Using a Doula at Alta Bates
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Using a Doula at Alta Bates
Mar 2004
i'm hoping that i will be able to have a second natural delivery at alta bates and
wondered what other people's experiences have been without the support of a
doula or midwife. i had a fabulous doula the first time, which pretty much left
the nurses with nothing to do but check my monitor readings. for financial
reasons, i may have to forego a doula this time, which makes me a little
nervous.
there are some old postings about the pluses and minuses of alta bates nurses
in the archive, but nothing recent. can i expect the alta bates nurses to
massage my back, encourage unusual birthing poses, talk me through my
contractions, etc as my doula had?
anon
if the issue is not being able to afford a doula, there are many
doulas-in-training, including myself, who might be able to help
you. I know for my certification I need to attend 4 births for
free. this is after taking a didactic training &/or observing
other births. so if you have a little extra time & feel
comfortable with a birth attendant who doesn't have as much
experience, you could contact places like Birthways & Waddle and
Swaddle, who might have leads of doula students. or possibly
post here. (I'd also be happy to talk to you). alta bates has
volunteer doulas, but I am not sure what the criteria is to get
one (maybe uninsured?) & I don't think they are there all the
time.
good luck,
virginia
I just delivered my third child at alta bates. I had a natural
birth each time and did not have a doula. What I did have was
a birth team. Two of my best friends, my mother-in-law, and my
husband were there for all three births. My husband and I
wrote up a birth plan and shared it with ''the team'' in
advance. It was great to have that much support, if you have
people that you trust, they can really help out. The other
bonus for them is an increased closeness with your children.
As far as the nurses go, we brought copies of our plan with us
to the hospital and talked to the nurses about our goals. I
found that they were very supportive of no drugs and no
intervention. The other thing is that with your second birth,
your body knows more about what to do and you don't need to
rely on the nurse as much.
I would recommend being very vocal about your needs. They can
bring a rocking chair into your room and can find a birthing
ball also. One of the nurses that I had told me that they are
especially eager to help women deliver without intervention. I
was very pleased with the L&D nurses that I encountered.
Good Luck.
Joan
Hi there- I have attended a few births at alta bates as a doula,
one was a client of mine and the rest were volunteer births that
I did there. If you go into labor and come into the hospital,
you can request that one of the volunteer doulas in their
program be called to come and assist you... the only downfall is
that there is no guarantee that someone is actually on call
during the time you might be there. I have had good experiences
with nurse there and I've had experiences there that weren't so
awesome, but overall the atmosphere is good. As far as your
question about ''Will the nurses be able to rub my back and get
you into other positions...'' My answer is NO- it had seemed to
me that in the cases where I was there, if I hadn't have been
there these moms might have been a whole lot more uncomfortable
because the instances I was there they were really busy and
couldn't lend TOO much help in the comfort dept.
If you would like to speak with me privately please email me-
maybe we can work something out together...
Shaana Keller
My second child was born two years ago at AB without a doula. I
had a doula for the first one there many years ago, and although
she was available, she didn't feel I needed her. My labor nurse
was fantastic. Someone (I think my OB) said that all the nurses
at AB are pro natural-birth and really go out of their way to
support a laboring mother who wants to do it. I didn't ask for
advice from her and she didn't offer any. My OB was there for
much of the hard part but tried to keep in the background as much
as he could.
If you feel confident about your own knowledge and experience (I
reread the book my natural birth method was based on before going
into labor) then my guess is that you'll have a good experience
unless you think your OB may be the problem.
anonymous
I'm a L&D nurse at Alta Bates -- you can get this kind of care, but
when
you come in to have your child, please tell the triage nurse that you
want
a nurse who will provide labor support for you. There are nurses on
every shift who enjoy doing this (I'm one of them) but not all do.
On the other hand, to make a general statement (not about you), it
helps
to not come into the hospital with a strict birth plan, to be flexible,
and
don't bring in a whole lot of stuff with you to the labor room. L&D
staff
have universal folklore/superstitions about this -- patients like this
seem
to have a high csection rate. Don't know if retrospective studies have
born this out or not, but everywhere I've worked in the country over
the
past 15 years, same superstition. I lump this in with the
superstitions
about the full moon that health care providers have.
So speak up and tell the staff what you want! Hopefully you are also
seeing one of the OB-Gyns who only perform interventions when
absolutely needed.
