Doula Training Thoughts, Etc.

Good afternoon! Are you ready?

The biggest difference in the actual material covered in the two doula trainings is...almost nonexistent. The general information is pretty much the same. The slant is definitely...different; but not as different as I expected. I think the reason is because I was expecting something different.

toLabor doula training was good. I am very glad that I took it. Both times. I am also very glad that I just completed the doula training program at Heywood Hospital which is done through Birth Arts International.

Thérèse Hak-Kuhn is awesome. She’s a little bit crunchy and very open and honest. She has a lot of experience and has been teaching doula workshops for a lot of years (since 1996). The toLabor workshops that I attended were both taught by Thérèse and were very similar. Not identical, of course, because they were in different cities (Jamaica Plain and Shrewsbury) and there were different women in attendance. I won’t bore you with names but the first time most of the women there were ones I’d also been attending classes with as part of the Basic Course sponsored by the Massachusetts Midwives Alliance. Those of us who had been attending classes together had gotten to know one another pretty well by the time we took the training and those who were not part of the MMA classes integrated somewhat but not to the degree of the rest of us. I have a list of those who were in attendance and I think it was in the neighborhood of twenty. The second one I attended I missed the first day because children watchers fell through for Friday. There were nineteen women there according to the list but I know that two who were there Saturday were not there Sunday. While I liked the women there, I was not as comfortable the second time, I think for two reasons—one, I was not part of the main group of women taking the MMA course and two, I missed the first day. I now also think that part of it was the size of the group. I do not do well with large groups. Granted, twenty women is not a huge group; from my point of view, five or ten would be better.

I do not believe that Thérèse is one of those doula’s who has a secret, subversive, or ulterior motive. I do believe that she is a doula in order to help women have the best birth experience possible wherever she chooses to give birth. However, I think she has had a lot of experience and some of it has been in/with hospitals that are not friendly toward anything other than what they prescribe. I now believe that this can produce people with a jaundiced attitude. She did stress the importance of working with hospital staff. Still, the overwhelming sense I had from her is that hospitals can be good but often push their own agendas far too often and too hard. This has been my attitude as well based on what I have learned through reading, watching movies, documentaries, etc., and listening to women tell their stories. Not to mention my own experiences, which admittedly have been minimal.

Karen Beaton and Meredeth Boudrieau are equally awesome. I don’t think they’re particularly crunchy but they are open and honest. They are also somewhat more holistic in attitude and practice than you might expect to find in the general medical community. Quite frankly, I was happily surprised by this. As I told the women there today for the closing circle, I was somewhat skeptical going in to this workshop. I’d taken the toLabor training but was basically looking at this as a way to get some actual birth work under my proverbial belt so I could certify. This skepticism stems directly from how I feel about hospitals and doctors and the general attitude they have about pregnancy and birth. What I discovered is that Heywood is different and the reason for this is largely through the efforts of Karen and Meredeth. This group of women was smaller; there were only nine of us. In spite of the fact that I was somewhat reserved at first, I liked the smallness of the group and the fact that it is easier to cover more material and easier to have all-inclusive conversations. The age range was wider; the youngest one there was 20 and the oldest 70. Both of those are impressive to me.

I still want to be a midwife. I still whole-heartedly believe that women deserve to have choices when it comes to where they give birth and that one of the choices should be their own homes. I also believe that they deserve to have a hospital like Heywood to choose from. I asked today what Heywood’s cesarean rate is; Meredeth wasn’t sure exactly where it is right now but it was right around 18%. Compared to the national average of 32%, that’s pretty good. I think there is still room for improvement but that’s not bad. I understand why many doctors and hospitals have attitudes about midwives—they all aren’t good. We heard a story today of a midwife doing something she ought not to have done because she was frightened. Well, I can understand being frightened. I cannot understand letting that rule you to the extent that you attempt to hide from the circumstances. Because there are midwives out there who aren’t so great, I think it is even more important to have midwives who are wonderful. THAT is my goal. Bearing that in mind, I think that working at Heywood as a volunteer doula will help me accomplish my goal and while I am doing that, I can also help women to have the best birth experience possible.

Paul is reading a book to the boys in the back room. Cedric didn’t want to listen because he thought the book looked boring. Joseph wanted to listen yesterday and was annoyed when Paul wouldn’t read yesterday afternoon. He just came in to report that Seth took a Lego from him and won’t give it back. I told him that they would all become my Lego’s if Seth didn’t give it back. As Joseph began to relay this message to Seth a bit too loudly, Cedric said, “SHHHHHH!!!”

Joanna and Amena are going through things in their room and getting rid of stuff they no longer want.

The counter that was lovely and cleared off Thursday is no longer. It won’t take as long to get back to what I need it to be but it has been collecting things. At least it won’t take three hours to clear off tomorrow morning. I do have other things to get done tomorrow, though, and I don’t really want to spend any time clearing off counters.

There is, as always, more that I could write but I think I am tired of writing for the moment. Have a spectacular evening!