A Birthing Hands doula brings a loving, compassionate and experienced touch to a woman's birth experience. Your medical team of doctors, nurses or midwives, are charged with attending to the mother's and baby's health status and their medical needs throughout labor and birth. A doula's presence ensures that the laboring mother and her family fully understand the labor stages, what to expect, and how to communicate with the medical team. She also helps to maintain calm in sometimes emotionally difficult situations. Doulas are trained to provide support, offer soothing comfort techniques to ease labor's discomfort and aid the safe progress of labor, give a caring, yet objective, overview garnered from her experience serving as a birthing care professional. Most important, a Birthing Hands doula never leaves a laboring woman as medical staff must often attend to other patients requiring their medical attention.
2. "How do I choose the doula that is best for me?
The decision and process of hiring a doula may seem overwhelming. But it begins with you and your husband/partner talking about the kind of pregnancy and birth you envision of your selves and the skill sets and experience of the person who will guide through this wonderful period of your life.
The most important considerations in choosing a doula are that she is:
Open to achieving your personal vision of your baby's birth,
Able to comfort and inform you based upon her many birthing experiences, and advanced skills,
Experienced in attending births in hospital, home and birth center settings, and
Skilled to provide support, care and nurturing to women regardless of their medical conditions, birthing choice, or selection of care providers.
Remember—it is never too early to begin looking for the doula who is right for you. We accept a limited number of clients each month and our schedules quickly fill. Plus, there are so many helpful services that a doula can provide early in your pregnancy.
3. How early should a doula be hired and what services does she perform
before the baby is born?
Is is never too early to hire a Birthing Hands doula. We view ourselves as providers of a full range of birth services. During the ante-partum period, we are here to serve as a resource clearinghouse, providing the most current and accurate information on a myriad of topics relating to pregnancy and birth and parenting. We make referrals to other care providers whom we recommend for supplemental services. We offer classes and special events to help prepare you for birth, parenting, breastfeeding and post partum life. Our doulas arrange prenatal home visits with you and your husband/partner to help develop your birth preferences and to formalize your vision for your birth. We keep in contact with you on a regular basis to get an update on your pregnancy and offer advice and suggestions on your current stage of pregnancy. The sooner you retain one of our doulas the longer you have to take advantage of the skills, education, experience, training and compassion of our doulas and experienced staff.
4. Will you "labor sit" with expectant mothers at home or do you meet them at the hospital?
Birthing Hands doulas "labor sit" with you by telephone during early labor until we join you at your home or at the hospital. We provide informational and emotional support on the signs of early labor and strategies for managing labor's discomforts. Doulas coach expectant mothers on the use of various comfort and relaxation techniques; offer nurturing and praise for emotional support; provide information on labor and the birth; reference options and medical procedures available during labor. It is your preference whether a Birthing Hands doula will join you at your home to labor sit once labor is establish or join you at the hospital.
For scheduled hospital procedures, like an induction or a scheduled C-section, Birthing Hands doulas meet the expectant mother at the hospital by the agreed upon time whether night or day.
5. Can I benefit from a Birthing Hands doula if I am considering a medicated birth at a hospital?
Yes. Birthing Hands doulas are beneficial whether you are planning a mediated or un-medicated birth. Our clients make various choices, from using no pain medications; wanting to begin with no medications, but reserving the right to change that decision; to a planned medicated birth. We will provide you with factual information on the various available pain medications, their potential side effects and interventions; discuss these options with you and your husband/partner; and facilitate a dialogue between you and your husband/partner and the hospital staff. It is our goal to not only advise but also to support and champion your decisions. We have an appreciation that birth preferences must have the flexibility to change given the unique birth situations that may develop. We believe the choice of whether to use pain medication or not, is strictly up to the expectant mother. A Birthing Hands doula is present to support your decisions, not to make them for you.
6. What if I have a C-section, can I still use a doula?
Yes. Even in a surgical setting, a doula is there to offer emotional support, facilitate dialogue between the expectant mother and her husband/partner and the hospital staff to ensure calm. She is also there during recovery to help with the first breastfeeding and bonding. With the permission of your doctor and anesthesiologist, your doula may be able to accompany you into the operating room, unless it is an extreme emergency requiring general anesthesia.
7. How does a doula interact with my husband/partner and other family members during the birth?
Birthing Hands doulas understand that the presence of a doula at your birth complements and strengthens a husband's/partner's role and allows participation at a comfortable level. During our pre-natal visits, we ask the husband/partner to tell us how he might feel comfortable during labor. We discuss ways that the husband/partner and the doula can collaborate to support and care for the laboring mother. It's important to know that studies show that husbands/partners usually participate more actively during labor when a doula is present than without one. Your husband/partner and your family bring a loving emotional connection and an intimate knowledge of you that your doula does not have. In combination with your doula's professional expertise, the team creates the very best support system.
8. Are doulas welcomed in the hospital and are medical professionals comfortable with doulas?
Yes. Birthing Hands doulas strive to establish good working relationships with the doctors, midwives and medical staff whose patients we support. We know that open communication, mutual respect, professionalism, and trust creates a birthing team that totally supports a laboring mother. We believe there is never a good reason for creating an antagonistic atmosphere in the labor room. Our doulas are there to support the mother, her husband/partner, and her family. We offer comfort and focus our attention on the non-medical techniques that allow the laboring mother to relax and surrender to her body's natural rhythms.
9. How can I ensure that the doula I hire will be available on the day I go into labor? What are your back-up doula arrangements?
Birthing Hands doulas limit the number of clients we take each month to make sure that we are available when you go into labor. It is our preference that the doula that you originally hired will be the one who supports you. In the event of an emergency, a back-up doula will be there to support you in the same professional and caring manner. Your primary doula will share all of your client history, your birth preferences, and will support you in her place. We take our responsibility as your doula seriously and look forward to your birth. Emergencies happen, but we make back-up plans. Our clients can be assured that a professional Birthing Hands doula will be available them.
10. What happens if the baby is early or late?
When a Birthing Hands doula is hired she is committed to serving as your doula whether your baby is born before or after the estimated due date. If she has been hired as a midwife birth assistant, she is also willing to serve as your doula if it becomes necessary for you to transfer to a hospital setting for your birth due to a pre-term or post-date birth, or a potential medical complication. If your Birthing Hands midwife birth assistant or doula is not available, one of our back-up doulas or midwife birth assistants will be made available.
11. Why should I take childbirth education and preparation classes?
Your journey to motherhood begins with an anticipation of welcoming a healthy baby into the family. We know that the most satisfying birth experiences come about when the expectant mother, her husband/partner and family are physically, emotionally and intellectually prepared for each of the three birthing stages—prenatal, labor and postpartum.
12. Will my health insurance pay for birth doula services? Can I get reimbursed for them or can a doula bill directly?
Currently, approximately 30 health insurance carriers provide for partial or complete third-party reimbursement for doula services. It is, however, the responsibility of the client to pay for doula services and then seek reimbursement from her health insurance carrier.
The Federal Flexible Spending Account is designed to reimburse you for medical and pharmaceutical costs not covered by traditional health insurance carriers. Recently, the Federal Flexible Spending Plan has disallowed reimbursement for birth doula fees, breastfeeding class fees and rental fees for breast pumps. However, it is still possible to receive reimbursement for midwife birth assistant fees.
You may file a reimbursement request for the cost of midwife birth assistant services. Please include with your request a copy of your Birthing Hands invoice and, if required, a copy of the doula's certification document.
