Birth One
This client came to me as a referral from a Midwife who thought that having a Doula in her chosen hospital might work better than having a Midwife who would have to negate her authority to satisfy hospital policy on this matter. And so this is where I came into the picture.

Jane (not her real name) decided after much consideration that I would be the person to support her during her labour and birth in the hospital. What I would like to stress here is that a Doula doesn’t just commit to attending the labour and birth. A substantial amount of work is done in meetings prior to the actual birth itself. In fact this is where all of the necessary groundwork is done, over cups of tea. The more cups of tea the better the education, communication, rapport and trust!

With the cups of tea in mind, Jane and I met once or twice a week to connect and get to know each other. Most importantly to discuss the type of birth Jane would really like to have. Jane was one of those people who had read this and that and was so full of information about all types of information, that we really had to weed through all the rubbish to get down and look at the important issues at hand. I would just like to mention here that often women do over-read to the point that they get so full of information that they then cannot define for themselves what they really want or what is important to them.

After many hours of pre-birth preparation the phone call came to let me know that Jane’s waters had broken and slight niggles were occurring in her uterus. However there was nothing to panic about. So I ventured over to her house where I found her doing some Yoga with an instructor to bring on the labour. A few hours later and I thought it might be a good idea to have some lunch and then go for a little walk. We did all of the above and still no contractions. In fact 14 hours had passed and still no contractions.

Just when I was suggesting we go into the hospital some rather big contractions started occurring. We all decided that at this stage it was a good idea to have the baby’s heartbeat monitored, and Jane’s blood pressure taken etc. So we headed into the hospital with arms loaded with gear as we headed for the natural birthing room. The Obstetrician came in and did all of general check ups and was quite happy to let Jane continue on as she had planned and requested. In the meantime I massaged, spoke quietly in a positive reaffirming way and gave water, juice and food on a requested basis and suggested various positions.

Jane laboured in the bath, on the floor, on the bed, in the shower, on the fitball and walking the corridors. However her labour did not progress at all and by 7 am in the morning she was exhausted and wanted an Epidural. Unfortunately a very short time after the epidural and syntocin went into her body the baby went into fetal distress and Jane underwent an emergency C-section.

Occasionally time is against a woman and when the membranes have been gone for such a long time and a woman does not go into labour with strong dynamic contractions it is almost inevitable that she is going to need some form of intervention. As a Doula this can be very challenging, however I do believe that all the preparation and education prior to the birth makes women feel strong, positive and confident not only to birth but in becoming a mother. This helps women enormously to deal with birth outcomes that were not what they had even considered to be an option.

Jane had a beautiful baby girl who was just adorable, and the outcome being a positive one despite the actual way the baby came out of the body. The bringing into the world of a gorgeous little baby is the important thing here.

Birth Two
Robin and I had been friends for years and share mutual women friends. Robin had also previously been to my Aqua antenatal classes throughout her second pregnancy, so you could say a lot of the ground work had been done between us and I knew where I stood and what would be required of me when the time came.

Robin and I had cups of tea and chatted over the phone on a regular basis right up until the seventh day over her due date. Robin was at this point very heavy, very tired and very big and had had enough. However she knew that she really wanted a quick and to the point birth with no messing about. She decided the following day to be induced as she was really worried about the size of the baby as the other two had been big and it looked like this one was just as big.

The time was 7.30pm in the evening when we spoke about the induction that would take place in the morning and what her options were and what she would like to have happen. So I hung up knowing that I would be at a birth the following day. At 8.00pm the phone rang and it was Robin on the other end in full labour. At first I thought she was pulling my leg, however I realised very quickly after two contractions in the space of four minutes that she was well on her way.

As soon as I put down the phone I was in my car and on the way to her house where Robin and her partner were in the car and reversing out of the drive. I just followed in my car. When we got to the hospital Robin just continued to labour beautifully, not missing a beat and working totally with her body. She was so focused and centred within and in that place where women go to when they are in true established labour.

