Zara's Birth

At only 36 weeks of pregnancy, Tina’s membranes ruptured at 1:00 am, after Tina rolled over in bed. Margo was asleep and Pedro was gone moving bees. Because she was a little concerned that her due date was still a few weeks away, Tina decided she wanted to go to Labor & Delivery to get checked out, so she called Pedro and asked him to come home and called her parents to come stay with Margo. Tina was settled in her hospital room by 3:00 am. She received an IV, and was waiting for contractions to begin. After eating breakfast, we tried a little acupressure, to see if we could get some contractions going. We also walked around the third floor of the hospital, hoping that it would encourage the baby to move down and get ready for birth. We walked and walked and walked. When Tina’s day nurse arrived, she unhooked the IV from Tina’s arm so that she could walk more freely. Meanwhile, Tina continued to leak more amniotic fluid, whenever she felt a contraction.

By 10:00, Pitocin was started in her IV line, as a regular contraction pattern was not starting on its own. Tina requested an epidural at 11:00 am, and the procedure was completed by noon. Tina was hoping to get some rest (Pedro had done a little napping on the sofa in her room), because she had been up for so long, but the excitement of seeing her baby soon made it difficult for her to fall asleep. She was only able to eat liquids at this point, so she enjoyed a vanilla milkshake and a Diet Pepsi. When she was checked by her doctor at 12:30 pm, Tina’s cervix was dilated to 3cm and was 50% effaced. Another check by the nurse at 3:00 showed that she was still at 3 cm, but her cervix was 100% effaced. Her Pitocin was adjusted and in only an hour, with Tina feeling a lot of pressure, she had dilated to 9 cm. It was nearly time to push!

At 4:45 pm, Tina’s doctor arrived to help deliver the baby. Tina had tried a little pushing earlier, and the nurse commented that she was doing an excellent job. Pedro positioned himself above Tina, while she was pushing so that he was able to support her and see the baby be born. Tina worked so hard and did such a wonderful job pushing her baby out. Within fifteen minutes, a little girl was born to much cheering and happiness. She weighed 5 pounds, 5 ounces and was 18 1/2 inches long. She was a tiny, little thing, but very healthy, and her Apgars were 9 and 9.

After much discussion during the day between Pedro and Tina, they settled on the name Zara Gabriela for their beautiful girl. She is a wonderful addition to their family.

Tell Me Your Story

Recently I picked up a copy of Ina May Gaskin's new book, Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, and I was excited to see that the first half of the book was nothing but first-hand accounts of births over the past thirty or so years. It was wonderful to read the different stories from a variety of women, all recounting their very personal experience with birth. Giving birth, however it occurs, is a common experience shared by the vast majority of women -- despite country of origin, religion, size, wealth, age -- it is a tie that binds us mothers together. Most women, if you ask them, can recount, with much detail, the events that took place at the birth of their children. Being able to share a birth story, can bring back those feelings of joy, fear, excitement, anxiety, pride, exhaustion, and exhilaration, allowing us to relive probably the most memorable experience of our lives. When we hear or read others' stories, we learn that birth is different for everyone; no one experiences birth the same way. We learn that women are powerful and magical, that we are, for all intents and purposes, goddesses as we create and bring forth life.

When I was pregnant with my first, I was a birth story junkie. I was hooked on seeking out and listening to and reading about others' birth experiences. I hope to share and link to birth stories through this site, as I continue to learn more about the amazing event of birth. If you would like to share your birth story with me, and have it linked on the sidebar, send me the link via comments or an email.

Services

If you are thinking you might be interested in hiring me to be your doula, please contact me, and we can schedule a consultation face to face. This is at no cost or obligation to you, and it will give us a chance to meet, in person, so you can decide if I am a good fit for you and your family. I encourage all pregnant moms to interview at least three doulas before making a decision.

Once hired, I provide 2-3 prenatal visits. I am also available to you by phone or email to answer questions outside of our appointment times. Some things that we might do during our visits are:

• Map out a birth plan
• Discuss comfort measures that might work for you
• Practice relaxation techniques
• Talk about previous birth experiences and attitudes
• Ask and answer questions
• Pamper you with a hand massage or foot soak

Two weeks before your due date I will be "on call" and ready to go 24/7. As soon as you go into labor, I am able to come and assist whenever you would like. Some moms want help laboring at home, while others want to meet at the hospital. I will stay with you until 1-2 hours after the baby is born, making sure that your needs are attended to before I leave.

We will have at least one post-natal visit in your home within two weeks after the baby is born. This allows us to discuss the birth, and I can answer any questions you might have about breastfeeding, newborn care, sibling adjustment, etc. During that visit I can also assist you with any tasks that you might need help with, so that you are able to enjoy your time with baby.

I am able to attend hospital births in Corvallis, Salem and McMinnville (Oregon) and home births anywhere in the Willamette Valley. If you live outside of these areas, and are interested in hiring a doula, feel free to contact me as I may be available or can refer you to someone who is closer to you. Please email me for information about my rates.

Contact Information

I am able to attend births in the Salem, Albany, Corvallis and McMinnville area.

If you would like more information about how a doula can help you have the birth of your dreams, please email me at sweetpeasdoula@gmail.com.

