"I wanted a natural birth, but couldn't help but squirm during contractions, so the fetal monitor kept falling off," mother of two Erin Patterson recalls. "The nurses kept scolding me to lay still! My doula found my OB and suggested an internal monitor. After that, there was no scolding, and I could move around and labor comfortably. My doula made her $1,400 right there."
But hospital staffers aren't quite as sold on doulas' value, and nurses often see them as an intrusion. A study published in The Journal of Perinatal Education says that a whopping 44% percent of responding mothers described the relationship between their doulas and their labor and delivery nurses as hostile, resentful and confrontational, which impacted their birth experiences negatively.
It happened to Shannon Rivero. "I made it clear I didn't want a catheter, but the nurse put it in when my doula left to get me a bedpan," she says. "I only wanted good vibes in the room, but the nurse I had was aggressive, angry and abrupt."
Tara Brooke, owner of Power of Birth, a doula service and childbirth education center in Manhattan, has had Doulas are a great safety net — if you can afford it.mixed dealings with labor and delivery nurses, but sees things improving. "It can get territorial like any job, but our roles are completely different. These days, nurses are just happy to see an extra set of hands," Brooke says.
For one, Dodi Gauthier, a thirty-year labor and delivery nurse from Santa Barbara, CA, agrees. "I personally love working with doulas, but ten years ago, I think more labor and delivery nurses were feeling their jobs were being usurped because doulas had more time to do the comforting we enjoy," she says. "But with more doulas on the scene, nurses are realizing that the more support you can put around a family having a baby, the better."
That's particularly true when it comes to getting the breastfeeding support that many hospitals don't provide.
"The first time around, I was on so many drugs, I could barely hold my son, let alone figure out how to feed him," says Schwartz. "It was the day after Christmas and the hospital was shorthanded, so the nurses didn't show me how to hold or feed my son, they just threw him at me and left. Fortunately, my doula came to the rescue."
Doulas are a lot like a supplemental IRA — a great safety net — if you can afford it. The DONA website says the average birth doula costs between $300-$800, but I've heard quotes up to $1,500, especially around New York City.
