Yesterday, I shared the what, who and why of hiring a doula for labor and birth. After a wonderful experience working with a private doula for my son’s birth, finding and hiring a doula in Albuquerque was a top priority during my second pregnancy. My husband and I eventually chose the Presbyterian Doula Program.
We had many of our questions answered at one of many doula teas scheduled at The Women’s Center at Presbyterian. This casual meeting is a great place to start if you are interested in learning more. There is no pressure to register, but you can if you so choose. After registering, we were sent home to complete a packet of information to discuss at our prenatal doula appointment. It was at this meeting that my husband and I discussed our birth plan, expectations, pain management options and details for the big day. Our birth plan was put on file so any of the on-call doulas could access it when I was eventually admitted.
On a warm, Saturday evening I began feeling contractions shortly after 10 PM. Unfortunately, around the same time my husband had settled into bed to sleep off a the beginnings of a bad head cold. Watching his face absorb the knowledge that I was indeed in labor and we needed to get going was like watching Clark Kent (a sick Clark at that) transform into Superman. He was off packing and arranging details while I called Presbyterian to notify their on-call doula that I was in labor and heading to the hospital.
Addie was paged and called me immediately while we were en route to Presbyterian. She met us in triage with our birth plan in hand. Typically, on a Saturday evening around 11 PM, the on-call doula for that evening would have been home and allowed an hour and a half time frame to arrive at the hospital. Lucky for us, Addie had come into the hospital that evening to catch up on work and was just headed out the door when she was paged. In fact, it was very lucky because our daughter was born just two hours later.
Despite the mere two hours of laboring at the hospital, Addie’s time with us was invaluable. She knew my birth plan and immediately began advocating for my desires with the nurses and staff. She understood that I wanted a medication-free birth and assisted me in any way possible. She used peppermint essential oils to curb my nausea and lavender to create a calming environment. I used her face as a focal point as she breathed with me during all my contractions. She even found a pressure point to massage that drastically reduced the level of pain I was experiencing. So much so that I was shocked when I began feeling the urge to push.
When it was time to push, I buried my head in her arms and clutched on for dear life.
She was a warm, encouraging and active presence during labor and delivery. I was especially thankful for her support as my husband was simply too sick to be able to take care of me. Addie’s help allowed him to focus on staying by my side, holding my hand and encouraging me every step of the way. He didn’t have to worry about trying to take away my pain, he could just be.
After our daughter arrived, she made sure we were comfortable before stepping out of the room to give us quality alone time. She accompanied us to our recovery room and stayed with me until my husband returned from the car with our things and got settled. She even checked back later in my stay with a bottle of sparkling grape juice and the offer to hold my daughter so I could shower.
I cannot say enough about our experience with the Presbyterian Doula Program. From our first interaction at the doula tea to our last goodbye with Addie and our follow-up phone call after we returned home, everyone was kind, professional and aimed at one thing – helping me achieve my best birth.
Readers, have any of you taken advantage of the Presbyterian Doula Program? What was your experience? If you are interested in learning more, I encourage you to attend a doula tea – a schedule can be found at www.phs.org