As Robin’s doula I spoke quietly suggesting affirmations, I massaged and ran the shower nozzle on her back when a contraction came on and placed it on her belly when the contraction was off. I gave rescue remedy on a regular basis and feed her liquids through a straw when I got the chance. It was Robin and I working together calmly and quietly together with her partner in the background preparing himself for the pushing stage where we had agreed he would be up the head end of Robin encouraging her and supporting her, while I would be at the receiving end.

When the time came for transition, it was a funny and direct situation, where Robin just put her hands on her hips and said “Oh when is this baby coming out?” Robin then removed herself from the shower and headed for the room once again. I followed behind, trying to get a towel over her as she had to walk in a public corridor. It was there in the room that she lowered herself onto a mattress on the floor, leaning over a beanbag and began pushing with absolutely no noise at all. She was as quiet as a mouse, but working really hard on each and every contraction.

After about twenty minutes of pushing she decided to get her body in a more upright position and moved where she was leaning on the bed still on her knees. It was here that she pushed her very big 10 pound 4oz baby out with the assistance of myself, the midwife and the obstetrician looking over our shoulders. It was a wonderful experience and one that I feel very honoured to have been a part of. Robin had a baby boy in under three hours with no tear. Wow, what a woman. Robin taught me so much about inner strength women possess and how women can birth in calm natural and empowered way when they are left to do so.

Robin’s Words about having a Doula:

Why I chose to have a Doula was because I wanted a more positive birth experience than I had had with my second birth.

With my second baby I had my husband, friend and a uncommunicative midwife in a hospital. Hence, I had no direction in my labour and the birth became frustrating and painful leaving me with bad injuries that took a long time to recover from. I felt traumatised after that birth and really did not want to go through that again.

The lesson I learnt from the second birth is that women like myself really need a professional, spiritual and emotionally connected support person when birthing.

A Doula can and does provide this support. Doulas are spiritual guides for birthing, in which the act of birthing is a very spiritual experience. As well as the spiritual support a Doula also looks after your physical and mental state. Birth after all does put you in a very vulnerable position and I feel a Doula is able to protect your interests in a way that your labour progresses and in which direction in goes.

So my third baby was the biggest at 10lb 4oz and I am here to tell you that there is such a thing as a positive ‘beautiful birth’ and little Noa is living proof that a Doula can and does make a huge difference. So, thank you Gaby for assisting with my third birth experience which was amazing.

Birth Three
Fiona was a friend of a friend who had actually heard about Robin's birth (above) and how I had assisted her to birth her baby and how she didn’t tear and had a 10lb 4oz baby etc. This really intrigued Fiona and she rang me to make an appointment over a cup of tea! It was at our first meeting that I felt very connected and comfortable as we had many similarities in our lives.

Fiona came along to my Aqua antenatal classes as well as my home antenatal educational classes where our friendship developed very quickly over a short space of time. It was in fact, only six weeks from the time we met to the time Fiona gave birth, and in that time she had a complete shift in understanding and concept about birth and birthing.

Fiona decided to block out all of the negative outside influences, and listen to positive birthing stories and soon after realized that she could birth naturally if she wanted to make that decision. Over the next couple of weeks she did a lot of mental preparation with me through meditation, visualisation and relaxation and physical preparation through aqua classes and fitball classes.

Fiona went into labour naturally on her due date at about four in the morning. At 7am she rang me to let me know today was the day. Like all the births that I attend I always go over to see a client in the early stages of labour to “check in” with them, and they with me. It is a connecting visit where I can see where their mind and body are at and how they are opening. I usually stay for one to two hours then I leave so as not to bring on what I call “Performance Anxiety”. This is where a woman in labour feels like she is being watched and observed.

Fiona was contracting really well from 7.30am when I arrived till when I left at 9am. I went home to leave her get on with her labour in the peace and quiet of her home. At 11.00am Fiona called to say her contractions had stopped and I suggested that she get some rest, possibly sleep so she had lots of reserve for when she starts contracting again. I also said that nature had been really kind and enabled her to have a really great warm up and to feel first hand how contractions feel. On that note she took off to attend her pre-booked reflexology session to help her relax and rest.

