is anyone a doula?

[Precious]

I'm just curious if anyone on the boards is a doula, along with being an MT. I am interested in becoming one (once my own kids are a little older) and am just wondering if the two practices complement each other, or if it is hard with the "on call" aspect of a doula. Also, if you are a doula, what type of training did you recieve? I have been on the DONA site, and gotten a little info from there, but was also curious about personal experiences.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Bhuwisit]

Definitely we have doulas "on board"...

Dragonflies in the Reflexology section.

SjidoulaMT...

tlcdoula...

IntuitiveHealers...

There are probably others.. perhaps someone will happen to notice and answer your post.

 

[Amanda Ramsbottom]

I am a MT and a doula, but no longer practicing the latter since my son's birth seven months ago... maybe I will pursue again once he is older.

I think that the two complement each other very well, but you should definitely have arrangements for backup, both another doula and another massage therapist, and perhaps you can be their backup as well. It is wonderful to work with a pregnant client as a massage therapist and

I did my doula training through DONA and completed my certifying births, but I never did the paperwork to actually *become* certified. I received additional relevant training by taking Carole Osbourne-Sheets certifying class in Pre and Perinatal Massage. I feel like her class is just as good as the DONA training, if not better...

 

[ctea]

I took a Kate Jordan "Bodywork for the Childbearing Year"(R) course last year. She addresses not only massage/bodywork, but also a great deal of info on labor support, birthing positions, etc. The professional doulas in the class all commented that the labor support training exceeded any of the Doula-certification coursework they had previously completed.

From what I saw, Kate Jordan's approach provides an excellent framework for integrating massage with labor support. The course also addressed many aspects of post-partum work, especially helping the mother and child bond and aiding the mother to recover more quickly from the experience.

There were a few people present that already did labor support and some massage, and they all indicated that it is very rewarding work but you had to learn to be creative with scheduling when called upon to help a client in labor. Kate and her assistant instructors all primarily do pregnancy massage, and do labor support less frequently due to scheduling issues. All of them have a list of competent doulas or other labor-support folks that they refer to.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Thanks for the replies so far. I will be taking a pregnancy continuing ed this spring, so I am hoping that will cover a lot of information. (don't ask which one, I'm having a brain fart and can't remember right now!) That is a good idea about having a backup, both for massage and the doula work. One of the many things I haven't yet thought of!

 

[plumdumplings]

is anyone a doula?

I'm just curious if anyone on the boards is a doula, along with being an MT. I am interested in becoming one (once my own kids are a little older) and am just wondering if the two practices complement each other, or if it is hard with the "on call" aspect of a doula. Also, if you are a doula, what type of training did you recieve? I have been on the DONA site, and gotten a little info from there, but was also curious about personal experiences.

Thanks for the feedback!

Not an MT but I am a doula and a reflexologist, so I can give you plenty of input on being a full time bodyworker and also being on-call as a birth doula.

I totally agree with sjidoulamt about having backups. At any given time I have at least two or three doula backups and one to two reflexology backups. There is no way I could comfortably juggle without a cushion to fall back on. In my two years as a Reflexology Doula I've only had to reschedule four Reflexology clients. I've been very lucky. But it was a close-call at my last birth when I was there for 42 hours straight...I kept thinking I'd have to reschedule the entire week to catch up on sleep! lol.

Find a local doula and ask lots of questions about what it is like. It may be especially helpful if he/she has a full-time occupation as well.

 

[V. town lee]

that poor momma --42 hours!! and i thought 22 with my first was bad...ooof da! :shocked:

thanks for your reply. the pregnancy massage class i am taking in april is from elaine stillerman. anyone hear of her? the course itself is called MotherMassage. I am hoping that it is a good class, and will be informative. after i'm done on this board, i need to see if i can find a cheaper copy of the book we need. so many things to do....