anyone give birth without a doula ?

vababy · July 2012

I am giving birth in a hospital and I want to do it naturally if possible. I cannot afford a doula so I was wondering if anyone has given birth without one and wouldn't mind sharing their story.

kali55 · July 2012

My doula was my acupuncturist and slept throught my labor... But I did have two girlfriends come for the birth. My DH was my biggest support throughout the entire thing and my girlfriends helped with cleaning up afterwards.

If you are really keen on a doula, I would check around and see if there are any in training who would do it for less or maybe a friend who could come act as a support person (depending on hospital policy)

dosafyre · July 2012

I had two natural hospital births with no doulas...but I had no desire to have a stranger in the room. It would have made me more uncomfortable. My DH and nurses were supportive though and helped me.

seraphiclust · July 2012

I gave birth unmedicated in a hospital without a doula when I had DD. My biggest support was DH and the nurses. I just made it clear I didn't want pain meds unless I asked for them and luckily enough I had nurses who respected that!

kristin172429 · July 2012

I did it without a doula, but my DH is my rock. He gets me, got what I needed during labor, and is a source of great comfort for me. You want that kind of support by your side. If you have that, you don't need the doula. Just make sure to talk through everything you want and need during your labor with your support person. Talk through that "I would want this if this happens or if that happens..." DH and I agreed that if I wanted to change my mind about pain meds, I would tell him and he would ask. We asked them to not ask me about pain meds during labor and let them know our arrangement. It is absolutely possible to deliver naturally without a doula.

footnotegirl · July 2012

I didn't have a doula. I depended mainly on my husband for support (we make a great team and he is VERY good at 'translating' me when I am having a hard time making myself clear in stressful situations). Also, the nurse that we had for our last day of induction (from when I went on pitocin until I delivered) had previously been a nurse/midwife before going to work for the hospital, and had a lot of experience with natural births.

KateLouise · July 2012

Both my births were without doulas.

DD1 I had my DH and midwife in the room. My mw was supportive but very hands off and mostly attending to the medical aspects of monitoring and observing. DH was very supportive, rubbed my back, held the shower over me, holding my leg when I was pushing etc etc.

DD2 I basically did it all on my own in the shower. Suddenly realised the baby was coming and DH came and caught her.

However, I had 2 completely straight forward births. I was birthing in a very pro natural hospital, and never had anything of any sort pushed on me.

DH was everything I needed in a support person, and a doula would have been unnecessary for me.

brennarobbie · July 2012

kristin172429:
I did it without a doula, but my DH is my rock. He gets me, got what I needed during labor, and is a source of great comfort for me. You want that kind of support by your side. If you have that, you don't need the doula. Just make sure to talk through everything you want and need during your labor with your support person. Talk through that "I would want this if this happens or if that happens..." DH and I agreed that if I wanted to change my mind about pain meds, I would tell him and he would ask. We asked them to not ask me about pain meds during labor and let them know our arrangement. It is absolutely possible to deliver naturally without a doula.

This exactly! My hubby ROCKS! We read The Birth Partner along with several other natural birth books to get each other ready...we practiced a lot throughout my pregnancy.

We considered hiring a doula. We interviewed and talked with several. In the end, we decided that we were confident enough to do it together without one. When it all came down to it, we were able to clearly state what we wanted (and it helped that our midwife is awesome...). Make sure your healthcare provider knows you want to go natural and ask what "standard protocol" is for him/her.

Good luck! )

kaeti_su · July 2012

I gave birth in a hospital without a doula. I used the Hypnobabies home study course to prepare, my care provider was a CNM, my hospital was fairly friendly to unmedicated labor and birth, and I was blessed with a short labor, so all of those things worked in my favor.

I think most of us would probably tell you to wait as long as you can before going to the hospital. Not so long that you don't make it there before having the baby of course, but the less time you're able to spend laboring at the hospital, the less time you'll spend with any restrictions your hospital may have and/or any unhelpful staff it may have (and certainly hospital staff members aren't necessarily unfriendly toward unmedicated birth, but you never know exactly who's going to be on duty).

runrinserepeat · July 2012

I had a natural birth in a hospital with an OB, without a doula. My husband was great, very supportive. Most of the time I just wanted to be left alone, though. I don't think I would have been comfortable with another person there. DH's biggest job was keeping the nurse out of room whenever possible.

AmyRI · July 2012

I gave birth in a hospital with an OB attending, no doula or other support person.

The nurses were pretty good, though. I knew that hospital policy was that I could change nurses if we didn't get along - see if your hospital does this. And ask for a NB friendly nurse when you are admitted. Read up on different ways to manage pain, make sure your DH knows what you want and how to support you. It's definitely possible.

Rosebud2587 · July 2012

I had a natural birth in a hospital w/o a doula. Instead I had a very supportive husband and mother in the room with me. They were all I needed. I also told the nurses right away that I wanted a natural med free birth and they were very supportive and never once mentioned any drugs.

alanap · July 2012

I had a natural unmedicated birth at a hospital without a doula (it was with a midwife) for my first child and plan to do so again with this pregnancy.

catahoulatte · July 2012

Yep, I had an OB and two nurses in the hospital (and my husband). We did just fine, and the nurses were very supportive of a natural birth. I plan on doing the same again next time, since we had a great experience.

sschwege · July 2012

I did. I had DH and MIL there. DH was my support person, but MIL was there to support DH. So he would run a water bottle to her and she would fill it, dimmed the lights when I asked, warmed my rice sock, got food for DH, etc. She made it possible for DH to stay with me the entire time. I was lucky that I delivered at a hospital that is very pro-med-free births (they don't even ask you to get a saline lock). Had I not been in a hospital that was so supportive I would have wanted a doula.

Have you thought about looking for a student? They work for free because they need the experience to become certified.

Joyfullnoise · July 2012

Yes. My mother died incredibly unexpectedly in 2009. Becoming a mother myself was something emotionally wretching for me and I couldn't fathom having someone pretending to be her. My husband was at my side through it all and we hsd a labor primarily at home and a quick delivery with a midwife at a hospital. It was intimate and ours alone and it only strengthened my relationship with my spouse. I think while doulas may be helpful your birth is yours and you must and can do what is right for your family.

sugar212 · July 2012

I had a natural birth with my first (for the most part, I had one dose of pain medication, that did absolutely nothing) and didn't even think of having a doula, this time around I will have NO drugs what so ever and just my husband in the room with the Dr and Nurses. I have a wonderful hospital (part of Mayo clinic) that is known for their birth by design plans, which means you tell them what you do and do not want for your birth plan and they are really good at following it the best they can. my birth plan was about 4 pages long, I hope they kept in on file because I really want to use most of it again this time around...with a few tweaks.

BabyShipp · July 2012

We didn't use a doula for the birth of DD. DH was amazing and I also had my mom in the room. My nurses were fabulous! I feel as long as you have a good support group you should be fine.

I did some research before hand and read a few books. The only one I can remember is hypnobirthing which I liked. I went in thinking pain is only temporary and women were made to do this. Nice long breathes and all went well. Best thing is try to relax. Good luck!

RyanandManda · July 2012

My hubby was all I needed : )

https://motherofambition.blogspot.com/2012/05/annabelles-birth-story.html

anyone give birth without a doula ?

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