I love quick births!!!

tlcdoula · 08-18-2006, 08:11 PM

I attended such a nice, quick birth today. I was with the mama for two hours and five minutes before the baby was born and then stayed only another hour as her friends and family started coming and she wanted to be with them.

Mama did labor for six hours and 45 minutes total, but I wasn't called in at that time (this was a hospital doula birth so I had never met her before the birth).

jesscardona · 08-18-2006, 08:19 PM

Wow, nice birth!

Jilian · 08-18-2006, 08:22 PM

Nice! Quick births are great!

MindOverLaborDoulas · 08-18-2006, 08:55 PM

How does that work? I mean do you or the mom feel like you are on comfortable terms since you haven't met each other before?
I have been wondering about this since I saw a hosp Doula on Baby Story one time.

tlcdoula · 08-18-2006, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MindOverLaborDoulas

How does that work? I mean do you or the mom feel like you are on comfortable terms since you haven't met each other before?
I have been wondering about this since I saw a hosp Doula on Baby Story one time.

Well, the parents do have the opportunity to come to a Meet the Doulas night where they can meet us for 1-1 1/2 hours. We usually start with us explaining the program and introducing ourselves and then the parents introduce themselves and can ask questions as we go along. Then afterwards we mingle and they can talk to us. Each family creates a birth preference guide if they want so that we know what their wishes are. When they come into the hospital we are called and when we get there we are giving the guide to read over and then we walk in and introduce ourselves. Sometimes it can be a little awkward but most times it goes pretty smoothly. We just go in and do what we do best

I think it works out pretty good because even when it isn't ideal and we don't get to meet them beforehand they still have the benefit of having the continuity of care which is so essential. These are women who felt they needed someone else there with them and to be honest I find the work just as satisfying as my other doula work - sometimes even more so because we are walking into a hospital that values our services. The nurses are our co-workers and are kind and caring to us. We do not need to worry about how our nurse will be or what she will be like or anything. They accept us and look forward to our presence.

Annie · 08-18-2006, 10:02 PM

Does the hospital pay you or the parents? Do you charge your normal fee or reduced?

-Annie

tlcdoula · 08-18-2006, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Annie

Does the hospital pay you or the parents? Do you charge your normal fee or reduced?

-Annie

The families pay the hospital $75 and then the hospital pays us an additional $225 - so we get paid $300. That is way below what I get when I do private clients, but not bad considering we do not have to do prenatals. In the end it kind of all evens out because without the prenatals I am saving myself a lot of time - no traveling to their house for several visits to teach them, so just for the birth I don't think it is that bad.

MyDoulaStacia · 08-18-2006, 10:08 PM

That is so nice Michelle. The shortest birth I have ever been at was 6 hours.

tlcdoula · 08-18-2006, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MyDoulaStacia

That is so nice Michelle. The shortest birth I have ever been at was 6 hours.

I think I have had three or four quick births like this. Two of them have been through the hospital program.

dorothyh · 08-18-2006, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tlcdoula

I attended such a nice, quick birth today. I was with the mama for two hours and five minutes before the baby was born and then stayed only another hour as her friends and family started coming and she wanted to be with them.
.

Love those quick births!!!!

My last birth was my fastest 1st time mom birth - she was crampy at 8:30 PM, started strong contrax at 11:30 PM, called me at 12:30 AM, I met her at the hospital at 1:15 AM. She was 8 cm when she got to the hospital!! Baby was born a little before 3. Her birth went exactly as she wanted - what more could you ask? A beautiful birth!!!!

tlcdoula · 08-19-2006, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dorothyh

Love those quick births!!!!

My last birth was my fastest 1st time mom birth - she was crampy at 8:30 PM, started strong contrax at 11:30 PM, called me at 12:30 AM, I met her at the hospital at 1:15 AM. She was 8 cm when she got to the hospital!! Baby was born a little before 3. Her birth went exactly as she wanted - what more could you ask? A beautiful birth!!!!

That is so cool when they get the births they want. Unfortunately for this mama she didn't get everything she wanted. Unfortunately she delivered in lithotomy and also had an episiotomy (this was my first episiotomy birth ever).

doula Michele · 08-19-2006, 09:40 AM

I love those... they are like a bonus. Most of the ones i do are first time moms, induced. They don't want to be alone, and I am there for 14-24 hours.

Michele

SarahMcKay · 08-19-2006, 10:07 AM

Just curious - is the fact that you work for the hospital an issue? I know its appealing to some parents that we don't work for the doc or hospital - we work for them. Just wondered if that's ever mentioned? (Especially in a birth that doesn't go according to plan)

tlcdoula · 08-19-2006, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SarahMcKay

Just curious - is the fact that you work for the hospital an issue? I know its appealing to some parents that we don't work for the doc or hospital - we work for them. Just wondered if that's ever mentioned? (Especially in a birth that doesn't go according to plan)

Nope because even though we are employed by the hospital we work for the parents. Our program was created by the past president of DONA and she was very clear on who we worked for. The really nice thing is that the nurses are receptive towards us (only had one that wasn't and complained about her and haven't been with her since - she is rude to everyone though so it isn't just the doulas, but our boss is so sweet and understanding and goes that extra mile to ensure we can do our job right), so there is no conflict and the doctors know that if they are catching a baby there we might be present and again no conflicts. I have found that the doctors are so kind and receptive - in fact yesterday I had something come up and that made me realize just how nice it is to work at a hospital. The mama had a question for the doctor and the doctor had left her room. She asked me to run out and ask the doctor her question. I did and when I caught up with the doctor she said "I just don't know what she is asking." Her tone caught me off guard and then I apologized for bothering her and she went way out of her way to emphasize that I wasn't bothering her at all. Even during the birth we are all working together and although there are things that the doctors do that I don't always agree with (i.e. the episiotomy yesterday) they are still very respectful and it is a much better situation than most of the other hospitals I have been at.

I also feel that we have a tad bit more leeway and have found that a few of the doctors will even ask if I have any suggestions.

So we work for the parents but are working as a team with a very receptive bunch of co-workers.

earthgirl · 08-19-2006, 12:48 PM

Wow. That's great Michelle. I'm thinking about talking with someone at my local hospital about doulas, but I haven't even had a birth there yet! They've been in other towns or out of state! I know that there is doula (don't know if she is actually doula-ing) in the next town over, but she does childbirth education at the hospital. Maybe I should get in touch with her