I lied- I finished an article to post today!!!
Well, I finally did it. I finally signed up for my doula courses and finished them. I am a doula. I have wanted to be a part of childbirth since I was 12 years old. It’s my passion and my calling. I still have a long road to travel down, but I think I have taken a pretty good first step.
My courses were through Seattle Midwifery School. (FYI- if you shop Amazon.com, please use this link and a portion of your purchase will be donated to SMS www.seattlemidwifery.org/retail_books.htm)
I was taught by the one and only Penny Simkin. If you don’t know this name, you should. She is famous in my book. A pioneer for women striving to give birth naturally. She has written at least 15 books that I am aware of, as well as co-authored I believe at least 8. She INVENTED the birthing bar, and has attended hundreds of births. Check out her website here:
http://www.pennysimkin.com/
Not only was Penny there, but so was Carrie Kenner who is the founder of Big Belly Services. She is an amazing doula that also teaches Birthing From Within courses (something I’d like to do in the future). If you find yourself pregnant in Seattle and needing childbirth education courses, this is highly recommended-
http://www.bigbellyservices.com/
For those not in the know, a birth doula is a woman that assists women through childbirth, emotionally, and physically. We can offer advice during pregnancy, as well as give further information regarding medical procedures during birth if asked. We can help you in finding the distraction techniques that work best for you during labor, be it massage, acupressure, aromatherapy, breathing, etc etc etc. We know how different positions that can possibly speed up/ slow down labor and can help with that. Doulas on average reduce your risk of cesarian birth by 50%, laboring time by 25%, epidural requests by 60%, oxytocin use by 40% (oxytocin = pitocin. Used to induce labor among other things), as well as reduce your risk of a forceps delivery by 40%. That’s pretty damn amazing.
If you have any questions about doulas, or if you need help finding a doula in your area, please feel free to send me a little message and I’m more than willing to help : )
