Hellobee Boards

The main question is, is she serious about having an unmedicated birth? If not, she doesn't really need a doula. I didn't have one (it was just too costly for us) but from what I understand, if you really want an unmedicated birth, having a doula is your best way of getting there.

I hired a doula because I was birthing with an OB in a hospital and I was really afraid of the "cascade of interventions." I have a heavy dose of cynicism when it comes to the medicalization of childbirth but not enough to want a home birth. My goal was to have a natural childbirth. In reality I was open to pain management/an epidural, but I felt like if I went into labor with my OB knowing that she (or the nurses) might push me towards more and more medical interventions, so instead I told my OB I wanted a natural birth knowing in the back of my mind I was open to pain medicine if I felt that need at the time. I hired a doula because I wanted someone in my corner. I didn't want my OB offering/pushing something on me that might have unintended consequences. I felt like with a doula there she would be better prepared to explain those unintended consequences to me so that I could make the best/most knowledgeable decisions.

In reality, I went into labor two weeks early and my doula was in the middle of another birth. I labored at home as long as I could not wanting anyone's help or anyone to touch me and ended up getting to the hospital fully dilated and ready to push. No none of the things I was concerned about even had the opportunity to occur. Our doula didn't even arrive until a couple hours after DS was born lol.

All that to say, it's all a crap-shoot. She should do what makes her feel more comfortable going in. If that's hiring a doula, do it!

@Mrs D: A doula can still support medicated births but my understanding if they tend to not like that. So she'd have to find one who is open to that.

Basically a doula is familiar with labor and delivery, pain management, and positions/techniques for a successful labor. She helps you envision how you want the birth to go, and how to prepare for it. She also acts as support and can be a liaison, for you, your partner, the nurses, staff, doctors, etc. Ideally, she is there for you during pregnancy and often postpartum too. To me it's not either/or. I consider both a doula AND an OB necessary for my ideal labor/birth scenario.

@catlady: Any doula who implies she is "not OK" with pain relief during birth isn't a good representative of the trade. The entire point of a doula is to support the mother in the birth SHE wants...no room for personal biases.