Written By: Zaakirah Idrissu

There has been a lot of social media coverage about doula support and its positive impact on the overall wellbeing of the new family. Perhaps it’s for this very reason that the family sought out doula support in preparation for the arrival of their new baby. Unfortunately parents may ask doulas questions that are more appropriate to ask of their medical provider such as what rate of their clients had an unplanned epidural for example. Many parents may have concerns regarding inductions, epidurals, cesareans, etc. It’s their responsibility to communicate these concerns with their medical team whom are licensed to administer these medications or procedures. When parents rely on the doula to “save” them from interventions they are unaware that the root of the issue was not solved, which is having a medical team they trust. And in fact the doula cannot “save” them from the medical staff.

Both labor support professionals and parents need to be reminded that doulas serve primarily as continuous emotional support. They fill in a role as being a part of the overall community or the village so to speak. When parents do not hire medical staff that align with their birth vision or values inevitably they may experience difficulties that damper the memory of their baby’s birth story. It is the presence of the mature and serene labor support professional which brings some positive energy to the complexity and nuance that is birth.

When we as labor support professionals inadvertently center ourselves in a clients experience we can experience a roller coaster of emotions including internalized self blame. While we wish everything went perfectly for the families we support the reality is that it may have fallen quite far from that mark. When we center our efforts on the premise of emotional support regardless of the medical team’s actions we can cultivate a space of empathy, hope, and compassion. Ultimately the changes and improvements in maternal health will happen with time especially the more people step up to the challenge. We cannot expect decades of outdated practices to vanish without great collaborative efforts.

Though families may experience some challenges in the labor room it is truly not in vain. The more parents there are in the community that advocate for their rights in the labor room, and give written reviews to the public on their experiences those hospitals the more the hospitals will become accommodating. Hospitals must be held accountable just as any other public institution is by its clientele. In the end solidarity and collaboration are powerful tools for achieving overall change and improvements.