doula program

Massage doula: a massage therapist who has completed pregnancy massage certification and who has also earned a certification as a labor assistant. The word "doula" comes from the Greek word meaning "servant" or "handmaiden" and is used to describe someone who assists a woman through labor by providing 1) physical comfort, 2) emotion support, and 3) information.

During Pregnancy: Safe, drug-free relief of aches & pains, reduce swelling, ease pressure on the sciatic nerve, learn relaxation skills for labor, prepare your body for delivery, assist circulation, release emotional tension, improve sleep patterns. The doula will also help you write your ideal birth plan, teach helpful exercises for a easier labor and give valuable information.

During Labor: Shorten length of labor, reduce need for pain medications or epidurals, reduce the need for pitocin, reduce the need for forceps & vacuum extraction, reduce the need for c-sections, dramatically increase your odds of a natural labor, most importantly improve the health of your baby! The doula will massage areas of tension, help the mother remain in control of her body and labor, help get any items, explain in detail anything that needs to and most important make sure that everything that can goes to your ideal birth plan.

Postpartum: Restore muscle tone to abdomen, stimulate the uterus to return to its pre-pregnant size and position, alleviate muscle pain from postural shifts, fuller breasts, and weight of carried infant. Also the doula can help ease breastfeeding, help the mother and/or father with questions and give additional support by watching the new born and/or by doing house work to give you some quiet time.

Infant Massage: The doula will teach the new parent(s) how to massage the infant to promote bonding, stimulate circulation, ease colic, gas, and digestive discomfort, improve sleeping patterns, stimulate brain development

Why should I use a Doula?

"Doula" is a Greek word meaning "a woman who serves women". In this context, a doula assists both the birthing woman and her partner through prenatal planning, informal education, advocacy, emotional and physical comfort during labor and birth, and then also may assist with newborn care and breastfeeding in the postpartum period. These services can be invaluable whether the birth takes place at home, at a birth center, or in a hospital.

In six randomized research studies, doulas have been shown to:

*Reduce the cesarean rate by 50% Which means saving of about $3,500 per birth.

*Reduce the length of labor by 25%

*Reduce the requests for epidurals by 60%. A savings of about $1,300

*Reduce the use of oxytocin by 40%

*Increase the quality of mother-infant bonding

*Increase a woman's confidence in her own ability to give birth

*Increases your offs of a natural birth from 12% with no doula, to 55% with a doula

*Fathers only touch their wives through only 20% of the laboring process, while the doulas were in physical contact with the mother 95% of the labor.

* Reduces the use of forceps from 26% to 8%

* At six weeks of age, babies with feeding problems are 63% with no doula and only 16% with a doula

*Babies with colds and / or runny noses was 69% to 39%