Six things you need to know about giving birth

September 30, 2010 Ann Douglas
SPECIAL TO THE STAR

WHAT’S A DOULA?

According to DONA International (www.dona.org)—an international, non-profit doula association—the word 'doula' is taken from the Greek and means “a woman who services.” In modern times, it has come to refer to “a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth; or who provides emotional and practical support during the postpartum period.”

An analysis of 15 studies of doula care by Hodnett concluded that women who are cared for by a doula during labor are 26 percent less likely to give birth by cesarean section, 41 percent less likely to give birth with a vacuum extractor or forceps, 28 percent less likely to use any analgesia or anesthesia, and 33 percent less likely to be dissatisfied or negatively rate their birth experience. Subsequent studies have demonstrated that relationships between mothers and babies improve and that breastfeeding is more likely to occur when a doula is involved at the birth.

BOOK REVIEW

Bearing Witness: Childbirth Stories told by Doulas by Lisa Doran, ND, and Lisa Caron, CD and PCDEND (DONA) (Kingston: Quarry Press, 2010, 245 pages, paperback, $19.95).

Two GTA-area doulas have edited an anthology of childbirth stories told by doulas (professionals who provide continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to women before, during, and after the birth). According to the book's editors, Lisa Doran and Lisa Caron, 80 percent of the doulas who contributed to the collection hail from the GTA.

The collection focuses on “birth through the eyes of a doula.” The book provides powerful insights into the lives of doulas.

Caron explains: “A doula will hang out with you during labour for as long as it takes. We are doulas because we love it—because we're called to do this work. It's a true calling.” - Ann Douglas

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Have strangers been tormenting you with gruesome tales about foot-long episiotomies and babies with heads the size of cantaloupes? Well, my very pregnant friend, this is your lucky day.

There’s some good old-fashioned birthing wisdom coming your way from the contributors to a new anthology, Bearing Witness: Childbirth Stories Told by Doulas.

A doula is one of those birth-world fairy godmothers who acts as your personal cheerleader and runs interference with hospital staff or meddling in-laws, a coach you can hire to be there from the moment you say “That was definitely a contraction!” until you are holding baby in your arms — and beyond, if you need her.

Here are six lessons from the anthology:

Your body doesn’t pay attention to clocks while you’re in labour

Follow your body’s example. Keeping track of how long it’s taking your cervix to dilate fully or how long you’ve been pushing can be an exercise in frustration—and it doesn’t accomplish a thing. Let someone else do your clock-watching for you so that you can focus on other things, like mentally dipping into what doula Jessica Porter calls “the river of relaxation, flowing deep below each of our chattering minds.”

Let your body do its work

Instead of obsessively thinking about what your body is doing, relax and go with the flow. “When (the labouring woman) relinquishes control, she loses concern for planning, organizing, predicting, comparing and judging herself and others,” wrote Heather Mains in the essay “The Art of Giving Birth: The Power of Ritualizing.” It’s smart advice. Do you really want to be using your analytical brain in the middle of a contraction?

Partners need help preparing for the birth, too

We expect them to be mind-readers in the labour room — mind-readers with little practical training. “We’ve allowed partners into the birth room. It is now time to take the next step and include them fully in the preparation for birth,” writes Amanda Spakowski in “The Great Letting Go.” What do partners need to know? Don’t feel like you have to do something to try to make a labouring woman feel better. “Simply being present for her can make her feel supported, even when she’s also coping by howling, rocking, or calling out.”

Your birthing environment does matter — a lot

Giving birth in a place where you feel safe — where you will be supported by people who understand and who will respect your birth philosophies and advocate for your choices — changes everything. The atmosphere in the room has much to do with the people in it. “Mostly it’s my hands and my voice that I use as tools,” writes Lisa Doran in “Bearing Witness.”

“My role is to comfort, to help guide her back to her centre, to support her physically . . . I reassure, I encourage, I massage, I hold, I brush hair, and I wait patiently.”

Birth is a journey you ultimately make on your own

“Being pregnant and giving birth are like crossing a narrow bridge. People can accompany you to the bridge. They can greet you on the other side, but you must walk that bridge alone.” So reads the African proverb that Doran and Caron cite at the beginning of their collection. Because you will be making the most challenging part of your journey on your own, you will want to be well prepared. Talk to other women you trust to share their birth experiences and to recommend their favourite birth books, videos and websites. Once you have a better idea of what the journey will be like, and you have been reassured that countless other women have done it before you, you will be able to anticipate rather than fear what lies ahead

You will be forever changed by the experience of giving birth

“Birth (has) the potential to be completely transformative for a woman, easing her into motherhood with blissful feelings of strength and courage,” writes Stefanie Antunes in “Overcoming the Three-Year-Itch.” That’s why, decades later, women can still recall intimate details about the births of their children and the beginning of their lives as mothers. After all, giving birth isn’t just about having a baby. It’s also about giving birth to yourself as a mother.

Ann Douglas is a journalist and award-winning author of 28 books, including The Mother of All Baby Books. She writes Wednesdays in Living. For more, visit parentcentral.ca or anndouglas.ca