I think I want to be a doula....

[laetitia85]

I'm thinking that I could do one of those courses then ask my local hospital if they need doulas to assist women in labour either as a volunteer or paid, depending on what they say. i know that the point of a doula is to be there throughout most of the pregnancy but when i gave birth, there were a lot women in the labour ward who didn't have any support at all, whereas i had my husband, my MIL, my sister and my mum from beginning to end. so i think it could be helpful

 

[Urchin]

Beanie does voluntary stuff, I think mainly BF support places rely on volunteers.

 

[libs]

Doulas tend to be used by those with spare income....so that's why you may not find many people using them on here - all those women are far to busy earning the money to pay for their doula - I'd rather have my mum and enough spare time to sit on here every day

You also need to have a lot of freedom to be a doula - not ideal if you have small children as most of them are on call 24 hours a day and often its expected that you'll give 24 hour support to the new mums at first.

My mum was considering it at one time, but she didn't think she'd have enough business locally to cover the costs of her advertising, insurance etc and its impractical to be miles away from clients as you need to be able to get there quickly to give full support.

You can however volunteer to do something similar if there's a project to support mums to be who are alone or don't have much support in your local area. So if you are going to do the course, that would be good experience too.

 

[Lou]

You girls know your stuff! It just seems such a wonderful job, I know I'd love it but like we have said its not a job really if you have small children which is sad Do you know what I'd be just happy to go and work on a ward, getting people drinks, looking after baby while they rest or shower. Really useful stuff. My mum said they had ladies who did that kind of thing years ago but they stopped it. Probably couldn't fund it anymore? OR....If you worked for a company being a doula then instead of being totally one to one with someone you could just work the hours that suited you I suppose. I mean once Isaac is at school my days will be my own again so I could be helping someone at their home or at the hospital with someone in labour, then when my 'shift' was up the company could call in someone to take over who can work the hours I can't.

Sorted!!!!

 

[paradysso]

im currently training to be a breastfeeding peer supporter. its voluntary. once youve completed training which on the course im doing takes a while u can train to be a counsellor buts its another 2 years training and you have to have experience yourself in breastfeeding.

i had to make a donation to cover the course fees which is fair enough, and it doesnt take up alot of time, but its really rewarding.

 

[Urchin]

Do you know what I'd be just happy to go and work on a ward, getting people drinks, looking after baby while they rest or shower. Really useful stuff. My mum said they had ladies who did that kind of thing years ago but they stopped it.

I'm sure they do that at my local hospital, maybe it varies from place to place There was a woman who changed my bed and brought me a cup of tea and I know 100% she wasn't a nurse. I don't even think she was training to be one.

 

[kalia]

I'd love to have a doula but they cost £350 here. And the thing is, I'd like to know that I get on well with them before signing up to spendig that amount of money. From their photos, they are past childbearing age and again I would prefer someone younger. Though as people have said, it can't be an ideal job if you have young children and might need to find childcare at late notice!

 

[HappyAlice]

If you worked for a company being a doula then instead of being totally one to one with someone you could just work the hours that suited you I suppose. I mean once Isaac is at school my days will be my own again so I could be helping someone at their home or at the hospital with someone in labour, then when my 'shift' was up the company could call in someone to take over who can work the hours I can't.

Sorted!!!!

Maybe we could start that company
Get enough of us and we could cover most of the UK

Edit: and to be part of it we have to look after each others kids aswell while we are on our shift

 

[EllieG]

[quote="lou"]Do you know what I'd be just happy to go and work on a ward, getting people drinks, looking after baby while they rest or shower. Really useful stuff.
A lot of units have this, they are team support workers, in our hospital, if they are on delivery suite, it tends to be a case of helping fetch things in theatre during ceasareans, helping women wash, making tea etc, the ward probably couldnt run without them. Then on the atenatal/postnatal ward, they mainly help with breastfeeding, assist people to shower if needed, help with meal times, all that kind of thing, again, they are fantastic, a lot of them seem to go on to do midwifery training. Our unit also accepts volunteers, but they are very limited as to what they can do.
When I did my doula training, I was given the impression that you could work as much/little as you wanted. If you cant work lots, you tend to just take on one client, if you were a post birth doula, it can often be for a few hours each day for a few weeks, helping with household stuff, keeping an eye on baby whilst mum rests, The main thing they taught us was to use your common sense and predict what needed doing, instead of asking 'what can i do' all the time. The birth doula was what i wanted to do. For some reason there was concern in the group that not all midwives seem to like doulas, I wonder if this is because the doula would be doing the part of the job the midwife wants to do but doesnt get the time. You do need to be able to go to your client when you are needed, so this is only really suitable if you have someone you can leave your own charge with, at the drop of a hat.

