Purpose and Value of Labor Support
By:Kiri-Te Aroha Wihongi Croxford
For thousands of years women have been delivering their babies with the support of many qualified people. Doctors, midwives, doulas, healers, family, or friends have assisted in grass huts,sterile hospitals and everywhere in between. Women embarking on the journey of motherhood have always found solace and comfort in having a support person to lean on. Not that the mother wouldn't instinctively know how to birth her child on her own, but having support during one of her most empowering, and life changing journeys is just what she craves and needs.
In our increasingly medicalized society mothers sometimes seem to be forgotten in the rush. Many times women are not getting all their question answered or are left feeling a lack of support from their OB/GYN or midwife who seem to be to busy to sit and simply chat about everyday life things going on with the mother to be. The value of having a qualified labor support or doula has great benefits for both the mother and her partner/father. Some specific benefits include: Someone to listen to fears, concerns, and expectations. A doula can also inspire and give confidence to the mother. Having labor support can help the mother to simply relax knowing that there is someone there with her that has been there before and has gone through what she is about to, sometimes just knowing this can reduce stress for both the mother and her partner. For the partner it may give them confidence knowing that there is help for them if they need it and that the doula will be with them constantly throughout their journey.
The most important thing the doula should remember is that the birth is not hers, it is the mothers. The doula is simply helping to support the mother and family to make their birth experience one that is theirs alone and no one else's. Helping to support and remind the mother along the way of her initial wishes for her birth.
The purpose of having a doula support present at birth is to provide complete physical and emotional support to a women in labor. Having a doula present at birth that has no other agenda except for helping, supporting, encouraging, loving, informing, and serving the mother and partner will allow her to become one with birth and make it her own. By helping to return the birth experience back to the mother simply by supporting her. We are also helping her to hold onto her birth and the story that it created. She will take her story and relay it others who may not have been supported during their births. They will gain hope for a more natural experience by searching for the support they did not have with their previous births.
According to the DONA International Position Papers, the purpose behind having a doula that provides labor support can also have other benefits, such as: Greater satisfaction with the birth outcome, improved bonding between mother and baby, decreased incidence of birth complications, drastically lower intervention rates for mothers who have no other support besides the doula, and pressure is greatly decreased for the partner/father.
Qualified support gives laboring women comfort and peace of mind. Knowing that no matterwhat happens during her birth, she has taken steps to give herself the best chance of avoiding unwanted interventions/intrusions on her and her baby.
Specific responsibilities of a doula include non clinical support, such as: Practical help, support, and advice for the laboring mother and family. Doulas do not perform medical tasks such as vaginal exams, or administering medications. Doulas do provide continuity of support, meaning the doula is present from start to finish of labor and delivery. This helps give the expectant family peace of mind throughout the process, this is important in making the birth memorable for all involved. Finally doulas provide advocacy for the mother and the mothers wishes. Advocacy of a doula can be found in the form of gentile reminders to the mother of her prior wishes for her labor and delivery, encouraging the mother and partner to ask questions of the medical staff when they feel they need to know more, helping the mother to express her concerns, and helping to provide a smooth transition if birth plans must be changed due to medical circumstance. Advocacy of a doula does not include the doula speaking for the mother and her family.
The value of a doula is also achieved through the knowledge that they bring to a birth.Knowledge is not only brought to the birth, but is also passed along to the family being supported. This kind of knowledge can be used for years to come. Many women going into motherhood do not consider what is going to happen at their birth. They go into birth relying on what they have heard or seen through the media. These women will approach birth and labor in such a manner that it may effect their ability to birth the way that their body was made to. They think of their body as a broken machine. Women who have proper support from a doula have found a wonderful source for information regarding birth and labor.
Proper birth support can also bridge a gap between the medical doctor or midwife. Doulas can help the expecting family understand some of the medical terms used in the delivery room. Many mothers feel left out of the loop. They are confused by medical terminology and feel like they are just a small voice in the background. When a doula empowers the mother by teaching her even small medical phrases, she can then go into a conversation with her doctor without feeling silly or uneducated. Her doctor should likely see her as someone who is well educated and interested in the impending birth. Teaching small things like this to mothers can help with confusion between all of the medical staff. It takes up time for medical staff to stop and explain everything to the many mothers that they care for. Having a doula that is knowledgeable will help the mother feel at ease, confident, and in control of her birth.
If all women could be supported through this precious time during their life, they would quickly learn that they were created to birth their baby. They would learn that their bodies are not lemons and that they have the power to create a new positive view of child birth. They will also gain trust with who they have chosen to attend their birth. They will learn to listen to their inner voice that can help direct the need for birth interventions that may be necessary.
In conclusion, I find that it is difficult to say there is one single purpose or valueplaced on support for women in labor or child birth. If I had to say what the one purpose of laborsupport is it would be that; we humans seek guidance and reassurance in many different situations. Even when we are confident in our ability to succeed. If I had to say what the onevalue of labor support is it would be that the support of a doula is invaluable. Support makes the journey that much more enjoyable by gaining new friendships, education, and perspective. The connection made between a mother and her labor support is unlike any other.
