Birth is an instinctive process that is outside the logical scheduled world that we live in. Birth is a primal process which moves along more smoothly if you can shut down your conscious mind and let your instincts take over.
The rules of social interaction, which have been ingrained from childhood, can have a strong influence on a woman in labour, preventing her from letting her body yield to the powerful instincts which are at work to help her birth her child. A woman might subconsciously remember that she was taught not to expose herself in public, which may make her tense up and fight against her body which is working to open her cervix. This may prolong labour.
A woman in labour is vulnerable. She is at the mercy of the hormone cocktail pulsing from her brain to her body. This labour cocktail causes uterine muscle contractions, which act like waves which sweep her up to a crest and then down again, each time getting closer and closer to the goal which is birth of her baby. These hormones work best when the woman mentally withdraws from her surroundings and ingrained social training and surrenders to the waves instead of trying to fight against them.
Unfortunately, it is often difficult for modern women to go into labour and immediately get in touch with our instinctive birthing skills. Because many of us don’t use instinct in our day to day lives, in fact we often suppress it, it takes time and work to learn how to get in touch with our skills.
Part of preparation is understanding the mechanics of birth and how labour works on your body, and then learning techniques for coping with what’s happening. There are many different labour coping methods, it’s just a matter of finding out what works for you.
Some women can do this on their own, but others find it helpful to have face to face preparation with someone who understands the process and has been there before, such as a doula.
Doulas have usually experienced birth themselves and have undergone extensive training in birth education, especially in helping you to get in touch with your innate birthing skills. Doulas also support you through your labour and birth.
Doulas are not midwives and don’t perform medical checks, but their function is to support you and provide comfort measures as needed. They perform labour massage, keep up your energy with small snacks and drinks, physically support you in labouring positions and keep your environment as comfortable as possible.
A woman who is well prepared for labour and knows she has a reliable support team with her will be more able to relax and let her body work.
It’s important to note that a doula is not there to take the place of your partner, who will always have a very important part to play in emotionally supporting you. A doula can be very useful in helping to prepare your partner for the experience of labour.
There have been several studies done about the benefits of having a doula at birth. These show that women who have had a doula experienced:
- 50% less cesarean births
- 40% reduction in the use of forceps
- 60% fewer requests for epidurals
- 40% reduction in the use of synthetic oxytocin to either induce or augment labour
- 30% reduction in the use of pain medications in labour
- 25 % reduction in the length of labour
- 51% increased rate of breastfeeding past 6 weeks postpartum
Women who had a doula also had higher self-esteem, less anxiety, and fewer instances of postpartum depression.
Support of a woman and partner during the process of pregnancy, labour, birth and new parenthood is something that is often undertaken by members of a woman’s family.
In modern society, it is becoming common for women to be living separated from their families either by distance, or by family estrangement. So many new parents find themselves feeling isolated.
Doulas cannot take the place of close family but they are caring individuals who have helped many new parents to feel supported and cared for during these major life changes.