World Doula Week 2022, resuming a sense of normalcy.
It’s World Doula Week, and as the world resumes normalcy, so do we.
Contributed by Brittany Tucker, CLD CAPPA
This week is “World Doula Week,” something many people might not even know exists unless they know or have used a doula themselves. Once I became a doula myself in 2019, I became privy to a community of likeminded men and women who all sought to do one thing: support birthing and postpartum mothers in their journey. Our job is very physical. We massage, hold, squat, squeeze hips…and we do all this while constantly affirming our client’s choices. On little to no sleep, sometimes for 18-24 hours or more.
So, what are the benefits of a doula? I’m glad you asked. Some of the benefits of using a doula include:
• Reduces the incidence of c-sections
• May shorten the length of labor
• Reduces epidural and analgesic requests
• Increases breastfeeding initiation and continuation
• Increases mother’s satisfaction of birth experience
• Can reduce the incidence of postpartum mood disorders
• Increases new parents’ confidence in the care of their newborn
Pretty great, right? Doulas all around the world are nurturers by nature. They attend each birth armed with a bag of tricks, a heart of gold, and a lot of caffeine.
Then COVID hit, and we had to pivot.
Hospitals shut down their visitor policy, and Doulas sat at home in horror as we read about birthing women being left alone and isolated, away from their support systems, leaving them more vulnerable than ever. Our support shifted from physical to virtual, and we became advocates in a new way. Our way of support became a Human Rights Movement. While the brave men and women of the health care industry went into survival mode, striving to save the lives of so many affected by COVID, birthing women’s autonomy went out the window.
Two years later, as hospitals slowly return to their normal policies, and we return to our traditional doula roles; sometimes as “visitors” and the lucky few of us, as “essential support,” things feel different. Heavier. The connections we have forged with many Labor and Delivery Doctors and Nurses feels clouded. We go in wearing armor, ready to defend our clients against interventions and fears of being “rushed.” But our goals have not changed. Now, more than ever, we strive to empower and bring back birth autonomy and the recognition of the physiological aspect of birth. We emerge into this new world wiser, stronger, a little jaded, and still hopped up on a lot of caffeine. We are ready to heal the birth traumas from 2020 and support women to come back prepared, educated, and ready to advocate for a better birth experience. Birth is beautiful, and we are here to bring that beauty back—whether it is in a hospital or at home, we will always be here for you.
So, happy World Doula Week, fellow Doulas. I am proud of you, of us. We have changed so much during these times, and anyone who gets to have you as a supportive role in their birth experience will see and appreciate and just how valuable you are.
Brittany Tucker CLD, CAPPA.
Learn more about Brittany serving families in the Hampton Roads, VA area by visiting her at
https://www.militarybirthresourcenetwork.org/hampton-roads-norfolk
https://www.facebook.com/Brittanytuckerdoula/
