Rerun: How Long Do Doulas Stay After a Birth
-
Transcript
Welcome back. We are on another one of our rerun episodes. So we are doing reruns some of our most popular episodes in the last two and a half years over the whole month of July. If you've been hanging around with us, you've heard that the whole month.
And then now we're getting into August and we are going to have about half the month of August be these rerun episodes as well. We will start releasing some new guest episodes, which I'm super excited about.
And we have really exciting things coming for the fall that I cannot wait to tell you. So that will be coming soon. Today's episode is episode 90. So from a while back, and it is talking about how long a doula stays after a birth.
I hope it's helpful and I will see you in the next one. Welcome to doula tips and tips. This podcast is a place where we answer one question about doula work, both to support you and to help you support your clients.
I'm Kaylee Harrod. I've been supporting families in this perinatal space since my oldest was born 12, nearly 13 years ago. I am a birth and postpartum doula, childbirth educator, la leche league leader, and a doula coach.
I love guiding and supporting doulas as they work out their doula business. It is a tremendous joy to be trusted in this way. Thank you for joining us on this journey. Okay. I know I'm going to surprise you by saying it depends on the doula.
But you guys have been, if you've been listening for any amount of time, you know that this is what I do. So part of the reason that I do that is that this field actually does function that way, right?
Like we really do operate differently, but also the nature of birth work is that it just is different every time you do it, at least slightly, right? So that's part of that. Now I want to, I'm going to answer this question in layers.
I feel like my childbirth education students will be laughing because this is how I answer questions in childbirth class. It's like, well, in order to answer that, I need to say this thing. So every doula is different in their capacity to be at a birth for a long time physically, emotionally, mentally, etc.
Okay, now I am a big proponent of doula sustainability and boundaries and self -care. So I absolutely think that as a doula, one of the things that you should know about yourself or that you should try to learn about yourself is what your threshold is for when you like desperately need sleep or things like that.
I already promised a like eating while you're serving a birth client episode that will come I promise because it is super important and so many sick answer to this question of how long of the doula with you is that usually if you have a birth doula that birth doula will be with you for the whole labor and then one to two hours after the labor.
Now of course some doulas function differently than that so this is something to ask if you're hiring a doula if you are a doula it's something that you need to decide what is that going to look like for you so that there's a very clear expectations for your clients when they're hiring you and understanding kind of what they're getting from you right.
So that's the first thing. The second thing is that if a birth is really long so I've supported some incredibly long births so a couple of my clients have gotten a different doula at the end of their labor or I have come in for the end of a labor from and like kind of relieved another doula right.
The threshold of that looks different for everybody. A doula contract should include a backup doula either in the event that two babies are coming at once which has been my whole theme for the last year I've had like four different times that two babies have come within a few hours of each other and prior to that it had happened twice so I was like oh this is like a new thing that never ever happens and in this last year eight babies eight stinking babies came within a few hours of each other so I had more backup than I've ever had in my entire career in the last six to twelve months.
So that's a side note so you should have built -in backup for if your doula is not available or if you are not available if you're the doula. Also you should have back it have built -in replacement if it's really long and you actually can't continue to support right like physically emotionally whatever like psychologically right family -wise like whatever it is you can't continue then there should that should be a clear expectation okay.
So this again varies person to person so I want to break it down into a little bit more context for the rest of the episode. We'll be right back after this quick message. Now back to your episode. So I want to tell you a little story.
When I was a new doula, the first birth I went to officially as a doula was, first of all, incredibly smooth and fast. And so I was like, I could do this all day, every day. And so many people I knew were like, that's called a birth high, like you like are feeling the endorphins, etc, from birth.
And you're like, yes, I want to do this forever for the rest of my life. Now, as a more seasoned doula, who's been doing this for hundreds of birds, well, not hundreds, 100 plus births, that I am grateful that that was my first experience, because some of the rockier births, some of the longer births that I've had, I don't know if I would have continued in this field if those were some of my earliest experiences,
right? Because they were tough, they were hard on me, they were hard on the family, hard to support a family through like a really hard birth, you know, so there's lots of layers there, right? But when I had my first like pretty long birth, I want to say it was only, gosh, I really classified it as very long, but I think it was like 17 hours, which now I'm like, that's normal.
That's a normal amount. I did not eat like at all that whole 17 hours, which I do not recommend. That is a terrible idea. So when I got done with the birth, I ate something like they had given birth, my client had given birth, they were doing skin to skin, I ate a snack, and I had to catch a lift home.
And I threw up as soon as I got home, because my body was just like exhausted, I hadn't had enough food, my blood sugar was low, etc. And I feel felt horrible for like two days. And so in that experience, I was like, Oh, maybe I can't handle long births, like maybe I need to always have someone come to birth at a certain time.
At the time, I was working with an agency. And the agency had a built in part of their contract where you could call in a backup doula after 18 hours of support. And so at that time, I just was kind of like, Okay, well, I guess we'll just start telling people like if your birth goes beyond 18 hours, I'm gonna have to call in a backup, right?