At 2.00pm a call came from Fiona’s partner saying her waters had broken all over the house and her contractions were really, really strong now. With that I knew it was the real thing and I headed over to their house. Boy were there waters all over the house! I have never seen a woman lose such a great amount of amniotic fluid before it was literally in every room in the house. I gave everyone a hit of Rescue remedy to calm everyone down; me included then I proceeded to clean up while Fiona was in the shower leaking more fluid.

After Fiona’s partner and I had cleaned up we assisted Fiona to the lounge room where she laboured on the floor, the fitball, the lounge and then on her bed till 10.00pm that evening when she felt she needed to transfer to the hospital. On this particular night Perth was experiencing one of the worst storms that had ever hit and lights were out all over the place due to severe lightning, thunder and heavy rain. They say that women often birth in strong stormy weather, well on this night it was true to form. Fiona’s partner and I experienced one of the best lightning shows we have ever seen while Fiona was oblivious to the whole thing. She laboured away in the car looking out the back window on our journey across Perth to the hospital.

Upon arrival it was suggested that Fiona go into the hot tub and labour and she did so for the next four hours. After the birth she said she wished she could have stayed in the tub longer than half an hour. With that I looked at her and said, "Fiona, you were in the tub for four hours!" She couldn’t believe it. Birth hormones affect time in a distorted way, so much so that what may seem like 1 hour can actually be two or three hours.
After four hours in the tub Fiona started to feel the urge to push and felt like she needed to get out of the water and get gravity working for her. As her Doula I ran around to the room and prepared it with a mattress on the floor, with a big beanbag and pillows on top to lean over if she wanted and dim lights and music. I also found her dressing gown and socks for her feet, as I knew she would feel cold in the room after being in the hot water for such a long time. For the next couple of hours I continually gave her rescue remedy and suggested some positive birthing affirmations to say as I massaged her back with essential oils.

On the floor is where Fiona stayed for the next three hours, panting and avoiding the urge to push and waiting for an Anterior lip to move so she could push her baby out smoothly. (An Anterior lip is a swelling of the tissue around the neck of the cervix, which should never be pushed against as it can cause damage to the tissue.) Finally with another internal the Midwife managed to flick the tissue out of the way and Fiona was at last able to push. As a doula during those last three hours I continually supported both physically, emotionally and mentally and above all else stayed positive to help Fiona keep strong and not lose sight of the pushing stage and meeting her baby.

Fiona had the most amazing stamina and strength as she pushed out a very big first baby who weighed 9 pounds 9oz. I was again so honoured to be able to have been a part of this fantastic experience and in awe of the female body and its ability to birth. Fiona softly and gently worked with each contraction by pushing her baby down and out little by little with no pain killer. She couldn’t wait to tell all her friends about her amazing experience and so she should, as she really succeeded in giving birth naturally through sheer belief in herself and her body and through absolute determination.

Fiona thoughts about having a Doula:
Our Doula Gaby Targett:

• Helped make the whole experience a pleasurable one by giving us support and encouragement.
• Was the person we chose to attend the birth to explain the technical and medical jargon in the hospital.
• Assisted us to stay at home as long as possible before heading off to hospital. Having a doula allowed us to relax and do this.
• Offered us alternatives to chemical pain relief, eg: massage, hot tub, breathing and relaxation techniques etc. (This was one of the reasons why I had Gaby - because having a natural childbirth was important to me)
• I truly believe having Gaby attend our birth allowed me to relax and therefore focus on breathing through the contractions and relax. As a result I didn’t feel ‘pain’ and I didn’t once feel as though I needed pain relief/treatment. Andrew and I felt being able to focus just on the birth and not worrying about other issues was the key to having a positive birth experience in a hospital setting.

Andrew’s (Fiona’s husband) points about having a Doula:

• Having an extra person with experience in the room offered us (Fiona and I) to work as a 3 way team.
• Having a Doula meant it turned two people who didn’t know what they were doing into an effective 3 way support network who trusted what was going on.
• The Doula to us was an additive to the experience rather than an alternative to what is offered in the hospital today.