Doulas are betwixt and between … not midwives and not family.
As a doula, you know how easy it is to take the role of birth-coach in labor when the father-to-be, friend or relative should really be doing that.
Doulas can become part of a new childbirth movement … Growing a skilled birthing population! What an amazing thought. All pregnant women KNOWING how to give birth and every father-to-be/partner, friend or relative knowing how to be a great birth-coach. The best way for this to happen is when expectant parents SELF-LEARN Birthing Better Childbirth Preparation childbirth and birth coaching skills and then show you how well they work together during their birth.
‘I have a passion for birth but find going to lots of births too much for my young family. I became a Pink Kit distributor and feel I’m doing more good for a larger number of families than I could do in private practice.’.
Helen M.
Birth Plans
There’s an overabundance of information that has been given expectant parents since the 1970s. Mothers-to-be and fathers-to-be spend heaps of time creating a Birth Plan … all about what they want and don’t want.
Now it’s time that you as a doula, inspire your pregnant clients to prepare their pregnant body to be a birthing body, and learn the birth and birth coaching skills so they can work with their baby’s efforts to be born. Then they can write a second skills-based Birth Plan! This birth plan will tell you and their birth professional how they’ve prepared for birth and what skills they will use.
Doulas now compete with each other as to how many ‘alternative therapies’ they offer their clients. While being very skilled is a great idea, having another skilled birth provider continues to grow passivity and gives a clear message that as women we can’t birth without you or our midwife or obstetrician.
Now’s the time for childbirth CHANGE
Childbirth skills lead to that ‘beautiful birth’ every family wants … or at least a positive birth.
Only a birthing woman can control her breathing. As a Doula, it’s too tiring to breathe with her for hours. Only a birthing woman can control her ability to relax. which is often hard even for Doulas to see.
In reality … the best birth coach for the woman in labour will always be her husband, partner or other well-known person AND they need the birth coaching skills or they will overly rely on you. In the long run, you will become exhausted!
Birthing Better skills were developed by hundreds of moms and dads so that other pregnant moms and dads can self-learn birth and birth-coaching skills in the privacy of their own homes. Birthing Better skills are housed in Common Knowledge Trust and are available in online birth classes.