Ask the Doula

I have spent a lot of time sitting in the waiting room lately.   Not the hospital waiting room, but rather the auto repair shop.   My 9 year old car Gracie decided not to work last Thursday and has spent the last five days being taken apart, put back together, and taken apart again.   As I do not have an extra car parked at home, it is very frustrating being at the mercy of the “professionals” while they figure out how to fix my car. Trying to make the most of my time I have been reading The Labor Progress Handbook: Early Interventions to Prevent and Treat Dystocia by Penny Simpkin and Ruth Ancheta.   Sometimes labor slows or seems to stop.   This is called labor dystocia.   Like my car, the normal movement and progress of labor stalls and doesn’t make progress.   While the health care providers can provide diagnostic information regarding the labor, knowing and deciding what to do with the information can be a daunting task.   One of t...

My name is Leah Garner and I am a Birth & Postpartum Doula. Coming from the Greek, doula refers to a woman’s servant.   I help serve and support women and their families through the birth of their child and beyond.   I have been able to support women and their families at a very vulnerable time in their lives. Many are away from their family support system, but still are in need of the essential support that all new mothers need.   I am fulfilling God’s calling for me to help others, by providing compassionate non-judgmental support and knowledge of birth and postpartum care. Over four years ago, I experienced an emergency cesarean with the birth of my son and had an even more challenging recovery due lack of support.   The time following was a time of reflection of the things that I missed; the things that I needed that I did not get.   I felt a calling to my heart from God to help women in similar situations.   I have been on this journey as a dou...

Mothering the New Mother I often hear from women of the generation ahead of me that they wished that they had a postpartum doula when they had their kids.   Now these same women are becoming grandmothers and want to provide support to their daughters and daughters-in-law, but are unsure of the best way to help.   One of the roles of a postpartum doula is the instruction to the supporting family members/friends how to mother the new mother.   What does this mean?   Let me give you an example to put this into perspective. When a child is young and unable to support themselves their needs are met by their mother.   When they are hungry, they are fed; when they are tired they are relaxed into sleep, when they need a bath, they are bathed.   The child doesn’t give direction on how things should be done; rather the mother is following the cues given by the child as to what their needs are. The new mother is often in a similar state following the bi...