tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952168650778660274.post2775732007764586991..comments2023-11-05T01:55:18.079-06:00Comments on The Birth Spool: The NYT on DoulasElizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699062241113301084noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952168650778660274.post-88001642521760991222008-03-02T21:31:00.000-07:002008-03-02T21:31:00.000-07:00You'll notice that all the examples she cites are ...You'll notice that all the examples she cites are in the DC area. This is the birth wilderness we live in. The attitudes she inserts into the article, that natural childbirth and exclusive breastfeeding are extremist ideas, are fairly common here. And everyone on our local bulletin board has a few anecdotes which 'prove' the same points that this author is advocating.<BR/><BR/>Also, there are so few doulas out here that they are always booked up for months. It doesn't surprise me or bother me that they are selective about their clients. I think a doula would be useful at any birth, but I think a doula's tools are most useful when a woman's entire midsection isn't numb.<BR/><BR/>I think the doula and LC are lumped together in the article because they are part of the same 'camp.' In DC everything is a zero sum game with two, diametrically opposed sides.Aaronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03646683295212897427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952168650778660274.post-11496041066882306212008-03-01T19:36:00.000-07:002008-03-01T19:36:00.000-07:00I just have to add that not 3 weeks ago, I fairly ...I just have to add that not 3 weeks ago, I fairly heavy handedly convinced a laboring mother to get into the tub for pain relief. At her post partum visit, she reported the tub as one of the BEST parts of her labor. So, I don't think the doula acted inappropriately on that account. Not taking IV fluids also doesn't cause contraction spikes. This article makes it sound like the doula was somehow responsible for her painful labor! It sounds like there was a severe communication deficit between doula and client, since Pamela Myers was seething silently in the shower instead of getting out and saying "this isn't working for me...what else you got?". I also don't condone leaving a client once she has accepted an epidural, but I do support doulas only wanting to work with women who have a desire for unmedicated birth. This work is extremely time-consuming and exhausting for very little pay, and doulas have the right to say which kinds of births are worth their sacrifice.Amiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13713154532177081974noreply@blogger.com