Notes from Your Nurse: What About Doulas?
A doula is a vital member of your birth team and, much like your partner and your other delivery room guests, someone you get to choose in advance. But what about your labor and delivery nurses? They play a critical role in your labor and postpartum period, but you’ve only known them for 5 minutes.
“Notes from Your Nurse” is a new blog series from adora birth + wellness to help you get acquainted with your Calgary labor and delivery team before you arrive at the hospital. Learn more about logistics, patient management, and mom judgement (note: it’s not happening as often as you think) from a real, local, anonymous labor and delivery nurse.
What does your nurse think about working with birth care providers such as doulas?
“I see doulas as the bridge between nursing and the patient.”
Most of us appreciate a good doula: one that wants to be a team with the patient and not make themselves a glorified nurse. We nurses choose to work L&D because we want to help women on the most important day of their lives; your doula probably feels the same way. We want to be included and be part of your birth team, not just there to chart. Ultimately I want my patient to have a good birth and I will do everything I can to help them achieve that while having realistic expectations in the unpredictable situations that surround a birth.
I have worked with awesome, awesome doulas where they are there 100% for the patient and give support to the birthing person and their partner without pushing the nursing staff aside. We work together as a team and I still get to know my patient and feel rewarded in the work I do that shift. I have even learned some tricks from doulas and midwives.
When doulas are there to support their client and let nursing discuss the medical stuff it is great. I like having the opportunity to tell my medical information to my patient first, and if they need help walking through a decision making process their doula can review the facts given help them come to an answer.
Read more “Notes from Your Nurse”: