FAQ

A prenatal, birth, and postpartum doula is a professional trained in birth support.  Doulas provide informational, emotional, and physical support for pregnant, birthing, and postpartum people and families.

A doula's role is:

• To Care: Provide effective and nurturing support which utilizes brain science to meet the needs of the client and establish trust with the client and any personal support people they want present for the birth. 

• To Comfort: Supply knowledge of the physiologic and hormonal birth process, as well as continuous physical, neurological, and emotional support. 

• To Communicate: Assist the client in discerning their preferences for birth and postpartum and advocate with and for the client to communicate those preferences to their care team. 

• To Collaborate: Work alongside the birthing person, their support person, and their medical team to maximize positive outcomes as defined by the birthing person.

• To Empower: Support the client to be involved in their care decisions as much as the client desires and ensure the client has the information they need before making the best choices for them. 

A doula's role is not:

• Medical: Doulas do not deliver babies, check vitals, listen to baby's heart tones, or provide medical advice or diagnosis. All decisions should be made between the birthing person and their primary care provider. 

• A Replacement: Doulas do not take the place of the birthing person's partner or other personal support people they wish to have involved in their birth. Doulas support and empower the birthing person's support person to be as involved as they desire. 

Read full signature article from Evidence Based Birth about the benefits of having a doula. In short doulas:

• Decrease the risk of cesarean

• Increase in the likelihood of a spontaneous vaginal birth

• Decrease in the use of any medications for pain relief

• Shorten labor

• Decrease in the baby’s risk of a low five minute Apgar score

• Decrease in the risk of being dissatisfied with the birth experience

When:
There is no wrong time. The earlier you hire your doula, the higher likelihood your preferred doula will be available to support you. Doulas have been hired as late as being called while the birthing person is heading to the hospital and as early as getting a positive pregnancy test. 

How:

1. Contact a few doulas. Every doula has their own way of contacting them. To contact Bridget, call/send a text to (608) 618-1311 or send an email (bridgetdoula@gmail.com) with your name and estimated due date. Text is Bridget's fastest mode of communication. 

2. Have an initial consultation meeting. It's a great time to connect, ask questions, and see if the doula you are considering is the right fit for you. Bridget hosts these meetings via Zoom.

3. Hire your doula. This usually means signing a letter of agreement and making a down payment. 

4. Mark your calendar. You and your doula will set up dates of service for prenatal visits. 

5. Communicate. Then you doula knows how, where, and when to best support you.

Bottom line: Yes!
Everyone deserves to be supported in the way they wish, especially during this paramount time of their lives.

I am planning to have an epidural.
YES! Doulas can provide non-pharmaceutical comfort measures during the earlier stages of labor before the epidural is placed and know a lot about different comfort measures and position options after to support you and the physiologic labor process. 

I am planning a caesarian.
YES! In Madison, doulas are welcome to all planned cesarean births at St. Mary's and some at Meriter. Doulas are a support to foreshadow what to expect, be a continuous support for the birthing person while their partner and baby are away from them at the warmer soon after birth, and can support early skin to skin and/or breastfeeding within the operating room, if you wish. Another benefit to having a doula for a cesarean is to be a support to the partner in the minutes before and after the procedure where they would otherwise be all along and separated from their loved one.

I am planning a homebirth OR hospital unmedicated birth.
YES! Doulas are a great addition to your primary care team. They will be a continuous support and have many ways of empowering the birthing person as they cope with the intensity of labor.  Should any partner or other loved ones wish, doulas are also skilled in knowing how to help them support their loved one. 

I did fine without a doula in a previous birth.
YES! Every birth is different and a doula can support you in navigating anything unexpected that you may experience. From the words of a client who was a second time parent: "We finally decided to consider hiring a doula after realizing we wanted more than to just fare “well enough.”

Because we can't predict the future and all birthing people deserve to have the high quality support they deserve, all clients who partner with Bridget will also have a backup doula ready to support them. They will meet their backup doula virtually during one of the prenatal visits and would have them join during their labor/birth should an unplanned circumstance arise (ie: illness, family emergency, etc.). If a backup were at a birth, the client, primary doula and the backup doula will work together to determine the best postpartum follow-up plan to assure continuity of support.