It's the Little Things

After the birth, a grandmother that attended stated " I can't say exactly what she did, but I sure am glad she was there." To some this may sound like the doula did not do much, but this statement made me smile. If I can take care of a couple's needs and no one realizes what exactly I'm doing, then I am meeting my job description. There are so many little tasks that most may not even think about during birth. Constantly offering drinks to mom between contractions, watching the clock to make sure that she uses the bathroom every hour or so, offering to take over for dad so he can have a break to eat, or just asking mom if she has any questions about what the doctor or nurse are considering. During the same birth with the grandmother there, the care provider came in while the mom and dad were both asleep. They wanted to start Pitocin (the medicine commonly used for inductions or to speed up labor). I quietly suggested that the mom may want to be woke up so she could be aware of what was going on. The care provider did wake her up, told her the plan of starting the Pitocin, the mom declined, and went on to birth her baby without Pitocin. While it seems like such a little thing, my comment made sure that the mom got to participate in that decision. The couple may not know everything I did to support and advocate for them and I am fine with that!