On being a doula

One of the things about being a doula is that not only do you have to actually do the work, but also you have to find the work. You have to find clients. And right now, I think that involves two things:

1. Educating men and women about the effect of having a doula on childbirth.
2. Advertising yourself as a doula.

I think Philadelphia is pretty doula-knowledgeable, at least in the circles that I run. The church that I attend isn't very big, but has several doulas. So people seem to be aware of what doulas are and what they do. In Dallas, I don't feel like that was the case. The labor and delivery "culture," if you will, was more accepting of a medicalized birth where you just did what the doctor said to do, and often planned a c-section for convenience sake.

(NOTE: I am not, or at least not intentionally, criticizing the planned c-section. The pregant woman is the only one who can make the decision about what type of labor and delivery is best for her and her baby, provided she is fully informed about the ramifications of her decisions.)

So, all that to say, part of what I want to do is the educational aspect of "this is what a doula is, this is what she does, and this is how she helps."

Anyway, I've heard that doula work is pretty competitive. And I don't think it is because there are too many doulas, but rather that not enough people are using them because they don't know they need one.

Luckily, I am not the only one spreading the word about doulas.

I read Heather B. Armstrong's blog. You may know her as Dooce. Heather recently gave birth to her second child, Marlo. Her first delivery was augmented/managed, but with Marlo, she decided to go natural and she hired a doula.

Okay, so big deal. Someone had a baby and hired a doula and didn't use drugs. Big deal.

Except that Heather is actually kinda a big deal.

Thanks, Heather, for spreading the word.