Labor Support
The labor support is an age-old tradition of women supporting women across the threshold into motherhood. It also encompasses support of the partner (it’s their birth too!) so they can be fully involved in the birthing process. The nature of continuous labor support provides a continuity of care that has been proven to increase women’s positive feelings about the experience.

The presence of a Doula

• reduces the overall cesarean rate by 50%
• reduces the length of labor by 25%
• reduces the oxytocin use by 40%
• reduces the pain medication by 30%
• reduces the the need for forceps by 40%
• and reduces the requests for epidurals by 60%.

Doula support enhances the well-being of mothers and babies, leads to fewer medical interventions in the process of labor and delivery, and saves money for individuals and medical providers.

(Mothering the Mother-Marshall Klaus M.D., John Kennell, M.D. and Phyllis Klaus, M.Ed., C.S.W)

We initially chose to have a doula simply to lower the chances of having a c-section, but were pleasantly surprised by all the things Jesse was able to help us with.  She was on call 24/7 for questions, helped us decide about pain control options and pain management techniques, helped us identify potential problems in the birth process before they happened, suggested prenatal positioning to help the baby move into the right position, setup the portable labor tub, massaged my feet during contractions, was there to support BOTH of us during the labor and delivery process, took amazing pictures of the labor and birth, helped a bunch with telling us what was normal and not normal throughout the pregnancy, came to the house to check on us and give breastfeeding advice after Sarah was born, and later brought over a myriad of slings to try so that we could know which one worked best before buying it.  She made such an amazing and positive difference in the whole experience for us – I’d recommend a doula to anyone (and of course, we think ours is the best!).

--Donna Spence Kirchoff, Pediatrician and mother of Sarah, 10 mo.

For more labor support:

• Physical comfort measures
• Labor positioning for optimal fetal positioning
• Pain coping techniques
• Labor massage
• Facilitation of the birth plan
• Customized labor support

more services:

• Overview
• Rates
• Pregnancy Support
• Postpartum Support

"The Fire Within"
by Mara Friedman

“The family is born in the delivery room.”
–John Lind, MD