My doula classmates and me, pictured with one of our instructors (standing, 2nd from the right).
I knew I should have written this immediately after, because now I can barely wrap my head around what we went over almost two weeks ago, so here’s what I do remember. I lost it in the middle of class. I mean, I became an emotional basket case. I actually had to get up and leave. Continue reading
My DONA doula certification class.
Today seemed to be a little less about “information” and more about practical application. A lot of labor techniques were taught to us as well as chances to try them out with a partner. Loved this! We also spent quite a bit of time talking about how culture or religion may affect a woman’s labor. Interesting. Continue reading
Day one of my doula training was ten straight hours of beautiful, unadulterated knowledge. My Lord, my head is spinning. It was an incredible amount of information to digest. I’m still processing a lot of it. A few points to mention:
We watched the documentary, Orgasmic Birth. Okay, I’ll admit, I’ve been thrown off by this film and have avoided seeing it, because sometimes I’m too practical for my own good. I’ve kinda scoffed at the idea that a woman can have an orgasm while giving birth. How ridiculous! Any right-brained American woman will tell you that while in transition and or pushing she’s not thinking orgasm. Well, fiddly-dee. I was wrong. There was one woman on the film that said she had not one, but two orgasms during her labor, and from the looks of the film clips of her birth, yes, indeedy she did have one or by gosh-golly it did kinda look like two. Good for her, seriously. However, that’s not the point. What I want to say is that I think the title of this documentary is all wrong. It would be better if it were called Empowered Birth, or Ecstatic Birth or even Joyful Birth. I say this because everyone they filmed had what I would call an empowered birth experience. The mothers were in the environment of their choosing, labored in the way that was best for them, stayed in control and in touch with their body while pushing – and upon their birth, had the biggest oxytocin release of their life. Continue reading
I am Joy, a happily married mother of two waterbirthed babies. I am a doula and a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator, who worked as a midwife's assistant at a freestanding birth center in TX. As of 2015, I'm a full-time nursing student who teaches childbirth classes at Park Ridge Health, The Baby Place, in Hendersonville, NC. I love serving laboring moms and I enjoy teaching birth education. I use this blog to write about it all - my life, my children, and my passion of all things childbirth.
The Joy of This 