivery to bond with the baby.
1. From the American Pregnancy Association website (http://www.americanpregnancy.org/labornbirth/havingadoula.html), first study cited is A (in point 3), second is B (point 4):
A - Hodnett ED, Gates S., Hofmeyr G.J., Sakala C. Continuous Support for Women During Childbirth. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.(3) CD003766, 2003.
B - Klaus, M., Kennell, J., Klaus, P. Mothering the Mother. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1993.
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