What is a “doula”?
The word doula derives from the Greek and means “woman serving another woman“.
He is a practical and emotional support figure during pregnancy, childbirth and post-natal.
Pregnancy, even if desired and sought after, is always a shocking event: in pregnancy, a woman changes profoundly: she changes her way of thinking, her body, her life, her relationships, even her brain changes! It is easy to see that you can often be frightened by the news.
Pregnant support in London
Furthermore, pregnancy is a turning point and, like all moments of great change, it brings back the past, and with it the fears, but it also creates new concerns for the child to be born, for the new role to assume, for the freedom that is limited and for relationships that change. The woman needs a female figure with whom to talk about all this, a friend and ally who listens to her and helps her to tidy up, who accompanies her along the path and who supports her and helps her make informed choices. The doula can be all this, especially in modern Western society which sometimes leads the woman to live this period away from her mother (a figure who in the past, together with other women, supported new parents).
We have a secret in our culture, it’s not that birth is painful, it’s that women are strong.”
Laura Stavoe Harm
Pregnancy and birth represent a very important moment also for the future father, who may feel unable to support his partner in the right way: the doula can therefore also help men, supporting him in supporting the woman.
The presence of a person who can reassure and support us (even actively), friend, ally and trusted, is essential during childbirth, any type of birth!
Obviously, childbirth is not a conclusion, but a beginning, a beginning that can be tiring and difficult. The mother and her baby need a lot of time together, they need to know each other, to be in contact as much as possible, to live each other. Dad also needs to get to know his baby and be there for him. The doula in London helps and supports them without being intrusive, pampers them by taking care of the house, preparing a hot and healthy meal, taking care of the baby while the mother rests or takes a nice hot bath, assisting mom and dad in the beginning of this new experience. She remains a friend and ally of the mother, a person with whom she can feel free to talk about the joys, but also about tiredness, hormonal changes, everything that worries her and all her doubts. She helps the mom make her decisions, follow her instincts and trust herself.
“If a doula were a drug,
it would be unethical not to use it.”
Dr. Kennell
The doula mothers the mother (and father) in this first so delicate and precious period.
Doula Alessandra – Deeply Mum