Are you the best doula in Montreal?
Doula-ing is not an olympic sport! Seriously? “Best” doula in Montreal? This question always surprises me, because the best doula is the one that you feel the most comfortable with. Montreal is lucky to have a wide selection of doulas and I always encourage people to meet a few doulas and see which one they “click” with. Doula Match is one place where I have a profile and you can also search for more of the best doulas that Montreal has to offer.
Are doulas only for first time parents?
Not at all! A lot of people who chose not have a doula for their first birth are eager to have a doula in order to improve their overall birthing experience now that they know what to expect, and most people who did had a doula for their first birth would never dream of giving birth without one the next time!
I have a very supportive partner. If they are with me during labor, do I really need a doula? Will having even the best doula take away the intimacy of this precious experience?
Your partner knows and loves you and I know and love birth, so our roles complement one another. A person in the throes of labour is a majestic force of nature to behold, but for a loved one, it can be scary to see. The goal of my work as a doula is to enhance the role of your partner, share my expertise with them, and allow them time to rest and eat throughout your labour so that they can be there for you. Having (most likely) attended many more births than your partner, I also have a fairly good idea of how things will unfold, and can help both of you normalize the experience. You can also read this birth story in which the partner shares a few words about his experience.
I will be giving birth at a hospital with incredible nurses and doctors. What will you do that’s different from the support they provide?
A doula provides continuity. We will know each other and have formed a birth team- you, me and your partner. I will not leave your side (apart from short breaks to use the bathroom or eat) whether your labor lasts 2 hours or 2 days. Nurses and doctors change shifts every 8 hours, and even if you loved your ob-gyn during your pre-natal visits, the chances of them being at your birth are about as slim as actually giving birth on your due date (i.e. I have never seen it happen, though it is a possibility).
Hospital caregivers are concerned with the medical side of your birth (blood pressure, fetal heart monitoring), as well as the births of the five other people who happen to be in labour on their shift, so they are likely to pop in every half hour or so to see how you are doing. I am there only for you and my task is to stay present and to provide the best doula support that I can to help you with your hard work.
Is a doula best for only for natural births? What if I want a medicated birth?
The best doulas are able to support their client non-judgementally however they want to give birth. As far as I’m concerned, whoever has to do the hard work gets to call the shots! I spend time going over your birth plan with you so that it reflects your ideal birth and then I create a visual birth plan that can be quickly and easily comprehended at a glance by the rest of the birth team at the hospital.
Have you ever missed a birth?
Not yet. There was one time where it was close because the woman and her partner shared a mobile phone and he took it to work. She figured that she could labour quietly at home and that when he got back at the end of the day, it would be right around the time to go to the hospital. What she hadn’t counted on was rush hour traffic getting to the hospital, but she still managed to get to the hospital with an hour and a half to spare. The thing is that she could have gone to a neighbour or a pay phone at any time, but it was her second baby and she had a much clearer idea of the timeline.
Here is a secret: Birth is rarely that frantic sort of emergency that it appears to be in movies. Usually there are hours (and hours and hours) of labour before you need to get to the hospital and a fair amount of time spent at the hospital before the baby makes an appearance.
I will be in constant communication with you from the moment labour starts and I will come to your house when you feel that you need to have me there. As well, best doula practice indicates always having a back-up in place, even when you don’t think you will need it. From the moment the contract is signed, one of my colleagues will be assigned to you as the back-up just in case anything ever prevents me from being there.
Do you have a 12-hour clause?
No. A 12-hour clause is a part of a doula’s contract that requires the client to pay extra fees if the labour goes beyond 12 hours. It can be hard to price a job that may take anywhere from five hours to two days, but I prefer to have my clients fully focussed on the birth, not the bill. I averaged out the amount of time I spend at a birth and charge accordingly.
Where do you attend births?
I will attend births anywhere that a medical professional is present in the greater Montreal area, including Laval, the South Shore and the West Island. I mostly attend births at hospitals, but am always excited to attend births in a birth centre (maison de naissance) or home births. A positive birthing atmosphere is important to me, and I always go out of my way to be courteous and professional in my relationships with other people in the birthing space to leave the best impression of doulas that I can.
In which Montreal hospital should I give birth?
The best doulas don’t tell you what to do, but give you the tools that you need to make the decisions yourself. There is no right or wrong hospital at which to give birth, most likely you will have already decided on a hospital early in your pregnancy when you found your doctor. I have had clients who have had many wonderful and positive birth experiences at a wide variety of Montreal hospitals. Amongst my clients, the most popular choices are the Jewish General Hospital, LaSalle Hospital, Ste Justine Hospital and The Glen (MUHC, the old Royal Vic).
So, what exactly does a postpartum doula DO?
Have you ever had friends try to reassure you by saying “You got this!” and you have thought “I have so NOT got this at the moment!!”? That is where the postpartum doula steps in. My job is to work myself out of a job by teaching you the tools you need to be the best parent that you can be.
I start every shift by asking you how I can best be of help on that particular day. It might be by taking the baby so that you can sleep, have a quiet shower or take a walk around the block on your own. Maybe breastfeeding is posing more challenges than you had anticipated. It could be that you are unsure about bathing. You might be trying to sort out a ton of conflicting advice from families, friends, neighbours and miscellaneous people on the street. Maybe your family lives far away and you need a bit of extra help with laundry and meal preparation. These are all valid reasons for hiring a postpartum doula.
When can you hire a postpartum doula?
Whenever you realize that you need one! Some people call me during pregnancy to set up postpartum visits within a few days of having their baby, other people wait until they start to feel a bit overwhelmed. The main benefits to hiring a postpartum doula beforehand are that I will already have time set aside for you in my schedule and that I can help with any breastfeeding challenges in the first few days before they turn into larger problems.