Doula
For as far back as history remembers, experienced mothers cared for and nurtured expectant women through the transformational labor process. Creating birth space and holding it sacred, grandmothers, aunts, neighbors, doula and midwives supported each other through childbearing.
As families and communities became more autonomous and independent, maternity care moved away from traditional doula care and into the medical world. Women desired the clean environment and disassociation with birth pain that doctors offered.
While there were many advantages to more medicalized birth practices, mothers began to suffer from the loss of a close emotional support network. Women who might have died in childbirth without medical attention now lived with unresolved birth trauma stemming from a lack of feminine empathy.
In an effort to restore balance and harmony to the birthing process, mothers-to-be sought for sisterly companionship and support from other women. The plea from mothers for encouragement, knowledge, and a consistent presence fueled a movement of trained women, known as doulas.
In my role as Labor Doula, I meet with you, the expectant mother, a few months before your due date. This opens communication between us in which you may ask questions, express feelings and concerns, and actively build a comfortable birth plan.
We’ll work together to actively build a comfortable birth plan.
-Heather LeFoll, CBD, EC1, BC2, BC3.
I do not provide any medical care. Instead, I
- provide information to help you gain a better understanding of each part of the process of birth
- discuss with you what a healthy pregnancy and birth look like and all the variants of normal
- ensure that you gain a satisfactory understanding of the procedures and possible complications of pregnancy and birth
- employ use of The Body Code™ to find the root of fears and anxieties, help you prepare emotionally for birth, and release harmful energies from previous traumatic experiences
- hold emotional space for your own prenatal and birthing energy to access your maternal power.
As you and your baby approach the time of birth, as your doula I am on-call for you beginning about 2 weeks before your estimated due date until you begin labor. When your labor begins, I either join you at your home and travel with you to the hospital, or meet you at the hospital. From the time we enter the hospital together, I am with you throughout the duration of your labor and for 2 or 3 hours after birth while you bond and settle to rest with your baby.
Case Study: working with a doula to Overcome Fear and Achieve a Natural Birth
At my first home visit with Emily, she shyly shared with me that because she had been sexually abused she felt she would certainly end up with a cesarean surgery because she knew she just couldn’t open up for birth. We discussed at length her desire for a natural birth without interventions, which juxtaposed with her fears and anxieties.
When her labor began, I met Emily at the hospital. Several additional family members cheerfully greeted me. Emily quietly sat in the hospital bed, her hospital gown wrapped tightly around her in a self-conscious attempt at privacy. As her labor intensified and the waves of contractions became increasingly difficult to relax through, her family chattered and laughed together, unaware of the distraction they created.
Emily’s body tightened with every contraction. She tried to maintain eye contact and focus on me, mirroring my breathing, but her tension grew. When her labor shifted into transition* her eyes became wild with fear and she lost the ability to stay connected with me through contractions. All progression towards full dilation stopped and her pain became unbearable. In a panicked voice, she pleaded with me for help.
I needed to clear the room energetically. I spoke privately to the nurse, explaining that because of Emily’s traumatic history the happy energy her family brought to the birth was doing more harm than good for her. I requested permission to be completely alone with Emily, and together the nurse and I asked the family to wait outside.
I connected to her energy and brought her to focus on the work she must do.
I returned to Emily, and during the brief pause between contractions reminded her that this was the moment she feared most, but I was there as her doula to provide the added support she would need. I connected to her energy, and brought her focus to the very emotional and painful work she must do. One contraction at a time, she followed my guided visualization. When traumatic memories pushed into her birthing space, we energetically released them.
Within a short time, Emily began to feel the urges to push. The nurse and doctor responded respectfully to the calm energy in the room, and quietly prepared for birth. Emily’s focus remained strong and grounded as she successfully pushed her baby out. Not only did she birth naturally, but her emotional healing through the process opened her heart and womb.
Not only did she birth naturally, but her emotional healing through the process opened her heart and womb.
I physically serve the women of The Great North Woods of New Hampshire, and The Northeast Kingdom of Vermont in my capacity as a labor doula. However, I use a video platform for The Body Code™ work with mothers in any location before, during and after birth.
*Transition is the part of labor between contractions that open the cervix fully and contractions that push the baby out – about 7-10 centimeters dilation
