Jan 30 2008
Ask a Doula
What is a Doula?
The word, “doula,” comes from the Greek word for the most important female slave or servant in an ancient Greek household, the woman who probably helped the lady of the house through her childbearing. The word has come to refer to “a woman experienced in childbirth who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to the mother before, during and just after childbirth.” (Klaus, Kennell and Klaus, Mothering the Mother)
A doula…
- Recognizes birth as a key life experience that the mother will remember all her life…
- Understands the physiology of birth and the emotional needs of a woman in labor…
- Assists the woman and her partner in preparing for and carrying out their plans for the birth…
- Stays by the side of the laboring woman throughout the entire labor…
- Provides emotional support, physical comfort measures, an objective viewpoint and assistance to the woman in getting the information she needs to make good decisions…
- Facilitates communication between the laboring woman, her partner and clinical careproviders…
- Perceives her role as one who nutures and protects the woman’s memory of her birth experience.
Having a doula can truly change your birthing experience. I encourage all moms-to-be to look at hiring a doula.
Each month I have a conversation with a doula and asking her YOUR questions. Whether you want to ask questions about hiring a doula, what a doula does, what to expect from a doula, how to find a doula, or anything about the birthing process please feel free to take advantage of these candid conversations by asking your questions in the comments section.
I will take your questions to our conversation so you can get your answers. I will post the podcast of our conversation on the site so you can listen at your convenience.
Jackie Lee 
IF you have a pressing question that can’t until the conversation please feel free to send me a message and I will get you an answer as quickly as I can.
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[...] Ask a Doula [...]
I am about 22 weeks pregnant and when I had my ultrasound at 20 weeks they said that she was very breach. I am really nervous about this. Should I start to try and trun her now, or wait until my mid-wife trys to turn her.