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    Doulas
    Doulas
    Doulas
    Ebook99 pages1 hour

    Doulas

    By Midwifery Today

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    About this ebook

    Featuring articles previously published in Midwifery Today magazine, this e-book focuses on doulas. With recent research showing that a doula's presence at a birth significantly improves outcomes, this e-book is timely and relevant for today's birth workers and expectant parents.
    Table of Contents:
    Chapter 1: "The Doula Phenomenon and Authentic Midwifery: Protection as a Keyword" by Michel Odent
    Chapter 2: "Being the Quiet Midwife/Doula in the Corner" by Ana Paula Markel
    Chapter 3: "Confessions of a 57-year-old Rookie Doula" by Helen Hill
    Chapter 4: "A Birth Doula for Every Mother" by Allie Chee
    Chapter 5: "DONA's Youngest Certified Doula" by Mary Ann Lieser
    Chapter 6: "The Midwife and the Doula: A Tale of Two Sisters" by Vicki Penwell
    Chapter 7: "A Doula's Bag-of-Tricks: What's in It for You?" by Debra Pascali-Bonaro
    Chapter 8: "Supporting Empowered Births" by Heathir Brown
    Chapter 9: "A Week and a Question" by Heide Thorsen
    Chapter 10: "Doulas in Europe" by Elena Piantino
    Chapter 11: "A Buddy Near the Crib: Perinatal Coaching for Underprivileged Families" by Annemarie Hoogewys
    Chapter 12: "Compassion and Empathy: A Doula's Best Friends" by Kicki Hansard
    Chapter 13: "Adapting Birth Services for Incarcerated Mothers" by Marianne Bullock and Vicki Elson
    Chapter 14: "Accepting Love without Perfection: The Roles of Grandmothers and Postpartum Doulas" by Vicki York
    Chapter 15: "Doula by Default" by Salem
    Chapter 16: "Let Your Monkey Do It: A Doula's Take on Homebirth" by Debra Flashenberg

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMidwifery Today
    Release dateSep 16, 2013
    Doulas
    Author

    Midwifery Today

    Midwifery Today publishes a quarterly print magazine for midwives and other birth professionals. We also put on two or more conferences each year, publish books, e-books and offer a free e-mail newsletter.

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      Book preview

      Doulas - Midwifery Today

      tmp_8f3ebda129ebb9a6aa63882fcd81ecba_rUX0fY_html_m5acb853c.jpg

      Doulas

      A Collection of Articles from Midwifery Today Magazine

      Edited by

      Nancy Halseide

      Copyright 2013 Midwifery Today, Inc.

      Published by Midwifery Today, Inc.

      Smashwords Edition

      *****

      Cover photo by Natasha Hance

      nhancephotography.com

      *****

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this e-book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this e-book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work that went into compiling this e-book.

      Disclaimer

      This publication is presented by Midwifery Today, Inc., for the sole purpose of disseminating general health information for public benefit. The information contained in or provided through this publication is intended for general consumer understanding and education only and is not intended to be, and is not provided as, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

      Midwifery Today, Inc., does not assume liability for the use of this information in any jurisdiction. Always seek the advice of your midwife, physician, nurse or other qualified health care provider before you undergo any treatment or for answers to any questions you may have regarding any medical condition.

      http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/MidwiferyToday

      *****

      Table of Contents

      Chapter 1: The Doula Phenomenon and Authentic Midwifery: Protection as a Keyword by Michel Odent

      Chapter 2: Being the Quiet Midwife/Doula in the Corner by Ana Paula Markel

      Chapter 3: Confessions of a 57-year-old Rookie Doula by Helen Hill

      Chapter 4: A Birth Doula for Every Mother by Allie Chee

      Chapter 5: DONA’s Youngest Certified Doula by Mary Ann Lieser

      Chapter 6: The Midwife and the Doula: A Tale of Two Sisters by Vicki Penwell

      Chapter 7: A Doula’s Bag-of-Tricks: What’s in It for You? by Debra Pascali-Bonaro

      Chapter 8: Supporting Empowered Births by Heathir Brown

      Chapter 9: A Week and a Question by Heide Thorsen

      Chapter 10: Doulas in Europe by Elena Piantino

      Chapter 11: A Buddy Near the Crib: Perinatal Coaching for Underprivileged Families by Annemarie Hoogewys

