If there is anything I wish I had when Ethan was a baby, it is someone who would follow up with me, make sure I was doing everything correctly, and show me how better to interact with him as an infant. All I had was family and a slew of book resources. I followed the books to a T because otherwise I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. And absolutely terrified. I have met a couple of doulas since then, and should I ever be healthy enough to have any more children, I definitely want one with me in the delivery room and afterward. What a great program.
two of my three kids were born at home with midwives. One of them runs the Center for the Childbearing Year in Ann Arbor, Michigan – training doulas and providing doula care http://www.center4cby.com/ It’s a much more nurturing way to have a baby!
I’m lucky that I have a whole band of “doulas” in my life. Whenever one of us has a baby, the others come by her house to clean, answer questions, hold the baby so mama can get a shower, cook dinners….you get the idea. I still wish I could afford a professional, but since I can’t I’m just grateful that I have the circle of friends I do. I’ll be counting on them a lot in the next few weeks.
I hired a doula for the birth of my first child. Interestingly, she was of most support to my husband as I went into labor while picking him up from the commuter train at 6:45 PM. The two of them took turns being with me, so he didn’t have to stay up all night. This was especially important, since my labor lasted 21 hours. (For my second child, I couldn’t find one.)
My son had a lot of problems with breastfeeding, and by the time we went home (after a C-Section, so four days) he still had only latched on correctly once. The hospital we had used had a post-delivery support group that, when he was still not getting good results, sent a lactation nurse out to consult. He never did get the hang of it.