Hiring a doula as part of the process of having a child is growing in popularity, says Cindy Storie-Soth, a doula with a practice in Duncan.
This is because a doula’s focus is to help couples prepare for, and plan, the best possible birth experience; one that reflects their dreams and aspirations for the process.
Many of us are aware of the services offered by a certified midwife. According to the Canadian Midwives website, “midwives provide the complete course of low-risk prenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care, including physical examinations, screening and diagnostic tests, the assessment of risk and abnormal conditions, and the conduct of normal vaginal deliveries.”
But a doula’s main role is to support a couple, father included, in the birthing process, and doula’s often work in coordination with midwives and doctors.
“A doula doesn’t do any medical,” says Elaine Prince, a photographer, life coach, and doula who moved to Lake Cowichan approximately a year ago. “We have knowledge of the birth process, obviously, in order to support the woman, but we’re really there for her physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual comfort.”
And what a doula offers does not just encompass the day of the birth itself; there is a lot of preparation involved, and both Prince and Storie-Soth say they begin working with a couple when the woman is about six months pregnant, although Prince says she has worked with women during all stages of pregnancy.
“I’ve worked with women who have just found out they were pregnant . . . and I’ve had the honour of being present at births where I get a call from the nurse at the hospital saying, I’ve got a 14 year old girl. She’s come in and she has no support.” This is when Prince was practicing in Northern B.C., and she says that in those instances she had to very quickly establish a relationship with these young women, to help them feel comfortable and safe.
“You have to be prepared to be there for the long haul,” she says. “If I make a commitment (to a couple) I clear my schedule for two weeks around the due date.” Including the rare times that labour lasts not hours, but days.
A doula brings in methods and techniques to help the woman relax and to help her partner support her. She helps the couple plan the birthing environment and atmosphere, helps them to understand the progression and stages of labour, breathing and movement techniques, and even goes into post-natal care, addressing things like breastfeeding.
“I think the greatest joy and satisfaction I get is when I can work with a couple and really help them articulate their vision of their birth, and then I am there to kind of support that,” says Prince. “[As a doula] you are the guardian of the birth experience; you get to know the couple, what their vision is and you try and facilitate that to the best of your abilities.”
She adds that there are limitations, such as a medical emergency, and says that she does not get in the way of doctors and midwives, nor does she hinder them playing their role in the process.
But a doula does act as a buffer between mom and the doctors and nurses, making sure that what a couple has planned for their birth, and what the woman needs during labour, are done without the woman having to worry that these details are being taken care of.
“A doula is there to be the person who understands what the woman is going through,” says Storie-Soth. “The support for a mom during labour takes a team.”
“That’s actually my favourite part,” says Prince. “How can I work with the person’s partner so that he, or she, can be really present for that woman and they have a good experience because so often, especially when it’s the second birth, the partner didn’t really have a great experience because they felt left out and very helpless.”
“The support for a mom during labour takes a team,” says Storie-Soth. She says that though some men might be great at working with teams in other aspects of life, such as sport, they often have no idea what to do during labour. Fathers need to learn that though they might be emotionally supportive to their partners, there still needs to be that person who gets the hot towels or ice and it helps for fathers to have a practical grasp on what they can do.
A doula also provides post-natal visits to help a couple adapt, and to answer any questions they might have about their newborn.
Currently, doula services are not covered under the Medical Services Plan, and other than Prince, VIHA was not aware of any other doula’s working out of Lake Cowichan.
Prince is not seeking out clients at this time, but she is open to calls. She charges a sliding rate saying that the total cost for her services can be somewhere between $100 and $500. Prince can be reached by phoning 250-932-7781.
Storie-Soth says that she has not had many clients from in Lake Cowichan or the surrounding area, but she does not feel that the distance from Lake Cowichan to Duncan is a problem. She does offer home visits to Lake Cowichan and charges a sliding scale price with the majority of her clients paying around $550. For more information visit cowichanchildbirth.com.
