Christy Shields, CLD
Niceville, FL
My family and I have recently relocated to the Emerald Coast. Please excuse the construction as I update my site!
If you have any questions or need referral information please feel free to contact me.
What is a Doula?
A doula is a professional labor assistant who provides emotional, physical and informational support to the expectant mother and her birth partner. A doula attends the birthing family before, during and just after the birth of a baby. The primary focus of the doula is to provide continuous support to the mother throughout the entire labor. She does not perform any medical tasks but actually complements the medical birth team. Whether the mother wants to give birth unmedicated, medicated or is planning a c-section a doula can provide tremendous support. The doula helps her to relax, provides massage as well as other techniques to help cope with labor pains and assists with laboring and pushing options. She also helps the father participate in the birth to the extent that he feels comfortable. *see Dad's and Doulas
During pregnancy
The doula's role is to assist families in preparing a birth plan, to provide information about birth options and resources, and to provide emotional support. Her primary goal is to eliminate the fear of labor and delivery and to help instill a mothers confidence in her ability to birth her baby.
During labor and birth
The doula facilitates communication between the family and the caregiver, and supports the mother and her partner with the use of physical, emotional, and informational support.
Postpartum
The doula assists the mother in talking through her birth experience, answering questions about newborn care and breastfeeding within our scope of practice, and referring the family to appropriate resources as needed.
The Labor Doula's Scope of Practice
It is not within the labor doula's scope to offer medical advice or perform any medical or clinical procedure.
What a Doula Can Do For You
Christy Shields, CLD
Studies show that women’s satisfaction with their birth experiences are not about how long the birth was, how painful or whether or not they had any number of interventions. The levels of satisfaction have much more to do with how involved she was in preparing for the birth, how she participated in making decisions during the birth and ultimately how empowered she felt. How does this apply to you? How can you ensure you give yourself the best chances of having these beautiful memories to hold on to? Education! It is up to you to educate yourself about all of the choices available to you, and some that should be available to you but currently are not. Though many interventions are routine in some hospitals it is up to you to learn why they are used, when they are not necessary and how they could adversely affect your birth. Keep in mind there are pro’s and con’s to every intervention and you need to make informed decisions about your health care and about your baby’s health care. In addition you should be well educated as to when these interventions are a necessary part of birth that will require you to deviate from your birth plan.
This journey through pregnancy and parenthood is one filled with so much information that it seems nearly impossible to wade through it all. This is where a doula can become an invaluable part of your birth team. Prior to the birth a doula can help you weed through they mountains of information to find what best suites your needs. She can help you prepare a birth plan to ensure your health care providers know what you want and are going to support you in those decisions. She can help your partner to understand the challenges of pregnancy and birth so that he/she can participate and enjoy this experience to the fullest. And during the most memorable part, birthing your baby, she can support you, comfort you, advise you and empower you in the decisions you have made for your birth. She is not there to judge you or your decisions or to make you stick to a strict plan. She is there to encourage you in this journey and to help you make new decisions, as birth is never uneventful. If it is an unmedicated birth you desire, she can guide you through the stages and challenges inherent to birth. A doula will help you focus on your goal and supply you with the tools you need to manage the pains of labor. If this kind of birthing experience is not appealing to you and you would prefer to have medications and/or an epidural she can help by explaining these procedures and how you can still influence the birthing process. She can help you by staying mindful of the importance of the peaceful birth environment. Ultimately, her primary goal is to help you create the best memories of your birth so that you forever can look back and relive the most amazing experience of your life.