What is a Doula?
The word “doula” is a Greek word that means “servant”. There are three types of doulas:
1. Labor (or birth) doula
2. Postpartum doula
3. Antepartum doula
We offer certified doula services.
A certified labor/birth doula is highly trained to assist the birthing family before labor begins, during labor, and just after the birth of the baby. Labor doulas deliver physical, emotional, and mental support from home to hospital. The following is a list of typical services offered by a labor doula:
- Provides mother/partner vital education and information on birth options
- Helps the woman determine prelabor from true labor and early labor from active labor
- Eases the transition into the hospital environment- Help the environment to be one in which the mother feels secure and confident
- Is an advocate, labor coach, and source of information to birthing mother and family (Labor support specialist)
- Helps mother rest and relax (adds comfort)
- Encourages nutrition and fluids in labor
- Assists her in a variety of useful positions and comfort measures
- Provides support to partner
- Helps with the initial breastfeeding
- Preserves the privacy of the new family during the first hour after the birth to promote family bonding
Labor/Birth Doulas Make a Difference
Having the presence of a doula during labor has shown to reduce:
- Overall cesarean rate by 50%
- Length of labor by 25%
- Pitocin/Oxytocin use by 40%
- Pain medication by 30%
- Need for forceps/vacuum by 40%
- Requests for epidurals by 60%
From the ground breaking book, Mothering the Mother, Marshall H. Klaus, M.D., John H. Kennell, M.D., and Phyllis H. Klaus, M.Ed., C.S.W., 1993
Typically, labor doulas meet with the parents in the second or third trimester of the pregnancy to be acquainted and to learn about prior birth experiences and the history of her pregnancy. A labor doula works cooperatively with the health care team. In the event of a complication, a labor doula can be a great help in understanding what is happening and what options the family may have.
I am a certified Doula and professionally trained. I have had the pleasure of being a doula to over 200 couples. My doula service is flexible and customized to meet your needs. You decide the amount and type of service you want.
Discounted fees for our Bradley and breastfeeding students
Testimonial:
"We signed up for the Bradley class and were looking for a doula for the birth of our baby girl. We learned so much in Gail’s Bradley class and we could tell that she was knowledgeable and had the calm temperament that we were looking for in a doula. It was very important to us to have a natural child birth and the class gave me the confidence to have knowledge about what was about to happen. Having Gail as my doula helped because somebody with experience could help me through the birth, especially if any problems might arise and they did. Having her there also greatly reduced the fear of the birth especially for our first baby. I particularly liked that we had a continuation of care and got to know Gail through the Bradley class so it made us more comfortable to have her there for the birth as well.
In retrospect, even though we learned a lot about a husband coached birth, it would have been very difficult to just rely on my husband to know what to do and to keep the labor moving quickly. As a result of having Gail there, I labored for 8 hours and was able to have a totally natural birth and a healthy baby girl. The post-partum was much more difficult than I thought it would be and it was great to have Gail as a resource to understand what was happening.
I highly recommend these classes and using a doula particularly if you want a natural child birth and especially if it is your first child. We were very happy that Gail was able to provide both of these services for us and we highly recommend her for your birth.
Aloha-
Danalee Corso
Danalee Corso (formerly Danalee Bragado) was an 11 year professional beach volleyball player. She was ranked among the top 10 for most of those years and ranked 15 in the world. Since her retirement in 2003, she has been a national team and professional beach volleyball coach. With her husband, they own Aloha Ball Club, a beach volleyball academy.
