Why I Chose a Career as a Doula
A photo of me (Aubrey) with the doula who supported me during the labor and delivery of my second born.
My journey to becoming a doula has not been a direct one. Looking back, I think I really circled around the idea for a while before committing to it and jumping in. It wasn’t until I had children of my own that I really discovered a passion for childbirth. I was fortunate enough to have two births that both were great experiences - my hospital induction with my firstborn and my birth center water birth with my second born. Both of these births left me with feelings of, “Wow. Birth is so incredible and empowering. What a life changing experience"!” But I soon noticed so many of my friends and aquiantences were having births that they referred to as unsatisfying and/or traumatic. Not because things didn’t go as planned — that much can be expected to some degree with childbirth — but because these friends of mine experienced labor and birth feeling unsupported, unheard, disrespected, uninformed on their choices, and/or uninvolved in the decision-making of their own care. Hearing this same sentiment time and time again had me wanting to look for answers. Why is there such a huge discrepancy in childbirth experiences from person to person? While this complex question doesn’t have a simple answer, I did learn quite a few things.
Take two people who had an unplanned/emergency c-section. One may still look back on their birth in a positive way, such as empowering, life-changing, magical. One may feel the birth experience was traumatic and terrifying. What’s the difference? I learned that a big difference was how they were made to feel throughout the experience. Did they feel included in the decision making? Were they informed of their choices and the risks/benefits of each? Were they respected, supported, and well-cared for throughout the process? Birth is unpredictable, but the way a person is made to feel during it can be a huge determinator in whether the birth experience will be positive or negative. The same logic could be applied to someone who wanted a home birth but transferred to a hospital, or a person that wanted an epidural but didn’t have time to receive it, or a person who wanted a spontaneous birth but ended up being induced. The unpredictability may be hard - or impossible - to control, but the way the family is treated throughout the process can make all the difference!
I also learned the evidence-based benefits of having continuous labor support. Research shows that having a doula can improve birth outcomes, including increased spontaneous vaginal birth, shorter duration of labour, and decreased caesarean birth, instrumental vaginal birth, use of any analgesia, use of regional analgesia, low five‐minute Apgar score and negative feelings about childbirth experiences.
As I learned more about the factors that could impact a person’s overall birth experience, I found myself reading book after book. Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, Birth in 8 Cultures, Childbirth Without Fear, Birth Partner, and Gentle Birth Companions were some of the books I read as I learned about birth experiences and ways they differ. Some main thoughts I kept coming back to were: 1) there is no right way to have a baby — it will look different for every family, 2) where a person births and the people they let in their birth spaces matters tremendously, and 3) every birthing person deserves to feel informed, physically and emotionally supported, safe, and well-cared for. The fact that families were experiencing birth without these things — feeling safe, support, informed — made me angry. It felt like the most basic and foundational standard of care, but I learned that these things may not always be offered due to understaffing, overworked medical providers, hospital policies, unsupportive or judgmental people in the birthing space, or sometimes just a subpar midwife or OB.
That’s when I decided that I wanted to be a labor doula — to help bridge the gap between the birth care people were experiencing and the birth care I feel every person should have. It isn’t something that can be blamed on certain kinds of providers or certain kinds of intervention or certain kinds of birthing locations. I’ve personally experiences positive births in a variety of ways: with and without an epidural, in a birth center and in a hospital, with an OB and with a midwife, with an incredible doula and with an incredible RN. As a doula, I get to provide continuous support during labor. This support includes physical support, emotional support, and evidence-based informational support. I get to educate my clients on all their choices and help them feel empowered as they make them. I get to emotionally support my clients by helping keep a calm environment, offering words of encouragement, and helping with relaxation techniques. I get to physically support my clients by facilitating position changes, offering pain management techniques, and using massage and counter pressure.
Getting to pursue a career where I can be a part of a person’s birth support team is a dream come true. While birth is unpredictable, birth care certainly doesn't have to be. It’s an honor to serve families throughout pregnancy, birth, and postpartum! One thing I always want my clients to remember is how much I respect their choices and preferences. I understand that each person’s lived experiences, values, pregnancy, and circumstances will look different, which means their choices and preferences will look different too. That’s why I will always provide nonjudgemental support as I serve each and every one of the families who choose me as their doula.
