Three minutes with...a doula

Lauren Petrofski

AS a doula, Forest Lake resident Lauren Petrofski is there for women as they go through the most painful yet rewarding experience of their life – childbirth.

A doula (pronounced doola) is different from a midwife in that their role is not medical at all, it’s purely about making a woman’s childbirth experience more comfortable.

The Satellite had a quick chat with a lady whose job is to be ‘mothering to mothers’.

Q: How did you become a doula?

A: I used to be a registered nurse at the Ipswich Hospital and worked in the maternity ward a bit. I wanted to do midwifery but I was told it is very clinical these days. I came across the idea of becoming a doula when I was looking at a parenting website.

Q: What is the biggest misconception mothers have about childbirth before they go through it?

A: They have too many expectations I suppose. I try to help them achieve an all-natural birth but I can’t guarantee they won’t end up with the whole hog (epidural etc).

Q: What is the strangest thing you’ve seen during a labour?

A: I used to hear labours happening at Ipswich Hospital and you could hear mothers screaming down the hallway ‘get it out! get it out!’ But you mustn’t make jokes about a woman in labour. I’ve also heard of women wanting a lotus birth (the practice of leaving the umbilical cord uncut, so that the baby remains attached to their placenta until the cord naturally separates). But you can’t be judgmental if that’s what they want.

Q: What is the benefit of having a doula?

A: The brain is so connected to the body during childbirth – for example, if a zebra is giving birth in the wild and they sense any danger like a lion coming to eat them, the labour stops, they run away and when they calm themselves the labour resumes. It’s the same way with humans, if you don’t feel comfortable the labour will stop and start again and that leads to complications. A doula helps a woman feel calm and in control.

Q: One of the doula ‘promises’ is that a mother cannot hurt your feelings during labour. Is this true?

A: I don’t get offended. If I’m massaging a woman’s foot during labour and she kicks me in the face, I won’t care.

Q: What is it like seeing new life come into the world?

A: I don’t know how to describe it. I think it’s really nice to see mother and baby bond and see them looking into each other’s eyes. You can see they are totally falling in love with each other.

Q: What would you encourage mothers to do during childbirth?

A: I encourage the father to be up very close to her face during the birth. It’s the mother’s and father’s journey, not my journey.

Q: What do you think about home births?

A: I think home births are good in most circumstances because women think they are in a safe environment and it doesn’t have to be embarrassing. But I believe it is essential to have a midwife present at least.

Q: What was your own experience of childbirth like?

A: It was exciting. I think if I had another baby it would be more emotional and I would really cherish the first hour.