Baby
Jaqulynn Born March 19 2009
Baby
Taha Jan 31st 2009
So like I said in my previous post I am a birth
doula.... Some of you may be scratching your heads and thinking What the heck is a
doula....
A
doula is an assistant who provides non-
medical and non-
midwifery support (physical and emotional) in childbirth. Depending on training and experience they may offer prenatal support,
childbirth (birth
doula) and/or
postpartum. A labor
doula may attend a home birth or during labor at home and in transport to a hospital or a birth center. A
postpartum doula provides home care for the first six weeks (or longer in cases of postpartum depression) including cooking, breastfeeding support, newborn care assistance, errands and light housekeeping.
I
absolutely LOVE my job as a
doula and feel honored that families allow me to be a part of the birth of their baby but also their own birth into parenthood
I have attended a number of births already but I will give you a brief story on a few of the births I have attended!!!
The first birth I am going to tell you about was my very first birth I attended as a
doula.
Baby Taha
It all started on Saturday morning Jan 31st 2009 when the phone rang at 7:30 am.
Tahas mommy called me saying that she though her water had broken and that she wanted me to come and check. I got there at about 8 am and her contraction
s were already 2 - 3 min apart. We discovered that there was Maconium in the fluid ( baby had a poop inside ) so we left for the hospital right away. We got to the hospital by about 9 and she was already 4 -5 cm dilated. we got her all admitted and her Dr. came to check her progress and already at 8 cm. All the while I gave lower counter pressure on her lower back and encouraged her through every contraction. Half an hour later the was fully dilated and ready to push. She pushed for 30 min and little Taha came into the world and is very healthy and you can of course see VERY cute :)
This story is a little different as I was partnering another
doula with this birth.
On the morning of March 19 2009 I got a call from the other
doula that our client was having contractions that were already 5 min apart so we quickly got ready and met at our clients home. Sure enough her contractions were very close together and she was having to really work through them so we got everyone all together and went to the hospital.
When we arrived She was 7 cm dilated and 100% effaced and I have never seen such a calm labor. She requested gas and used that as her tool to concentrate through each contraction. all of a sudden she let out a hard grunt and I said to the nurse "I think she is pushing". the nurse lifted the covers and there was a head emerging but the amniotic sac hadn't ruptured.
This is referred to as "being born in the
caul." The
caul is harmless and its membranes are easily broken and wiped away. In
medieval times, and in some cultures still today, a
caul was seen as a sign of good fortune for the baby, even giving the child
psychic gifts such as
clairvoyance, and in some cultures was seen as protection against drowning.
the Ob wanted to rupture the sac but I mentioned it will break on its own and sure enough it did ans the OB looked at me like how did you know :)
she was very healthy and a full head of hair
the next story is of a friend of Dean and
I .
Lisa called me and was a little unsure about what she was feeling and so we talked on the telephone for a few hours as I
assessed her symptoms and I determined that it could be early labor. as the night went on I could her a little bit of worry in her voice and so I offered to be her
doula.
Lisa accepted and we met at the hospital... When we arrived to the birthing unit she was only 1 cm dilated and the nurse gave us the option to either go home and wait a few more hours or go and walk around for an hour and come back to see if there was any change.... We chose to walk because it seemed when she was moving around her contractions were
coming really strong and regular.... so we walked up and down the hall.... we went back after the hour and got checked but not much change took place and the nurse again gave us the option to go home.... Lisa really didn't want to go home again since there was no ride for her to go home then back to the hospital again so we stayed there and Lisa got a shot of
morphine... I told her that she should go sit in the shower on a birth ball to help open her pelvis and the water would help the pain. she was in there for about 3 hours and then she was feeling quite tired and she decided she wanted to lay down for a while....
The nurse came to check her and we were all
surprised to hear she was 8 cm... about an hour later she said it was really hurting and the nurse looked and she was starting to crown... and again her sac hadn't ruptured.... she was born after 3 pushes and was quite small and didn't really want to cry too much.... whey took the baby to the
NICU for
observation because they figured the
morphine what what caused her to be lazy after about 2 hours they brought her back to mommy and they were all fine
If any of you are interested in
doula care or want to know more let me know