Like I can't I just physically cannot go longer than that. My clients were incredibly gracious, like super, super gracious about it. And very respectful of that, because that was a very well articulated boundary when they hired me.
So that's a big deal. Like it's a big deal to know. If there's a threshold at which point you will need to leave and call in a backup, just like on a regular basis, obviously not accounting for emergencies, extenuating circumstances, et cetera, et cetera.
But just in general, if at 18 hours you're like, I need to go home and sleep, then your clients that are hiring you or you as the client hiring should know that at the time of hire. However, that should not be a surprise in the midst of your labor.
Um, now that's so, so I, I'm not saying that if you have like an, a labor that's 36 hours a client that needs support for multiple days, that you have to be the only person there as the doula, right?
You can absolutely have it built into your contract, built into your business model to be able to call someone else in, um, and then kind of have that like continuity of support from a doula for your clients, just not support from you that entire time.
However, um, most doula contracts do include support through the time of giving birth and, and lactation time that like initial skin to skin and, and attempting the first latches and things like that, if that's desired by the client and if that's continues to be allowed by the hospital.
So what I mean when I say that is right now, for instance, in the midst of the COVID pandemic policy changes in hospitals, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Um, one of the things that has changed slightly is what it looks like to support a birth that turns into a C -section unexpectedly.
And that's just because the post -op time and space tends to be much smaller and also a lot more hands -on for the nurses, like a lot more vital checking, et cetera, because the person has just gotten out of surgery rather than having a vaginal delivery that went really smoothly, et cetera, and they don't need as much vital sign checking after that.
In most cases, as they do after a surgery and also policies just differ, right? So sometimes you're allowed to be with someone in a birth scenario, in a labor room, but if they have to go to a C -section, you're not able to stay for the postpartum time after the C -section.
Now, I'll get into, I, one of the questions that I actually was just asked recently to answer was about supporting a C -section as a doula. So we will get into that in one of the upcoming episodes, but I just want you to know that that transition can also be there, which means that that's not entirely your, up to you, right?
It's not up to your client. That's not a decision that either of you are making, that's a decision that just is kind of a, like a consequence of how the birth is playing out, right? So I hope that adds some context to how long will a birth doula typically stay and what does that maybe look like in terms of logistics.
I am loving getting questions. So I think I have three questions right now kind of in the lineup that are, that were just recently given to me for the record. When a question is given to me, when someone comments on a post on Instagram or asks a question or review or emails me or sends me a DM on Instagram, all of those, I try to fit them in pretty quickly into the episodes because I would rather that question get answered in the next couple of episodes when you've asked it than for you to wait for months and months for that to come up.
So while I batch a lot of my content, I don't wait typically for a month or two months to do an episode of a question that has just been asked to me by one of the listeners. So please do send me the questions that you have and know that I will answer them relatively soon.
Okay. So that is all for today. We are going to continue on this theme of doulas for the next little bit. And so whatever questions you have, please send them to me. In the meantime, I wish you consent filled, well informed birthing experiences.
Thanks for joining us for this episode of the doula tips and tits podcast. If you learned something today or had an aha moment, we'd love for you to share that on Instagram and tag us at hara doula so we can celebrate alongside you.
If you found this podcast helpful, we would so appreciate you taking a second to leave a rating and a review on your favorite podcast app that helps other doulas find us as we do this work together. This podcast is intended as educational and entertainment.
It is not medical advice or business advice. Please consult your own medical or legal team for your own needs around your health and your business. We'll see you again soon.
Never want to miss what we’re doing for doulas? Subscribe to our newsletter! We won’t spam you, but we do promise amazing content and classes! https://www.harroddoulaservices.com/newsletter
First, Doulas do not operate the same way! Today’s episode dives into staying after a birth, what that looks like and how long it usually is. BUT not all doulas are the same, so this gives you a sense of some of the ways doulas do this so you can settle on what feels best for you in your doula business.
Quote from the show:
“I am a big proponent of doula sustainability and boundaries and self -care. So I absolutely think that as a doula, one of the things that you should know about yourself or that you should try to learn about yourself is what your threshold is for when you desperately need sleep or things like that. I already promised a like eating while you're serving a birth client episode that will come I promise because it is super important and so many sick answer to this question of how long of the doula with you is that usually if you have a birth doula that birth doula will be with you for the whole labor and then one to two hours after the labor.”
I mention the ability to book coaching calls with me. Those can be found below:
30 Minute Coaching:
https://calendly.com/harroddoula/doula-coaching-30-minutes?preview_source=et_card&month=2024-06
60 Minute Coaching:
https://calendly.com/harroddoula/doula-coaching-one-off?month=2024-06
CONNECT with Kaely on TikTok or Instagram
https://www.tiktok.com/@doulacoach
https://www.instagram.com/Harroddoula/
If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me @harroddoula
Kaely Daily is produced by Kaely Harrod of Harrod Doula Services
It is sponsored by The Birth Prep Blueprint Childbirth Class
Music by Madirfan: Hidden Place on Pixabay