      Chapter 12: Compassion and Empathy: A Doula’s Best Friends by Kicki Hansard

      Chapter 13: Adapting Birth Services for Incarcerated Mothers by Marianne Bullock and Vicki Elson

      Chapter 14: Accepting Love without Perfection: The Roles of Grandmothers and Postpartum Doulas by Vicki York

      Chapter 15: Doula by Default by Salem

      Chapter 16: Let Your Monkey Do It: A Doula’s Take on Homebirth by Debra Flashenberg

      *****

      CHAPTER 1

      The Doula Phenomenon and Authentic Midwifery: Protection as a Keyword

      by Michel Odent

      Copyright 2012 Midwifery Today, Inc. All rights reserved.

      Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Midwifery Today, Issue 104, Winter 2012.

      ~~~

      I am your bodyguard.

      This is how Liliana Lammers, a highly experienced London doula, answered a question asked by a young pregnant woman. This was a concise way to suggest in daily language the importance of the concept of protection. Today, physiological perspective supports this answer.

      In current scientific context, the birth process can be presented as an involuntary process, since it is under the control of archaic brain structures, such as the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland. One cannot help an involuntary process, but there are situations that can inhibit it. Modern physiology can identify these situations, such as situations associated with a release of adrenaline and situations associated with neocortical stimulation. In other words, the birth process needs to be protected against inhibiting factors.

      Understanding that an authentic midwife is first a protective person leads us to recall that among mammals, including human mammals, the mother is the prototype of the protective person. This is a way to suggest the importance of the personality of the midwife/doula, ideally perceived as a mother figure. The physiological perspective and the intuitive midwife/doula agree to identify the factors against which a laboring woman needs to be protected: language (the main stimulant of the human neocortex), light (another stimulant of the cortex), the proximity of persons releasing adrenaline (adrenaline release is highly contagious), inappropriate ambient temperature, any situation or device that can give a laboring woman the feeling that she is observed, etc.

      Dominant Cultural Conditioning

      This paradigm supported by modern physiology must be contrasted with the current dominant conditioning. For thousands of years the basis of our cultural conditioning has been that a woman is not able to give birth without some kind of cultural interference. This is illustrated by the roots of the words used in daily language. For example obstetrics (from Latin obstetrix, the midwife) implies that a woman cannot give birth without somebody staying in front of her (ob-stare). Many rituals have made the active presence of an agent of the cultural milieu still more necessary. For example, in cultural milieus where they practice ritual genital mutilation, somebody must be there to cut the hard perineal scar. The widespread ritual of rushing to cut the cord also implies the necessary presence of an active person.

      This deep-rooted cultural conditioning has been reinforced recently by factors other than beliefs and rituals. Some theories have been influential. For example, the theories of Pavlov have been at the root of many schools of natural childbirth promoting the idea that to give birth a woman needs a guide telling her how to breathe, how to push, etc. In the age of videos, photos and television, one cannot ignore that our current cultural conditioning is mostly determined by visual messages. Let us mention the powerful effects of the recent epidemics of videos and photos of so-called natural childbirth. Almost always, several people surround the labouring woman. Young generations familiar with these pictures understand that the basic need of a labouring woman is to be accompanied by several persons. The effects of these visual messages are reinforced by the modern vocabulary, for example, to give birth women need a coach (bringing her expertise) and support persons (bringing their energy). More than ever the message is that a woman has not the power to give birth by herself.

      We must add that this cultural conditioning is now shared by the world of women and the world of men as well. While traditionally childbirth was women’s business, men are now almost always present at births, at a phase of history when most women cannot give birth to the baby and to the placenta without medical assistance. A whole generation of men is learning that a woman is not able to give birth. We have reached an extreme degree in terms of conditioning. The current dominant paradigm has its keywords: helping, guiding, controlling, managing (labor management), coaching, supporting…the focus is always on the role of persons other than the two obligatory actors (i.e., mother and baby). Inside this paradigm, we can include medical circles and natural childbirth movements as well. Will twenty-first century scientific disciplines be powerful enough to make a real paradigm shift possible?

      The

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