In the Courier-Journal
By Christa Hoyland
Special to The Courier-Journal
From her years as an obstetrician-technician, Brenda Whyland realized that mothers in labor could benefit from having the same person stay with them throughout the experience.
The medical staff was limited, Whyland observed, because of shift changes and the need to serve multiple patients. And as much as fathers tried to be supportive, she knew that having someone nearby familiar with medical procedures — but not emotionally involved in the situation — would be of greater benefit.
So when Whyland, who lives in Otisco, learned that birth doulas are trained to be that support system, she eagerly went through the certification process. (“Doula,” pronounced DOO-la, comes from an ancient Greek term referring to a woman’s knowledgeable companion.)
Whyland, who was certified about 3½ years ago, is one of 11 certified birth doulas in the Birth Care Network referral system that serves Southern Indiana and metro Louisville. Birth Care Network also lists 29 trained birth doulas and 10 certified or trained postpartum doulas, who are available to help mothers when they return home with their newborns.
Doulas who belong to Birth Care Network are certified by DONA International, an organization that trains and provides support to doulas around the world. According to Dani Johnson, DONA’s Midwestern U.S. director, there are 150 DONA members in Indiana; about half of them are certified birth doulas.
To become certified, birth doulas attend training workshops, complete required reading materials and provide emotional and physical support to mothers in at least three births. Trained doulas have participated in the required training workshops but are not yet certified.
The cost for certification starts at about $330 but could be higher depending on whether the required books are purchased instead of checked out from a local library, Johnson said. Doulas in the Midwest typically earn $400 to $700 per birth. In large cities, including New York, doulas may receive up to $1,500 per birth, Johnson said.
Whyland said her experience as an obstetrician-technician, from 1979 to 1986, acquainted her with the medical technology of working as a doula, but medical training is not required.
Doulas do not assist with the baby’s delivery but provide emotional support, information to help parents make informed choices and suggestions on how to keep labor progressing or how to keep the mother relaxed and focused.
“Women need a lot of emotional support during that time,” Whyland said. “Husbands, they can give some, but it’s different than what an outsider, a doula, can do for them.”
Pam Keeney of Louisville agrees. She had a doula assist with the natural childbirth of both her children, ages 4 and 8 months. Whyland was the doula for the second child’s birth.
“Your spouse tries to be a coach, but that’s a lot of pressure on a spouse,” Keeney said.
She said they also wanted a doula because neither she nor her husband’s parents live nearby.
“It’s good to have someone other than your spouse there cheering for you,” Keeney said.
Whyland said that increasingly her clients are choosing to labor longer at home with a doula because they do not want to be continually monitored or spend too much time in the hospital. Doulas are trained to observe when a woman is going into transitional labor so as to make a timely trip to the hospital for the delivery.
Well before the birth, Whyland works with the expectant parents and the mother’s physician to create a birth plan. She is then available for any questions the parents may have up to the birth.
Once the woman goes into labor, Whyland stays with the mother until the baby is born. She makes a postpartum visit several days later to check on the mother and baby.
One thing Whyland said she particularly likes about being a doula is being with the parents throughout the labor and delivery, whether it be three hours or 36 hours.
A doula is “there continuously throughout the birth — unless it’s an extremely long birth, and then we may have a backup,” Whyland said. “That’s so important for the client to know there’s a support system there.”
Doulas also helped the father-to-be by easing fears or suggesting how he might comfort the mother during labor, such as providing a backrub, Whyland said.
Stephanie and Brent Braun of New Albany also found having a doula encouraging when Stephanie, 25, had her first baby last week. Brent Braun said the couple decided on having a doula after researching natural childbirth and Lamaze.
After the birth of their son, Elliott, at Clark Memorial Hospital, Braun, 30, said Whyland helped his wife through periods of “self doubt” during labor.
“If I’d have been the only person there saying, ‘You can do this,’ I don’t know if she could have” continued to labor without anesthesia, he said. “Having someone there who’s been there . . . who’s been through it a thousand times” provided the necessary encouragement and “helped refocus her.”
Amy Gillespie of Jeffersonville said Whyland helped her and her husband during the at-home labor when their son, now 17 months, was born. Whyland helped allay her husband’s fears about Gillespie’s laboring at home.
“She helped with him with his anxiety,” said Gillespie, who has asked Whyland to be the doula for her second child’s birth, due in January. “We joked that we think the doula was more for him than for me.”
Amanda Rahn of Louisville chose Whyland to be her doula because she wanted a birth experience better than her first 10 years ago, a labor-induced delivery.
She and her fiancé developed a birth plan that anticipates her laboring at home as long as possible.
“She’s there to make sure everything’s done for mine and the baby’s best interest,” Ruhn said.
NBC25 NEWS – A Smithsburg woman is speaking out after she says she was dropped by her obstetrician when she was more than eight months pregnant, all because she refused to have a caesarean section.