 

[Rosieroo]

I'm sure there used to be a lady on the forum who was a doula, this is going back to when I was pregnant with Ella. Was she called Kerry?

I think they're a great idea, and when we have another baby I'd consider one to make sure that if I was incapable of expressing my wishes to the midwife (I get pretty caught up in the pain and kind of go into myself!) that my doula had been prepped to. DH was, in the nicest sence, a complete waste of time at Alex's birth and I felt let down by him for ages afterwards, so next time I'd like someone stronger there for me

Or maybe I'll just ask one of you on here to come and shout at the MW?

 

[Sarah&Braydon]

i would love to do that sort of stuff, must be so rewarding

 

[leckershell]

im currently training to be a breastfeeding peer supporter. its voluntary. once youve completed training which on the course im doing takes a while u can train to be a counsellor buts its another 2 years training and you have to have experience yourself in breastfeeding.

i had to make a donation to cover the course fees which is fair enough, and it doesnt take up alot of time, but its really rewarding.

How did you get into that? It sounds ideal

 

[mayday]

OH and I have discussed having either an experienced birth doula or a private midwife next time. I nearly died having my baby, we are not short of a good income and quite frankly I would be prepared to pay however much it cost to not go through what I went through last time.

Looking back there were things that could have been done to help me, but I was exhausted after 3 days and nights without sleep and OH wasn't perhaps as clued up as he would like to have been (you can never tell men to read the WHOLE book and birth plan ) I think if we had had an advocate on our side she could have jumped up and down on our behalf about quite a lot of things. For example, I perhaps wouldn't have spent an hour pushing against a full bladder if I had had a catheter - the relief I felt when that went in was unbelievable! The fact that my daughter's head ended up in the wrong position could have been affected by this crucial hour (probably not a coincidence that this occurred during shift change.) Perhaps a knowledgable doula would have been a bit more outspoken at these times. She maybe wouldn't have prevented my c section from happening, but maybe she would have given guidance that would have prevented me from labouring futilely for as long as I did, only to have a high risk caesarean that was more complicated by the state I was in after 2 days of labour.

I saw on the TV yesterday that the time I was in hospital having my baby they were turning people away from my hospital to give birth in the next county, so clearly they were short of resources. I was denied access to the hospital initially even though my waters had broken, and was in need of advice. It would have been nice to have called someone who was experienced and asked for company and advice.

Next time I hope to have a natural birth (I know I can do it - 40 hrs last time with nothing more than gas and air until the doctors were called in!) I am more than prepared to pay to have assistance to acheive this.

There are plenty of people out there who will pay for it. Not necessarily on here, but they are out there. Go for it and good luck!

 

[paradysso]

im currently training to be a breastfeeding peer supporter. its voluntary. once youve completed training which on the course im doing takes a while u can train to be a counsellor buts its another 2 years training and you have to have experience yourself in breastfeeding.

i had to make a donation to cover the course fees which is fair enough, and it doesnt take up alot of time, but its really rewarding.

How did you get into that? It sounds ideal

i will pm you all the details tommorrow hunni

 

[Lou]

Wow there's been some great replies on here! It seems its something most of us would love to do and also it seems there is a demand for doula's but maybe the way they operate at the moment could be improved upon or updated. Like others have said, if you have had a bad experience and feel next time a doula could help then really its not something you can put a price on. I know not everyone can afford that sort of expense and it is a shame that the NHS can't provide the same care a doula has to offer but the fact remains, doula's are financially a luxury for most but practically something I think we would all love to have aren't they? Actually I don't see why they would be really expensive, ok for unsociable hours maybe they can charge a bit more but during the day its no diferent to any other job and, as already has been said, most of it must require common sense more than any 'learned' skills.

I'm just thinking out loud

 

[Rosieroo]

I don't think Doulas get paid that much tbh, isn't it something like £200-£350 total which covers all visits etc?

 

[paradysso]

i remember kerry the doula. what happened to her