"Doulaing" at home

This week I was fortunate enough to be a part of a home birth. Since my doula training home births have peeked my curiosity, but not something I've ever been a huge supporter of. However, there was an opportunity for me to doula a home birth. After a lot of consideration I realized that since I was still a doula in training and volunteering my time I could do it. I wasn't "scared" of them, I just didn't know what I thought. My biggest concern was always, "what if!"

Well, this is what I learned. Home births, if done responsibly, can be amazing and extremely relaxing. Here's the story; water broke at 7:00 am but contractions weren't anything big. So, I arrive at 1:30ish and contractions still aren't anything serious. The midwife and I talked different labor techniques over (by the way I learned more about labor and delivery during this birth then any other) and the general idea was that if labor didn't pick up by 7:00 pm she would have to go to the hospital. Reason, hospitals only really give you 24 hours after your water breaks before they consider a c-section. So, we wanted to make sure she had enough time in the hospital to get things moving. At around 3:30 pm mom drank a castor oil cocktail! (3oz castor oil, oj concentrate, & ice) At around 5:00 contractions picked up. Meanwhile, she was able to walk around the house, play with her kids, cuddle with her husband, take walks, and eat light snacks. All of these things you can not do in a hospital. (Especially the cuddle with the hubby part)

The birth took place in her bath tub. There was very little medical intervention. The midwife only checked her once to make sure she was progressing before she entered the water. So, when the time came and she felt like pushing she was encouraged to push. Unlike in a hospital she pushed in a way that felt natural to her. No one was telling her how long to hold the push, or what to do. She just let it happen. The head came out, and she waited for another contraction before she pulled the body out and lifted the baby to her chest.

The baby didn't even really cry. It made a healthy noise, but she was as content as could be. Midwife injected mom with some patosin to make her blot clot and then made sure mom and baby were fine.

During this, I noticed how relaxed mom stayed, and how content baby was when born. It was extremely different. I am still not a home birth advocate, but I will say, I now understand why people like to have their babies at home. I'm much more open minded and secure about being a doula at future home births.

Just thought I'd share..