When will doula come to your house?

99luftballoons

We met with a doula last night that we really like and we were talking about the timing of her coming to our house during labor (I plan to give birth in a hospital, but would like to labor at home for as long as possible).  She said that we'd communicate with her throughout early labor by phone calls and texts and that she'd aim to be at our house by the time my contractions were 4-1-1.  She then said that we'd really be taking direction from my OB on when to go to the hospital (or obviously if I wanted to go earlier), but she thinks we'd go when they are around 2 minutes apart (hospital is about 10 miles away).  This seems a little close to me?

I am going to ask my OB about the timing on Friday, but I *thought* she said something about going to the hospital when contractions were 5 minutes apart...

Thanks for helping the clueless woman over here

MadameFancyPants

I'm not pregnant right now, but I'd go with your gut as to when you should have her come over.  You might need the support starting when you contractions are 10 minutes a part or you might not.  Also if you are having back labor, the earlier you start trying method of correcting it the better the odds of it happening. 

 Then again, you might just find that you want her to meet you at the hospital when you go in.  

august8080

Every doula I talked to said they'd come to the house whenever I felt I needed her to--not a set timing of contractions.

My OB wants you to come to the hospital when contrax are 3-5 minutes apart and at least 1 minute in length. 

kegallagh

I did not use a doula, but every one I have known will come to support you whenever you need it. As far as going to the hospital, I do not recommend following the 5-1-1 rule if you are planning a med free birth. You would likely arrive at no more than 3cm, which is not ideal. Your doula should be able to get a more accurate idea of where you are at by assessing your mood/emotions. Being serious, focused, and not really up for converstion or joking between contractions is often a good indicator of being in active labor. I think 2 min apart is definitely better than 5 apart.

Nechie122

We called my doula when DH and I no longer felt we could manage on our own. My contractions were probably around four minutes apart. I'd also recommend waiting as long as possible -- my OB told me 3-1-1 for a natural birth. I waited for 2-1-1 which was too long because we had a 45 ride to the hospital (I don't really regret it because I arrived fully dilated and ready to push but I could have easily have had DD in the car -- I had the urge to push before we even parked!)

lcourter24

We just kept in touch with ours by phone for several hours and then my contractions got really intense fast so she high tailed it over pretty quickly.  But we still labored at home for 3 hrs after she got there.  She got there at the right time bc I was starting to feel out of control and needed some reassurance from her.

davisas2323

kegallagh:

I did not use a doula, but every one I have known will come to support you whenever you need it. As far as going to the hospital, I do not recommend following the 5-1-1 rule if you are planning a med free birth. You would likely arrive at no more than 3cm, which is not ideal. Your doula should be able to get a more accurate idea of where you are at by assessing your mood/emotions. Being serious, focused, and not really up for converstion or joking between contractions is often a good indicator of being in active labor. I think 2 min apart is definitely better than 5 apart.

I agree about not going to the hospital on the 5-1-1 plan if you're planning a med-free birth. I've heard the 3-1-1 plan is a better option, but do not have personal experience yet to confirm that this is better. If will be what we choose to do or wait a little longer even.

Regardless, you will be the one to choose when you want to head out. If it's earlier, that's not a wrong choice. Just expect that you might be laboring at the hospital instead of home for a bit longer as your cervix dilates further.

As far as when the doula arrives, she is your birth coach and 100% vested in your positive birth experience. So if you want her to come at a certain time, I would definitely discuss that with her. It's totally not an unreasonable request.

WildcatPrincess

I didn't use a doula, but I will say I called the MW when my contractions were 2-3 mins apart and lasting at least a minute and they still told me to hold off going in. I was told to wait until I couldn't walk or talk through them and to try and relax and take a bath. Of course as soon as I got in the bath my water broke, but when we got to the hospital I was only 4 cm so I agree on waiting until contrax are closer than 5 mins.

FinallyMrsBMW

It's truly whatever you are comfortable with.  Our doula came when my contractions were 4-8 minutes apart.  We went to the hospital when they were 4-6 minutes apart. 

UOduckBride2be

Hi Stranger & congrats, you're almost there! There are a few other factors I'm taking into consideration for when we decide to head to the hospital, (which is 10 minutes away from us as well). First, I don't know if I have Group B Strep yet, I might be more inclined to go in just slightly earlier if I test positive. The hospital I'll be delivering at just remodeled their "birthing suites" and they are private with jacuzzi tubs, so I'm happy to get there, get settled in and get into the tub. I think it's really hard to predict how fast/slow any one person is going to progress and while we are hypnobirthing and plan to go med free, I really don't want an accidental home birth. I also want the safety net of the level III NICU in the building. All this said, our Doula says she will come to the house or hospital whenever we feel we really need her. If we think we can handle it on our own at home for a while she's on call via phone. Good Luck! Sarah

cyclek8bride

My doula told me to call her when I was in labor.  I called her when I thought I was in labor at about 8:30 pm but didn't have her come over til about 10:30 pm. I called her a second time to confirm that it was labor and discuss whether she would come then.  She decided it was time for her to come. One of the things I know about myself was that I wouldn't want to bother her when my time came.  I told her this during our interviews so she was prepared for me to be indecisive about when to come over. 

That said, if I had to go by your doula's 511 - 311 thing we would have gone to the hospital hours earlier than we did.  My labor started at 3 minute intervals with 1 minute contractions.  My doc said that I had to be double over in pain for two hours before coming into the hospital and I didn't get this way until pushing.