We have a doula!

Since we are going about the pregnancy and our life in general in a natural way, we figured that it would be helpful for us to look into hiring a doula.  Most people are familiar with midwives, but since we are seeing a medical doctor through a women's care practice, midwife wasn't much of an option.   Insurance doesn't cover midwives, and it would be very difficult to birth anywhere but home with a midwife.  We felt safest with a medical setting, but still want to be holistic.  We found out that a doula would be a great fit to what we were looking for.  For those that don't know, a doula is a labor-support professional who offers emotional, physical, and educational support during pregnancy and labor.  The support is for both mother and father.    A doula does NOT take the place of the father.  The doula will arm Tim with techniques that will be suitable for him to best comfort me, and have a greater understanding of what's taking place.   We just felt it would be wonderful to have someone in there that's aligned with our philosophies to help us, explain to us what's happening, and make us comfortable.  Years and years of studies show that women who have doula support are less likely to have c-section, have analgesia/pain meds, give birth with vacuum or forceps, and report negative feelings about the childbirth experience.  The doula we chose will give 3-4 prenatal visits for education purposes as well as be there for the entire labor/delivery, a few hours afterwards, and provide follow-up support.  We are looking forward to developing a relationship with our doula! I feel positive that this support will be one more way to make the labor and delivery an experience as pleasant as it can be.