Call for Submissions: What Did Your Doula Do for You?

Originally posted here on Giving Birth with Confidence.

A doula can be an amazing ally in your journey through pregnancy and birth. Time and again, research shows that doulas can increase a woman’s chance for having a spontaneous vaginal delivery (ie, without vacuum extraction, forceps or cesarean surgery), shorten her time in labor and facilitate a more positive childbirth experience. For my most recent, third birth, I hired a doula for the first time and I will say that I loved having a doula. Even though my actual birth experience was super-fast and allowed very little time for anyone to provide hands-on labor support, my doula provided amazing emotional and informational support and guidance throughout my pregnancy and postpartum — and perhaps the most vital benefit for me, was the confidence I gained by knowing that she would be there for me in labor to help me achieve the epidural-free birth that I wanted.

Now that I have the contrasting birth experiences — two without a doula and one with — I want to yell from the rooftops, “Every woman deserves a doula!” Instead, I thought it would be better to hold a blog carnival on doula support to share with expectant moms and families. We’re looking for stories (and photos!) from moms and dads about your experience with a doula. If you hired a doula for any of your births and had a positive experience, we want to know about it! Think about answering questions like, how did your doula help you in labor — both directly and indirectly; what did your doula do for you in pregnancy and/or postpartum; and, how did the support from a doula affect your birth experience?



Participation in the “What Did Your Doula Do for You” Blog Carnival is easy:

1. If you have a blog, write a blog post on the carnival theme. Post it on your blog by Wednesday, October 5. Make sure the post links back to this blog post. You may also submit a previously written post, as long as the information is still current.

2. Send an email with a link to your post to cterreri [at] lamaze [dot] org.

3. If you do not have a blog but would like to participate, you may submit a story for consideration by emailing it to me.

4. I will compile and post the Blog Carnival here at Giving Birth with Confidence on Friday, October 14.



Happy doula blogging! I can’t wait to read your submissions!