Really enjoyed this humorous and engaging Doula/Birth 101 by Ginny Phang, a doula in Singapore.
The only thing I disagreed with her on was she was maybe implying that first-time mothers can get a 3-4 hour labor by preparing and educating themselves...I think that preparation and relaxation can certainly help shorten labor, but I wouldn't want a mom who had worked hard to prepare for birth expect a 3-4 hour labor or feel like she had done something "wrong" because a first labor took longer. But she also talks about not knowing how long labor will take, being prepared for anything, and writing a comprehensive birth plan with Plans B, C, and D. It was a fun and inspiring little video, and I think will help people understand what a doula does and why it's important. (Also, catch the gasps when she talks about planning to breastfeed for a month, then mentions how long she actually breastfed her son!)
What a fun and engaging talk! I can see where you're coming from with her implications that first-time moms could/should always have short births, but she does go on to say later on that nobody knows how long your birth will go and so the thing you really have control over is how you respond to the process. Sage words!
ReplyDeleteI wasn't surprised about the gasps when she said how long she BFed for - that's a LONG time by Western standards, although evolutionarily speaking, babies/children are probably meant to breastfeed for anywhere from 2.5-7 years. What really kind of raised my eyebrows, though, was when she said she was "too young" to be having a baby - at 23! I'll be 25 this fall and I can't honestly tell you how many former high school classmates I know who are already on their 2nd or 3rd child. However, I completely understood her concerns about being jobless, and I think it sucks that her parents wanted to kick her out and her boyfriend wanted to dump her if she didn't abort the baby she really felt she wanted to have. She's one awesome woman and doula, that's for sure!