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Me: 28 Him: 30
Married: 11/15/14
TTC: 02/2016
IF DX: MFI (low count & morphology) & mild PCOS
June 2016 BFP - MC @8w2d
August 2016 BFP - MC @6w1d
June 2017 - 50 mg Clomid + Ovidrel + IUI = BFP 7/6/17!!
Beta #1 = 422 (14dpo), Beta #2 = 810, prog - 12.3 (16dpo), Beta #3 = 5023, prog - 18.9 (20dpo)
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Re: Doula - Questions to Ask?
Here are some of my questions:
1. Have you worked in the hospital I plan to go to?
2. What is your fee and how do you structure payment? Is any of it potentially reimbursable by insurance? (Some of it is! and she knows how to file for it.)
3. What if I need medically, or change my mind about:
a. C-section, b. pain meds, etc.
4. Do you support infant immunization?
5. What all do you do with a typical mother?
6. What's the best way for us to keep in touch?
What questions do you have? I'm sure I this isn't everything!
I found that my doula was actually really good at leading the discussion, and that she provides much more service/care that I expected. She drove to my house to meet with us and had a list of things to think about including circumcision, delayed cord cutting, baby immunization, breastfeeding, parenting classes, etc. I didn't feel she was judgmental of my answers in any way. That's what I wanted - someone who would advocate for me if for some reason I was unable to.
Also, in case anyone else in interested, a good doula will work with a woman who chooses any style of birth, including c-sections, though they do seem to specialize in natural births.
Married: June 2011
TTC since Feb 2016
BFP#1: 7/7/16 MMC: 8/16/16
BFP#2: 5/8/17 - CP
BFP#3: 6/27/17 EDD: 3/10/18
1) How many clients do you take at one time? What will happen if 2 clients are in labour at the same time?
2) Do you offer any postpartum support?
3) At what point in labour can I expect you to be there? How long after birth do you stay?
4) Where does your role fit in relation to my SO? (DH really appreciated that our doula included him as much as possible. She would assess my needs and then ask HIM to provide what I needed. It made him look really good in my eyes because he was doing what I needed, and he didn't have to sit there worried that he should be doing something but not knowing what!!)
5) Asking about your goals for labour (ie. Do they support you getting an epidural when you want one? How long will they allow you to labour at home before going to the hospital?)
6) More so for curiosity, ask how many deliveries they've been part of. Can't even tell you how reassuring it was (and jaw dropping) when my doula told me 750+
Those would be my big ones in addition to what was already mentioned by PP.
I'm a very special case because I had a precipitous labor for my 1st, and my doula ended up arriving at the hospital about 5 min after my son was born (I only got there 20 minutes before, so completely NOT her fault). But just having her there for the aftercare was great (and having her help me advocate holding/nursing my son longer before he got weighed and the blood test was invaluable). She also includes a postpartum visit in her services, and she was the first person to raise suspicions that something was going on with nursing, and gave me some great resources to help.
Pregnant with #2: