It’s important to find the right doula for you - to help you see if your and your potential doula’s views align and to avoid confusion later on, these questions can help you get that clarity:
What/who inspired you to enter this field of work?
Are you a certified doula?
What certifications do you hold?
How long have you been a doula?
How many births have you attended?
What types of births have you attended (home birth, hospital, birth center)?
Have you provided doula services for other women who have worked with my obstetrician? What was it like?
Have you provided doula services for other women who have given birth at the hospital I’m planning to give birth at? What was it like?
Are you available around the time of my birth?
Do you have other clients due around the same time?
How do I get in touch with you when I need help or support?
How do I get in touch with you when labour begins—are you always on call? When and where will you join me?
If you are unavailable when I go into labour, do you have backups?
Who is your backup doula? Can I meet the person who would serve as back-up?
What is your philosophy on childbirth? (Make sure your birth preferences are compatible with her practices and beliefs.)
What techniques will you use to help me move through labour?
How long will you stay with me after labour?
What happens if I need a C-section?
Do you provide postpartum services? Do you have experience helping nursing mothers?
What is your fee and refund policy? What does it cover?
Are there any possible extra costs that I should know about now?
Do you accept alternative payment arrangements?
May I please have the names of some women you have worked with recently and who would be willing to share their experience for reference purposes?
Physicians, midwives and nurses all play their own important part in the clinical health of the mother and baby. Doulas compliment this care by providing non-medical care. While most people think they have similar functions, doulas and midwives actually have different training, duties, and certifications. A doula and a midwife offer different types of services.
Both doula and midwife support the childbirth experience. They are at the labouring mother’s side. They bring a spirit of connection that includes all the members of the childbearing family in the big event.
A doula differentiates herself from a midwife in the following way:
Doulas are not healthcare practitioners. They do not have medical training and cannot replace a midwife or doctor, but rather add additional services.
Doulas “mother the mother.” They are trained individuals who can provide continuous mental, physical, and emotional support for the labouring mother.
They have deep wisdom, comfort and encouragement to offer.
They serve as educators, advocates and cheerleaders for the labouring mother.
They look for ways to make the mother feel comfortable.
They can guide the labouring woman in breathing, relaxation, movement and positioning.
Doulas inform the couple about their birth options and help them identify their preferences.
Doulas act as a link between the mother and the medical care team. They keep lines of communication open between them.
They help families get the answers to their questions so they can make informed decisions about their care.
They not only focus on the needs of the mother but also on the needs of the childbearing family.
They try to keep the family calm.
They involve the partner to labour and birth at the levels they are comfortable with.
They assist families in gathering information about the course of their labour.
A midwife’s characteristics on the other hand are:
Midwives have medical training and during the birth process, focus on delivering a healthy baby.
Midwives can anticipate problems and do continual assessment on the mother and baby.
Certified nurse-midwives can do many of the same things as doctors, including:
Perform gynaecological exams
Provide prenatal care
Administer pain medications
Give labour-inducing drugs
Monitor the fetus using electronic equipment
Order an epidural
Perform an episiotomy
Deliver a baby vaginally
Resuscitate a baby
Stitch tears
Work with you and your family to manage your physical, social, and mental care throughout your pregnancy and afterward
Provide personal counselling and education
Be at your side to help during your entire labour and delivery, not just the birth if possible
Help you give birth with less technology and sometimes fewer medications
Refer you to an OB or other specialist if you need more medical attention at any time
It is important to find the right doctor who can accompany you on this life-changing journey. Finding someone who is not only medically knowledgable but also makes you feel comfortable and understood is not easy, but there are ways you can probe whether or not you and your potential doctor have matching perspectives. Below are ten questions you can ask your prospective doctor to help you find your match:
Will you or your assistants attend my birth?
How often will I have check-ups with you?
How do you want me to reach you if I have any questions or concerns?
If my baby is not head-down, do you still support vaginal birth? (E.g. How experienced are you with breech births?)
Do you have any routine interventions during labour and/or birth?
Do you recommend an epidural? If yes, when (at what stage) do you usually administer it?
I have had a C-section before, do you support VBAC (=Vaginal Birth After C-Section)?
At which hospitals do you deliver? What is your relationship with them?
If I go past my due date, what are your recommendations for the next steps? How long are you going to wait before starting labour or delivery?
What’s your view on having a doula?
These questions should give you an understanding of whether or not your preferred way of giving birth is aligned with the medical practice of a particular doctor. They will also give you an idea of whether or not the doctor is experienced in different types of births, whether he/she respects your wishes when it comes to the way you want to deliver and whether he/she has preferred medical ways of delivering, such as for example delivering by C-Section, which is very common in Turkey (more than half of all births are via C-Section).
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