Many of our clients have partner support throughout the birthing process. Partners can be more involved in the process when they have a doula present to guide them on ways to provide support. It can be difficult for partners (and even family or friends) to know how to help during birth. Partners can take classes and read books, but it may be hard for them to retain all the needed information. When labor begins, sometimes birthing people don’t listen to their partner’s suggestions as readily as a doula.

There are many pain management tools available to a laboring person and the epidural is just one of them. The Birth Connections team supports all pain management options and we make sure that you have all the information you need to decide what feels right to you. If you choose an epidural, your doula can help you with comfort measures such as breathing, positioning, massage, and other tools until the medicine is administered. Your doula will also support you in the event that the epidural does not give pain relief as expected.  Ultimately, your doula will provide emotional and physical support, no matter the pain management choice, throughout your birth process.

In the event of a scheduled cesarean section, the Birth Connections team will help you plan for the birth by knowing your options and what to do if you go into spontaneous labor before your scheduled birthing date. Your doula will be present on the day of the c-section to make sure things run smoothly and help with bonding and the baby’s first feeding after delivery. When you get home from the hospital, your doula will be there to help you understand what to expect with your recovery as well as learn newborn care techniques and how to feed your baby.

We recommend taking a childbirth education class between 28-36 weeks to allow time to practice the techniques learned in the class. Birth Connections has monthly classes taught on weeknights and weekend mornings.  The benefit of taking virtual group classes is that they allow families to build relationships with other families and process class topics over several class offerings.

One of the biggest differences between a night nurse and a postpartum doula is that the focus of a night nurse is to take care of the baby while the focus of a postpartum doula is to take care of the family.

Birth Connections postpartum doulas are also focused on showing you strategies to employ when your doula is not with you. Doulas are the on-the-job trainers for this journey of parenthood. Our job is to build your confidence so we can work ourselves out of a job. 

During daytime hours of 8 AM-8 PM, we provide a minimum shift of 4 hours. Overnight shifts are a minimum of 8 hours and tend to be from 10 pm-6 am or 11 pm-7 am. Many of our clients prefer longer support shifts, as there are no maximum restrictions, we can create a timing that works best for your family.

At night our Birth Connections team focuses on protecting sleep cycles for parents while helping your new baby optimize their sleep, feeds, and newborn care routine. Of course, babies continue to wake frequently and your doula is your expert guide for support and education with nighttime parenting. Other tasks and goals can be accomplished (quietly) during the night shift to help keep the household running smoothly.