Introduction

Hello! Welcome to "The Novice Doula". Let me introduce myself.

This is me, The Novice Doula. I am a young stay at home mom, aspiring doula, blogger, photographer, novelist, and well-rounded person (I'm working on it, okay?). I started this blog to kick-start my progress into becoming a certified DONA birth/postpartum doula. The reason why I need a kick-start is...

This beautiful little boy! You can call him "Roo." We did, before we knew his sex, back when he was just a-kickin' away in my "tummy pouch". As you can see, he's basically the most adorable little person to ever exist, so you can understand my hesitance to begin the process of slowly not being glued to him 24/7. His birth in August 2013 is what inspired this journey, and my new career path.

What is a doula, you ask? DONA International, the most wide spread and most respected doula organization in the world, says this about the definition of a doula:

"The word "doula" comes from the ancient Greek meaning "a woman who serves" and is now used to refer to a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth; or who provides emotional and practical support during the postpartum period.

Studies have shown that when doulas attend birth, labors are shorter with fewer complications, babies are healthier and they breastfeed more easily."

Tree of Life. Origin Unknown.

A doula is a woman who aids in the beautiful process that is birth, but has no medical education or involvement in said birth. A doula is simply there to aid the labouring mother emotionally and physically with learned techniques, in the hopes of making the birthing experience all that the mother hopes it to be. They also provide information before the birth, and aid in breastfeeding afterwards, as well as being able to link mothers to helpful resources such as the La Leche League or other local organizations. 

Growing up, I did not know I wanted to be a doula. I didn't even know such a thing existed, or that I wanted to help pregnant women deliver their babies - I certainly never wanted to be a doctor, and those are the people that deliver babies, right??

I discovered my love of child birth shortly before I became pregnant with my son. I always knew I wanted to have children, but as a teenager I became keenly interested in the vast amounts of information out there pertaining to the different ways you can give birth. I had pages of things I wanted to make sure I did whenever I became pregnant - belly casts or belly painting, a natural birth, a water birth, breastfeeding, cloth diapering, the list went on and on. Before all of this research, I had always assumed women gave birth on their backs, in a hospital bed, screaming in pain like some twisted horror movie. I never imagined the birth itself could be beautiful.

When I did become pregnant, I spent even more time researching all of these important decisions women had to make for their birth and postpartum, and realized many, many women didn't realize there were choices at all! I became an advocate for empowered births, and I was going to have the most empowering birth of all - in a water pool, in my living room, with my partner and our mothers and our midwives there to "Ommm" and give me wonderful, empowering statements about labour while I squatted and pushed my baby out, right into my own awaiting arms.

And then a serious dose of "Life" hit me. I soon found out that the best laid plans are often the first to crumble, and that a new mother has to roll with the waves, or be washed out to sea for good. I realized that an empowering birth didn't have to be a serene, perfect water birth  - it meant a mother that feels supported and loved, ending with a healthy baby being born. 

My own Empowering Birth looked like a natural labour, part of which spent in a tub, moaning loud enough to alert the nurses, that ended with me yes, on my back in a hospital bed, every part of me empowered as I pushed my baby out and immediately had him put on my chest, while my doula (and my mother) supported me emotionally and physically. She even took the care to step back when I no longer needed her, and took pictures & video of my son's very first moments on Earth, just as I had wanted.

It was then I discovered that birth can be beautiful anywhere, and I wanted to be a part of it.

I'll post my own full birth story my next entry, share the things my doula did that truly made my birth "perfect" (to me), and the process of becoming a doula in coming posts.

Much love and empowerment,

~ The Novice Doula