Birth Companions:

What do doulas do? (ASL version)

by Jerri Middlebrook-Vogel

Jerri is a birth doula who is Deaf. In this video, she explains about her role as a doula and what services she does and does not provide in that role. On the CD, she also answers the following questions:

• Why did you become a doula?
• Who pays for your services?
• What does a doula do throughout the labor and delivery process?
• What are your experiences working on a birthing team?
• Are there differences between working with first-time and experienced moms?
• What are your experiences working with interpreters?
• Do you have any final thoughts to share?

Play Video
Video is 3.1 MB and 2:22 long.
Click back button after viewing video.

View written summary.

What do doulas do? (English version)

by Persis Bristol-Dodson

Persis is a birth doula who also happens to be a certified sign language interpreter.. In this video, she gives more perspective on the role of doulas in the birthing process. On the CD, she also answers the following questions:

• Why did you become a doula?
• How much do your doula services cost and who pays for your services?
• How can someone find a doula?
• What does a doula do throughout the labor and delivery process?
• What are your experiences working on a birthing team?
• Are there differences between working with first-time and experienced moms?
• What is the difference between doulas and midwives?
• Do you have any final thoughts to share?

Play Video (with English captions)
Video is 1.4 MB and 1:44 long.
Click back button after viewing video.

View Transcript

An Appointment with a Doula (in ASL)

with Jerri Middlebrook-Vogel and Rania Johnson

Jerri and Rania meet to discuss the services that a doula offers during labor and delivery. This video clip is an excerpt from a 21 minute conversation they have that is contained on the CD-ROM. It focuses on some of what Rania is hoping for in her delivery related to having a natural birth, and how Jerri can support her in those goals.

Play Video
Video is 3.3 MB and 2:30 long.
Click back button after viewing video.

View written summary.

An Appointment with a Doula (in English)

with Persis Bristol-Dodson and Kimberly Smith

Persis meets with Kimberly Smith and her daughter Selina to discuss the possibilities of doula services during Kimberly's second labor and delivery. This segment is an excerpt from the beginning of the conversation that goes on for over 19 minutes.

Play Video (with English Captions)
Video is 2.8 MB and 2:36 long.
Click back button after viewing video.

View Transcript

An Appointment with a Nurse Midwife (in English)

with Maria Wolff and Amy Wolff

Maria and Amy meet for a routine check-up as part of Amy's pre-natal care. Amy is at about 33 weeks in her pregnancy. This excerpt focuses on how Amy is physically feeling and how many more weeks is necessary to get into the safest place for fetal development prior to delivery.

Play Video (with English Captions)
Video is 2.1 MB and 1:58 long.
Click back button after viewing video.

View Transcript

Summary of What do doulas do?

Jerri explains how she works with the moms as a doula. First, she meets the mom to find out what her beliefs are about the birth experience, what her hopes are for that process and how Jerri can help her. Jerri tries to provide whatever the mom says she wants from her. If the mom wants information, Jerri will collect it and give it to the mom. She draws the line at providing medical advice, instead encouraging the mom to ask the midwife or doctor any medical questions she may have.

When the mom goes to the hospital, Jerri is there to encourage the mom and support her wishes for the labor and delivery. If the mom wants a natural childbirth with no medical intervention, Jerri works to protect that wish. She supports the mom and encourages
her to let the staff know what she wants. Jerri also provides physical support and comfort to the mom during contractions, particularly in the case of a natural childbirth..

Once the baby is born, Jerri can provide continued support. She can find and offer support about breast feeding, she will do a home visit a couple of weeks after the baby is born to see if she can help with housecleaning, watching other children in the house, making a meal, or simply taking care of the baby so the mother can take a shower. She’ll even review the labor and delivery with the mom to fill her in on things she may have forgotten or missed during the process.

Back to Video

ASL Version

Back to Video

Transcript of What do doulas do?

A doula is a non-medical, professional child-birth assistant that provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother and the family before, during, and immediately after childbirth.

Uh, ways in which we help navigate the hospital environment is that we give them the information that they need in order to understand what is happening during the birth process. Um, during the labor process, I should say. Labor goes in many stages. There is early labor, there’s active labor, transition, and then the actual birth of the child. Early and active labor are the longest parts of labor and that’s where we, as doulas, do the most amount of work. Um, we allow, we provide the mother with massages, we provide her with comfort measures, pain reduction, pain management, pain relief, uh, as well as stress relief.

A labor doula allows the mother to... is a support system set in place for the mother and the partner, the family, I should say, um, to help her to navigate through the hospital environment knowing what to expect, what not to expect, as well as managing the physical aspects and emotional aspects of labor and birth.

The point of, um, a lot of people would hire a doula because they want to avoid unnecessary medical interventions and that is a large part of what we do.

Back to Video

English Version

Back to Video

Summary of An Appointment with a Doula

Rania says she is hoping for a natural childbirth but understands that there can be complications and she needs to be a little flexible. She still has a lot of confusion about the possible medications and drugs that might be needed.