I promise to get back to you in a timely manner.

Meet the Doula

My name is Amy. I am a 31 year-old mother of two small sons, and the wife of an accountant. In a previous life I was a social worker and a high school counselor. I live in Dallas, Oregon (about 10 miles West of Salem). Through my own experiences of birth, one an interventive, two-day induction and the other a drug-free, natural experience, I developed a passion to work with women, helping them achieve the birth of their dreams.

The first time I heard the word doula was from the childbirth educator who was teaching the class I attended before the birth of my first son. She, herself, worked as a doula, and I just thought it was the strangest thing that anyone would want a complete stranger to attend their birth. When I found myself pregnant again, several years later, and feeling a lot of anxiety about how my second birth might play out, I thought about the prospect of hiring a doula for myself. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made, and I attribute the presence of my doula to helping me achieve the peaceful, natural birth I had dreamed of.

That experience inspired me to pursue doula training through DONA (Doulas of North America) and to learn as much as I can about pregnancy and childbirth. I love to listen to others' birth stories, and I believe sharing our stories can help spread a positive message about birth in our society. I hope to include birth stories on this blog. Please email me at sweetpeasdoula@gmail.com if you would like to learn more about how a doula can assist you in your labor and delivery.

What Is a Doula?

The word doula is derived from Greek and meant a servant (a woman) who attended to other women. The meaning has changed slightly to now mean a woman who assists another woman and her family achieve the type of birth that they desire. Usually a doula meets with the pregnant woman two or three times before the birth so that they can establish a relationship and so that the doula can learn what the woman's desires and wishes are for her birth -- like laboring at home, no interventions, changing positions during labor, massage, holding baby and nursing before baby is taken, etc. Every woman is different in their desires and vision of their birth, and, of course, things can happen that are unexpected, so it is important to play out all scenarios. The main "work" that a doula does comes when the woman goes into labor. The doulas job is to totally support the laboring woman, providing comfort measures, and also to support the mother's partner in fulfilling his role as a support person, as much as he feels comfortable. A doula is knowledgeable of different laboring positions, relaxation techniques, and the general physiology of birth, so that the mother's experience during labor will be improved and she will usually have a shorter labor and pushing stage. Usually a doula will stay with the family for one or two hours after the birth, to make sure everyone is settled and that breastfeeding has been established. Two post-partum visits in the home are arranged in order to check in on mom, to see how she is adjusting, and to also debrief the birth with her.

Doulas are not medical personnel. I am not trained to deliver a baby or do vaginal exams. My job is to work with the medical team (nurses, doctors, midwives) to help the mother achieve the birth she desires. I am also not there to replace the mother's partner. I know some women who have spouses that really want to be intimately involved in all aspects of the labor and delivery, desiring to be the mother's primary labor coach. That's great. The doula would then be there in a secondary capacity, maybe providing suggestions for laboring positions, providing refreshment, helping to keep mother comfortable, and allowing the partner to take breaks as needed. Some men feel very overwhelmed by the whole experience, and wouldn't even know where to start. Seeing their spouse in pain can be very stressful for some men, and the doula is there to assume a primary role, including the partner to the degree that he desires to be. All of these things would be discussed ahead of time.

Doulas are not just for women who desire an unmedicated birth. Some women may go into a birth knowing they want an epidural, others may not be sure. Just because a mother receives an epidural, doesn't mean that she doesn't need encouragement and support. She may still need an advocate or her spouse may need his own support. A lot of first-time moms aren't sure what to expect, so it is nice to have someone there to support in every type of scenario. Some women even hire doulas when they have a planned cesarean, simply because there is a lot going on at the birth, and usually mother and baby are separated for a short while, causing the partner some conflict about who to stay with. Doulas can be there to continue their support of the mother, when the father goes with the baby, and assist in breastfeeding, immediately after mother and baby are reunited.

The cost of a doula varies by where you live and is usually based on cost of living. When I initially looked at hiring my own doula, I didn't think that there was any way that we could afford it, but we went ahead and did just because I had been feeling so much anxiety. Afterwards, my husband said that he would gladly have paid double the price, just because of how wonderful our doula was and how instrumental she was in helping both of us through the process. Please read Charlie's Birth Story if you would like to learn more about how my doula assisted me during my labor and delivery.

Statistically, doulas are proven to reduce cesarean rates by 50%, epidurals by 60%, the use of Pitocin by 40%, the need for a forceps or suction delivery by 30%, and women who use a doula have been shown to have a labor that is 25% shorter than women who don't (this was taken from the book Mothering the Mother). Those are pretty good statistics. If you are interested in finding a doula in your area, check out DONA's (Doulas of North America) website. They have a listing of all certified doulas by state and then city.

Welcome to Sweet Peas!

Welcome! I have decided to create this blog to document my profession as a doula, while also opening up a forum to discuss a variety of topics related to pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding and parenting. Information is power when it comes to developing ideas about how we want our own birth and parenting experiences to be like, and I think that everyone should feel empowered and confident to make the decisions that will be best for their own family. I named my business after the pet names I have for my two little boys, John and Charlie. They are my inspiration for all of the birth work that I do.

Check back soon to read more about what doulas do and about what services I provide.