This article in the New York Times really dissed the whole idea of hiring a doula, so I thought I would chime in with a Defense of the Doula.
QUOTE:

“Then “she urged my husband and me to take a shower to ease the pain,” Ms. Myers said. “I told her I didn’t want to, but she was adamant.”

Dripping wet, freezing and in bone-shattering pain, Ms. Myers said she seethed in silence. When she ultimately chose an epidural, her doula walked out. “She was so set on my having a natural birth, she offended me, she offended the nursing staff, she offended my O.B.,” Ms. Myers said.

In an era of nurse shortages and high Caesarean rates, doulas and lactation consultants can be godsends for many women. Indeed, multiple studies show that a doula’s presence during childbirth leads to shorter labor, less medical intervention and a happier experience.”

“But the increased popularity of doulas and lactation consultants has also led to more conflict — not only with parents but doctors and nurses as well.”
Conflict with doctors and nurses….hmmmmm… seems like this is the big issue….
As well it should be. When doulas cut down on epidural use, interventions, and overall use of medicine and surgery during birth, the financial bottom line is being affected. A single mother all alone is so easy to manipulate into interventions, and a Mom with an uneducated husband or boyfriend who just wants his sweetheart to make it out alive is especially easy to bully into the OR.

Continue reading “Whither the Doula?” →