She does not want an epidural except as a last resort. She wonders if Jerri can help her understand all the medications and possible consequences should she need them and be to overwhelmed to make decisions during labor. Jerri explains that she is there to offer encouragement and support that allows the mom to focus and studies show that that kind of emotional support leads to less use of drugs during labor and delivery. She says that she
can help the mom keep from becoming overwhelmed by labor.

She can offer back massages, refer to the birth plan if a mom is tempted to use a drug, help the mom shift position as an alternate way to work through pain, and so on. She sometimes rocks the mom through contractions, using the natural rhythm of the body to determine a pace.

Back to Video

ASL Version

Back to Video

Transcript of An Appointment with a Doula

P: Hi Kimberly.
K: Hi.
P: How are you? I see you have your baby here.
K: I do. This is Miss Selina.
P: Hello, Miss Selina. And what can I do for you today?
K: Well, I think I may want a doula. I’m kind of not really sure what that means.
P: Okay.
K: To be honest with you, - Whew! excuse you (to Selina) – to be honest with you, you know, my first birth was not exactly what I wanted. And you know, having never gone through it, I didn’t really know what I wanted, to be honest with you.
P: (overlapping) Exactly. Exactly.
K: And, um, some friends had suggested a doula and I really didn’t know what that was, so I went online and that’s how I found you, through the CAPPA and DONA web site.
P: (overlapping) Okay. Okay.
K: But, um, at first, when they were telling me what a doula was I thought it was crunchy, granola, have to have my baby in a field…
P: (Overlapping) Yes. (Laughter)
K: …and we’re not really looking to do that.
P: Right.
K: Um, you know, I’d be more apt to have a baby at home, but my husband, it ain’t gonna happen. So, he’s not there. So, I called you..
P: Okay.
K: …and you came recommended and wanted to hear about you and what you can do.
P: Well, I’m a modern doula, no granola here. (Laughter) Our company is called Accessible Doula Services and what we do is provide services to mothers – quality, professional, doula services and we do it based on your ability to pay.
K: (overlapping) Okay.
P: Not necessarily on any fee, set fee, but it’s on a sliding-scale fee…K: Okay. P: … but the point is not really how much it costs. The point is what we offer.
K: Okay.
P: What we offer is continuous emotional, physical, spiritual support before, during, and immediately after your birth. Um, the most important thing of our work is to advocate for you. We are there to be your support system.
K: You’re not gonna replace my husband, right? ‘Cause he thinks that you might be kicking him out…
P: You know, that’s like the number one answer – the number one question that we get from just about every single one of our couples, and a lot of times, I like to interview the father, along with the mother, so that he has a chance to ask all of our questions, but I understand that we couldn’t do that this time..
K: Right, and like I said before, I’m limited to about a half hour for this meeting…P: Right. K: …and then, um, we can do the in-depth whatever with my husband.
P: Absolutely. K: Okay. P: Absolutely.
P: Well, when your husband does come here, what I’m going to be telling him is that our whole purpose is really to support him as well as to support you.

Back to Video

English Version

Back to Video

Transcript of An Appointment with a Nurse Midwife

M: Well, it’s good to see you, Amy. You’re thirty three weeks. You’ve got about seven weeks to go or less... How’s has it been going?
A: Good. Good, good, good.
M: How’re you feeling?
A: I feel good. Yea, other than the, um, pressure.
M: Okay.
A: I feel a lot of pressure, especially in the morning, when I’m sitting a long time, when I stand up.
M: Does it feel like contractions or does it just feel like a heaviness?
A: A heaviness.
M: The baby’s low...
A: And then -- yeah, because my hips and my groin is what hurts.
M: They kind of ache?
A: Yeah. It’s kind of like it’s stretching.
M: Does it prevent you from sleeping at all?
A: Uh, yea.
M: So you wake up because you need to reposition?
A: Oh, yeah. Every night.
M: Do you ever take Tylenol?
A: Mmm-uh. (Negative)
M: Do you have Tylenol at home?
A: Mmm-uh. (Negative) I have ibuprofen and you can’t take ibuprofen, right?
M: Right. Um, it’d be good to get some Tylenol. Sometimes it just helps with the mild aches and pains. Do you ever take a bath?
A: No, but I should do that, too. I’m getting a massage this week, too.
M: You are? Good.
A: A full body massage.
M: And do you know if this place has trained people to work with pregnant people?
A: Yeah.
M: Okay.
A: But right now, because there are those certain pressure points, right?
M: Mm hmm.
A: But even if I did go into labor...
M: Yeah, but I don’t think they’re going to be trying to stimulate labor. I think that you don’t need to worry about that. I’m just worried about relaxation, you being comfortable, having a table that accommodates the pregnancy. So...
A: Okay. But what if, say, I did go into labor tomorrow, how healthy is the baby right now with the lungs developing and the heart and everything like that?
M: You’re thirty three weeks in a couple of days. Typically, we ... full term, you know, is 37 weeks. We want moms and babies to deliver after 37 weeks. Typically, because the lungs are ready, the heart is ready, all the...
A: (overlap) After 37 weeks?
M: After 37 weeks.
A: Okay.
M: Lungs really are the last things to get ready, so between 34 and 37 weeks, um, the lungs are getting mature and stronger. And the baby will start practice breathing. We can even see that on ultrasounds.

Back to Video

English Version

Back to Video