Any doulas out there? Midwives?

[lavendardawn]

Greetings,

I am going back to school for my RN and then getting my Masters in Midwifery through Frontier. I am a doula that is looking to get active again, be my own boss youknow. Looking for any one, especially Phoenix metro area, to network with.

[erinm]

I'm not a doula or a midwife, but I've always been fascinated with what they do.

If you don't mind my asking a few questions, but what's frontier, and how did you become a doula?

[lavendardawn]

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I became a doula back home in the Bay Area. I took training through Birth & Bonding International in2000. I love being in the birthing world no matter what I do, but my ultimate goal is to become a midwife. Frontier is a well known accredited distance learning program for either Masters in Midwifery or Family nurse practioner. The program is excellent because you can work study around your own personal schedule and they teach you how to open your own birth center which the Black community needs more of. Please feel free to ask me anything else you like. Here are the company websites if you are interested in finding out more.

Frontier (http://www.frontier.com)
www.Birth (http://www.birthandbonding.com) and Bonding International

[southernbelle]

I’m not a doula but I just finished working on a grant proposal with a hospital to implement a doula program at my health center. It sounds like an interesting concept.

If you are looking for “work,” I would suggest contacting community health centers or local community hospitals. From the gist of what I gathered, it appears that doula services are targeted toward low-income women so it would be helpful to get in touch with health care providers serving this population.

[vonshair]

I am sooooo interested in doing this! Im a medical assistant now, i wanted to go to school to become a midwife. Can u explain to me what the whole doula experience is all about? Give examples about what u have to do with one client? Just any detail u can give lol. I want to become a labor doula.

thanks!! :)

[charli]

When I had a doula, she was actually referred by my Bradley instructor. It might be an idea to look into teaming up with Certified Nurse Midwifes or people who teach childbirth classes.



I’m not a doula but I just finished working on a grant proposal with a hospital to implement a doula program at my health center... From the gist of what I gathered, it appears that doula services are targeted toward low-income women so it would be helpful to get in touch with health care providers serving this population.

Now THAT'S an interesting concept and I have never heard of doula's being for low income women. In my situation doulas were not part of insurance coverage (because they aren't medical providers) and so must be paid for out of pocket, so I had come to associate doulas with people who were not low income.

[southernbelle]

Originally posted by charli@Mar 17 2004, 08:24 PM
When I had a doula, she was actually referred by my Bradley instructor. It might be an idea to look into teaming up with Certified Nurse Midwifes or people who teach childbirth classes.



I’m not a doula but I just finished working on a grant proposal with a hospital to implement a doula program at my health center... From the gist of what I gathered, it appears that doula services are targeted toward low-income women so it would be helpful to get in touch with health care providers serving this population.

Now THAT'S an interesting concept and I have never heard of doula's being for low income women. In my situation doulas were not part of insurance coverage (because they aren't medical providers) and so must be paid for out of pocket, so I had come to associate doulas with people who were not low income.
Actually, you are also correct. During one of our meetings, it was stated that some doulas get paid a decent penny from women who can afford them.

However, there is an underserved population of women who often times have to go through labor alone. Plus, in some cases the women are new immigrants to this country which complicates matters even more. In the case of my health center and this hospital, we are focusing the doula program on low-income, immigrant women. And from the literature the nurse midwife brought in it appeared that a lot of health centers/organizations are adding doula programs to support women w/o stable resources during the birthing process.

[charli]

However, there is an underserved population of women who often times have to go through labor alone. Plus, in some cases the women are new immigrants to this country which complicates matters even more. In the case of my health center and this hospital, we are focusing the doula program on low-income, immigrant women.

Oh I definitely feel you on the neccesity of that. So I can definitely understand why you would propose such a program.

However, I have this one question for you:

Being that OBs often have the highest malpractice risk and are in a highly risky area of medicine (in terms of their likelihood of getting sued and losing), how does a medical facility plan to offer the services of a non-licensed, non regulated, non medical professional while mitigating their liability?

I'm not being argumentative, I'm just wondering how they plan to do it.

[lavendardawn]

Wooo...there's a lot of great conversation going on with this topic! To answer a few questions if I may.

1. A doula is CERTIFIED once she completes the necessary requirements set by her program (i.e. Birth & Bonding International, ALACE, DONA). Doulas do not do any medical procedures, we offer physical, emotional, and psychological support to women (families) before, during and after labor. I have supported women in many different capacities. For example: you educate women on how to make their OWN CHOICES by giving them all the information on prenatal test, breastfeeding, breathing, ridding of stress, immunizations, etc. During labor I touch, breath with, complement, and help women remember their "birth plan" although birth is never predictable. We make sure women are breastfeeding comfortably/properly, baby's bowels moving alright. So we have a lot of medical knowledge but we dont deliver the baby.

2. Doulas can charge for their services, sliding scale usually. It is totally up to the woman. There are very few doulas hired through hospitals that I know of because it is often a much different belief system. I have worked in community health settings volunteering my time to low income women because I want them to have a safe health birth experience too. Especially Black babies, because the mortality rate is drastic.

3. Some insurance companies are beginning to pay for doula services but you have to complete a certain form to find out.

Hope that helps with some of your thoughts. I am lovin this. Bring on anymore questions please.

[southernbelle]

@ charli-that is a good question and lavendardawn answered it well. Our doulas do not perform any medical procedures but provide emotional and support services. I am wondering if this differs by program though.

What type of services did your doula provide?

[lavendardawn]

There shouldnt be any doulas that perform medical practices because that would be a real problem no matter what program. Of course we doulas know a lot of the same things doctors know as far as pregnancy growth and postpartum. But you know the many politics involved with the medical field. Its all about paperwork and certifications, not always the knowledge and skill first.

[NikkiG]

I considered getting a doula for my first pregnancy but didn't end up following through. My birthing instructor spoke highly of them and many other moms that I talked to had one or spoke of wanting one. I think the main reason my birth instructor even mentioned the doula was because I told her I wanted a natural non invasive childbirth. The doula would provide much needed support to the mother and the family and act as a liason to get your birth plan followed through. Many times, births are very medical, sterile and invasive. You must be monitored, made to lie in only one birthing position and so on. I believed doulas were a little more non traditional in the sense that were most concerned with natural births and a less medical approach. I think doulas are becoming much more requested as more mothers take their births more into their own hands and not just what the doctors tell them. Just as an aside, my health care providers (i.e. doctors) did not like the ideas of doulas. I often heard them speak lowly of them and what they provided. Some of these same doctors did not support breastfeeding, birthing in various positions or many other practices. One way to see how traditional your doc is to mention that you have a doula. I've found many have a strong opinion one way or another. Incidently, the doc that bad mouthed the doulas I dropped from his patient list.

Nikk

[lavendardawn]

Exactly Nikk,

Our goals as doulas is to do just that: encourage the natural childbirth the woman wants and support her. Many doctors do not like doulas because I think they realize the empowerment they create in women. Teaching women to take their power back and not just lie there being a yes sir, yes ma'am kinda person. If you look at the history of birthing, it began with midwives, elder women of the community. Then men start to place standards and regulations on it claiming that midwives were uneducated and that to many deaths were occuring. That is how we got to where we are today, society saying that birth should be one way and using many scare tactics. This same thing is beginning to occur in the doula world too, but that is another long story. Dont get me wrong, medical intervension is a great thing, but for emergency situations what it was designed for.