SHOULD YOU BECOME A DOULA?

Doula work is exciting, honorable, and beautiful. You have the opportunity to change worlds. A mother who views her birth in empowering terms is more confident overall, helping her be a better mother to her newborn baby. The family will be stronger, as will the children.

But doula work doesn't come without challenges. Whatever your reasons are for pursuing a career as a doula, you'll want to seriously consider if this is the right time in your life to begin, and whether becoming a doula is a good path for you to take.

Obviously, being a compassionate person is important for doula work. Being able to read people's feelings is essential in doula work. Also, you'll want to be sure you're highly motivated to pursue the education and constant learning that comes with doula work, beyond your initial certification period. If you're squeamish about blood or bodily fluids, doula work is probably not for you. Even though you're not delivering the baby, you will be around and possibly in contact with all that comes with childbirth.

Doula work doesn't pay much, and so if you're expecting to make a good living with your doula work, you may want to reconsider. There are those that market themselves well, and are willing to take on three or four clients a month, who make about $30,000 a year. Again, not much. But the average doula makes about $5,000 a year, after costs are taken into consideration.

Here are five more questions to ask yourself before you embark on this career.

1. Do you have a flexible lifestyle?

   Doula work has crazy hours. You need to be on call for two weeks before and two weeks after your client's due date, and be available if she should need you earlier than expected. Birth isn't predictable, and you may be called into a birth in the middle of the night, on holidays, or in the middle of a Sunday afternoon. Labor may occur extremely quickly, requiring you to be able to get to your client as soon as possible, and it also may stretch over a period of days.

   Can you leave for a client at the last moment? If you have children, do you have a babysitter who can reliably be on call for you? Will being away from home and with the laboring mother for more than 12 or even 24 hours be doable? If you have a regular job, are they understanding and flexible enough if you need to be away at the last minute? And, very importantly, is your family understanding of the time doula work will involve?

2. Have you processed your own experiences with birth and parenthood?

   A sensitive point, but an important one are you able to attend to the needs of your clients without ghosts from your own birth experiences getting in the way?

   "Before a woman can be a good doula, she has to process her own birth experiences, or other experiences that bring her to doula work," explains Ana Hill, a doula for over eight years and a doula instructor for Rocky Mountain Doula Educators."A woman who is trying to process a traumatic experience by attending other women's births is really doing those women a disservice. She is not focusing on her clients' needs, but her own. In fact, she's using her clients rather than serving them. She may subconsciously try to influence their decisions to reflect decisions she wishes she had made. She may possibly project her feelings onto her clients, not really listening to them.

   "A doula who has had infertility issues," Ana continues,"and has not made peace with her situation can also use clients for her own fulfillment, to the clients' detriment."

   Many women come to doula work because of personal experiences with birth and parenthood. Making sure you've dealt with and made peace with your past is essential, but of course, the traumatic or difficult experiences you've gone through can make you a better doula in the end. Just be sure that before you begin work as a doula that you are able to work with clients without bringing your fears or expectations to their births.

3. Are you able to be assertive, without being pushy?

   Part of doula work involves being an advocate for your client. This means being able to speak with other members of the birth team on your client's behalf when necessary. You should feel comfortable speaking with nurses and doctors, and at the same time, it's important to be able to speak to them with respect.

   The same trait that makes some doulas great at advocacy can work against them when dealing with their clients, if they're not careful. While you need to be assertive, you also need to respect boundaries and not come off as pushy.

   "It's also important to remember that although it is wonderful to be a doula and an activist, not all clients will choose paths that further the changes we'd like to see in the birthing culture," Ana Hill explains."A good doula knows how to separate her various emotional needs, including her desire for cultural change, from the needs of each individual client. That way, she is free to help the client have the birth the *client* dreams of, not necessarily the birth the doula dreams of."

4. Are you in good health?

   The hours of doula work can be stressful. Not only do you need to be strong and healthy enough to work for hours at a time, you also need to consider that, depending on your schedule, you may be called into another birth after only a short nap.

   In terms of physical strength, doula work can require a great deal of stamina."I've had moms with back labor where my job was more physically helping to ease the back pain," Stephanie Soderblom, a doula for about 11 years in Arizona, explains."One client had a normal presenting baby, but the baby was so low in her pelvis that her lower back was hurting. She spent hours sitting, while the baby's father and myself pressed on her knees to ease her back labor."

5. Are you comfortable with touch?

   Cyndi Whitwell, a doula who has attended over 500 births, reminds us that touch is an essential component of doula support."You should be a person who can be flexible, patient, and willing to provide physical support -- hugs and touch are mandatory!"

   While not every client will want a lot of physical support, most will at least want someone who will hold their hand. You may also need to help hold the mother in whatever birthing position she decides on, either along with the father, or on your own. If you walk with your client during labor, she may want to rest against you during contractions for support. Other touch intensive activities include massage, providing hugs and a shoulder to cry on, and offering a cool wash cloth.

   Everyone comes to doula work with their own personal challenges and concerns. The main question you need to ask yourself is -- are you willing to work on yourself and put your best effort forward to be a good support for your clients?

This article was published by doula.com