Good luck and we'll see you in the future!
anon RN
I delivered at Alta Bates and found the nurses to be WONDERFUL. I
opted for an epidural, but when it didn't work (!), they talked
me through the contractions and breathing and positions to be
mroe comfortable. Also, both nurses stayed long past their shift
to see my daughter delivered.
anon
When I delivered at Alta Bates in the summer of 2002, they had a
program whereby you could request a doula at no charge upon
being admitted, and if there was one available she would come
and assist you throughout your labor. I think these were doulas
in training. I wanted to use the service, but my daughter was
born 20 minutes after we got to the hospital (!) so there was no
time. Even though I was only in labor there for a short time,
the nurses were awesome and I had a wonderful experience. Once
my baby was born, she stayed with me until we left the next day,
except for the bath and eyedrops. I know at other hospitals,
they tend to keep coming to take the baby. This happened to me
at California Pacific in SF with my first born (not a good
experience - but thats another story!).
Anyway, you should contact the L&D dept. at Alta Bates and
inquire about the free doula program to see if it is still
available. If you don't get one, rest assured that the nurses
will take good care of you.
mom of 2
I delivered at Alta Bates with a doula 20 months ago and couldn't
imagine delivering without one. I had always heard that the
delivery nurses there were great and not to worry about a doula,
but my experience was otherwise. If I had known then what I know
now, I would have immediately requested another nurse because the
first nurse assigned to me was clearly anti-natural birth and it
affected everything that followed. My doula was very supportive,
but she didn't know the nurse. After the delivery, we discussed
that we should have requested a different nurse. I know now that
she has a reputation. Incidently, the second shift nurse wasn't
able to do much more than check the monitors. The third shift
nurse was great, but things had gotten complicated by then. (You
can see I was there awhile, but that's a whole other story.)
If you can't afford a doula, make sure you're very clear when you
arrive at Alta Bates that you want a nurse assigned to you who
likes working with natural delivery.
Lori
I think you just can't get a broad generalization about the
nurses at Alta Bates. I had no doula and was in labor long
enough to have 2 different nurses. They were each different
(one was very quiet, the other very gregarious) and each had
their own approach, but I was impressed by their knowlege. So
whereas I liked their personalities, you might not. One of our
nurses had been working there for 27 years and had seen it all.
I started out w/ back labor and the nurse showed me positions
and things to do to get the baby to move. Both nurses had a
plethora of great suggestions, like try this position, or now
is a good time to try going in the shower, etc. I seem to
remember one showing my husband a better way to rub my back. I
suggest you take the birth preparation class AT Alta Bates - I
think there is one for 2nd time parents as in those classes
they do touch on what to expect out of the staff that is there
and what is available there at the hosptial - you can get a
rocker in your room, you can get a bouncing ball, etc. One
thing I remembered at the class is that they stressed that if
you weren't happy w/ your nurse, you could always request to
have a different one assigned to you. But keep in mind that
unlike a doula that is there the whole time w/ you, if you're
in labor for a long time the nurses will change shift to shift.
In anycase, you might be able to find a doula student who is
willing to work w/ you for little or no pay as they need the
experience.
anon
Hi,
I had a great, drug-free birth experience at AB without a doula.
When I arrived at triage, I told the nurses that I wanted to
attempt a drug-free delivery ( I did *not* have a ''birth plan''
b/c frankly, I didn't know what I was planning for!). When I was
transferred into a laboring room, and remember the person
telling me that I was getting the best nurse I could hope for--
and she was right--my nurse (''Brooke'') was nothing less than
wonderful. She stayed with me nearly every second of my 9-hr
labor: she helped me in the shower, she applied accupressure to
my feet (and explained how to do same to my mom and husband),
she used visual relaxation, she had me try different positions.
She also did all the other stuff (IV, fetal monitor, etc), but I
hardly remember those things. In short, I can't imagine my birth
experience without her. She was the most crucial person for me
that day, period.
All of those great things notwithstanding, I'll probalby hire a
doula the next time around. I now know how important an
excellent support person is, and I would be too nervous not to
be so lucky again!
Someone has already given this suggestion, but I'll repeat it
again, when you arrive, be clear about your hopes and desires
and they will try to match a nurse that is experienced in
providing this type of labor care.
Good luck!
Nina
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