Hellobee Boards

I really want a doula but there are none in the area I live in! The closest one is over an hour away.

Our hospital had a relationship with a volunteer doula group, and they offered to call one on my second day of labor. She was WONDERFUL. Her personality really meshed with ours, and she didn't push DH out of the way at all - she was just another member of the team. She did allow him to take a break now and then, though, which he really needed as we'd been at the hospital for 2 nights. She was also a liasion for my family who were pacing around the waiting room at that point. She calmed everyone down.

My labor was induced and didn't progress. We tried absolutely everything to get it moving along, but I stalled at 3.5cm and after 20+ hours of pitocin-induced back labor with no epidural and no progress, I had a c-section. The doula really helped me try EVERYTHING: different laboring positions, etc. She was so encouraging and so supportive. By the time I was being prepped for surgery (after midnight... she'd arrived around 10am that day) I knew this was the only option, and I knew we'd exhausted all other possibilities.

Looking back, I think I would have had a lot more regrets about the process if we hadn't had the doula there. She was really great. If there's any kind of volunteer doula group connected with your hospital, check them out! We couldn't afford to hire one so I was really grateful for a volunteer.

@lydg: Ours was $1,000! We interviewed 3 doulas--2 were $300 but ultimately we clicked more with ours. She was expensive but worth the price.

@lydg: What area do you live in? I can refer you to a couple of sites to find doulas, and also doulas-in-training that work for reduced rates and aren't listed on most websites.

I didn't have a doula per say, but a midwife. I was going to have my mw deliver my son too, but I became high-risk and had to be induced at a hospital. But she stayed with me and she really did help me so much. Even though the doctor I had was nice, she was such a warm and calming presence. She helped me with breathing and positioning during labor. But it was actually post-birth that she was the most helpful.
I was so tired and so out of it I just wanted to let the Dr. do whatever and tell me what to do. My mw really stepped in and was asking me questions very gently about what I wanted. Like, when my son turned blue they had to take him to a sub-room with an incubator, and she toldd me that I could ask them to move the incubator to where I could see him, and they did. She had so many great ideas, things I know I had wanted before giving birth, but definitely wasn't thinking of in the moment.

I had the blessing of having a GREAT team of nurses and everyone followed my birth plan and was so respectful of me. But I can imagine even how much more essential she would have been had I been in a hospital environment where they weren't very respectful of my wishes.

We had a doula. I don't really feel like I got anything during labor really (I had an easy labor).

I was very happy after the birth. I started passing out (lots of blood loss) and my husband was able to stay with the baby and she stayed with me. She kept giving me juice every time I came to. So I loved it.