The epidural catheter threaded into the epidural space in mom’s back.

As a working doula, what can I say about epidurals today? I have three things to say about them. First, if you are giving birth in a non-rural part of the U.S., you should decide what you think about having an epidural prior to your birth. You should read about them and discuss them with your care provider (doctor or midwife) and also your doula.

Second, please realize that most mothers can give birth without an epidural and that there are distinct advantages to not having an epidural. All the mothers who have spoken to me about giving birth without pain medication have been glad that they did it! Not just some of them, all of them! That is significant. They may have different reasons, but moms who have a pain-med-free birth are proud of themselves. They have conquered their rite of passage into motherhood. They have accomplished something that no one can ever take away from them. Ever.

That isn’t to say that moms who have an epidural (or other pain medications in labor) won’t have a lovely birth. They can also be proud of themselves and their births. It isn’t the same sort of birth, though. When a mom chooses to have an epidural, she really becomes a patient. That makes the flow of the birth more medical. She has to follow the safety protocols for epidural labor, which usually include continuous fetal & contraction monitoring, continuous IV, staying in bed for the rest of labor, catheterization for urinating, and more.

Finally, epidurals are big medicine. That is, they produce a big effect and they can have some big side-effects as well. Here is one side-effect people don’t usually talk about (luckily, your doula will talk about anything!): having an epidural in labor often makes moms feel more vulnerable. The labor is being guided by doctors and medicine instead of mom. There is a catheter in her back that is there to stay until after birth. Mom feels like she couldn’t do it without outside help. Mom feels tied down to the bed.

So when you are thinking in advance how you feel about epidurals, think of how this will affect you, because it is your birth!

A Watsu session

Watsu is terrifically relaxing and can benefit pregnant women. Jeff Bisdee is the only Watsu practitioner in Pittsburgh. Watsu is water Shiatsu. It is a relaxing type of massage that takes place in a warm water pool. Floating takes stress off a pregnant body and the gentle floating and gliding in the water is very relaxing. During a Watsu, both the practitioner and the mother wear bathing suits. It has been shown that swimming helps to orient the baby correctly in the birth canal. Watsu, like swimming, can be helpful for aligning the mother’s and baby’s bodies. And, it is fun! Take a look at Jeff’s Watsu website:

www.aquaticjourneypittsburgh.com.

I have had several Watsus and if I were pregnant, I would want several of them, especially during the last trimester. Watsu is a relaxing and meditative experience. Contact Jeff Bisdee for a Watsu of your own.

Normally, I’d talk about how beautiful it is for a mom to have doula support during her birth and beyond. But today, I’m talking about the support we doulas get from our families so that we can function. We are on-call for a particular woman’s birth and go whenever she is in labor. In order to do that, we must have a lot of support in our own homes. Our families and friends make sure that our children are safe and looked after. They make sure that we can be available to women whenever they need it.

I know my own family has supported me throughout my doula career. In November, I’m going to help by supporting my husband as he reaches to write a novel of  50,000 words in one month. Together we are participating in National Novel Writing Month. I’m going to give him whatever support he needs. I’ll be his researcher, his muse, his drill sergeant. Together, I know we can succeed, because support can be beautiful!

This is even more important when I”m trying to answer the question “What should I do now?” I can offer a triage of solutions using a dialog and her voice as my guide. When she’s calling to ask if I think she’s in labor, I rely on listening to her breathing, her voice and her silence to help me decide where she is. If she texts me information like “I’m having contractions,” she’s giving me her opinion, but she isn’t getting the benefit of my experience. My experience is part of why she hired me.

A doula-mom relationship should be built using several kinds of communication, but shouldn’t rely too heavily on one. Emailing and texting shouldn’t take the place of phone conversations and private meetings. What I’ve discovered is that texting ≠ nuance. Every relationship is full of nuance. I need that nuance to make the woman-to-woman connection we need so that I can support this new mother.

We often say being a doula is a calling, not a job or career. I think what we mean is that we are honored to be able to comfort a new mother during her labor. We are joyful when parents get to welcome a new baby into their family. We are excited to be able to offer our experience with breastfeeding and postpartum travails, if we can help a mother ease into her new life that way.

Because we are fascinated by this process of birth and new mothering, we study it and become more knowledgeable about it. We try to be a useful resource for mothers and new families. Yet, that isn’t the most important thing we do. We offer our support and comfort because people matter. New babies are people who matter. New mothers are people who matter. New fathers are people who matter. We do our best to help ease the way. We enjoy helping and being a resource. That’s what matters.

Dr. Tom Brewer, who authored the Brewer Diet, has been helping women stay healthy and avoid preeclampsia (also known as toxemia) for fifty years or so. Here is the official website: Blueribbonbaby.org . He says that the cause of preeclampsia or toxemia is known. It is not genetic, it is diet based. Here in Pittsburgh, we have too many women who suffer preeclampsia. It greatly affects the safety and comfort of their births. Here is the check-list for the Brewer diet.

If all it takes to have a toxemia free birth is to follow the Brewer diet, then what is keeping you?

At the conference I spoke on two topics: ”Influencing Breastfeeding Behavior through Advocacy & Action” and also “Communicating with Health-Care Providers: How to Be an Effective Health-Care Consumer”. I was able to speak about several ways women in Pittsburgh can help accomplish our goal of having a breastfeeding culture. It was a fun conference and it was great to see so many mom/baby nursing dyads!

Two wonderful new conferences are coming. The first is the 12th Annual Family Centered Maternity Care Conference sponsored by “Heart & Hands” Doula Service. It will be on March 24th at the Monroeville Doubletree hotel. The day’s speaker is noted midwife and author, Tonya Brooks. She has caught more than 5,000 babies both at midwife centers and in homes. She is author of: “Giving Birth at Home” and “The Parent’s Guide to Perinatology”. She will speak about the home-birth movement, reducing inductions of labor, improving your chances of a VBAC more. Download the conference brochure here and sign up!

The second is the Western Pennsylvania La Leche League conference on April 28th and featuring La Leche League’s Co-Founder Marian Tompson. The conference is called: Mother to Mother Support:  Our Foundation Our Future. I will also be speaking at two sessions. The first is “Communicating with Health-Care Providers: How to be an Effective Health-Care Consumer” and the second is “Influencing Breastfeeding Behavior through Advocacy and Action”. Sign up for this conference here.

Both of these conferences will be fun and full of great information. Come to both and I’ll see you there!

I decided to make soup tonight. I had carrots, potatoes, beef, yellow beets, red beets and cabbage and I found myself making borscht. I don’t think it’s because I have no imagination, rather, I think I have fond memories of borscht and when I have the ingredients at hand, that is what I want to experience again. I  love using the vegetables from our CSA (community supported agriculture). Also, my whole family enjoys borscht.

I also really enjoy the experience when I am able to attend a birth for a mom I have supported in birth before. There is something so satisfying about the honor of supporting a mother another time in labor. Her births are not the same, but they often do have a familiar flavor. As a doula, I have already developed a birthing groove with her. Some of my fondest birth memories, are of being with a mom for her subsequent births. Those memories are treasures of my heart.