 For
thousands of years birth has been 'women's business'.
The primary role for men has been to protect the woman
during pregnancy, birth and the weeks afterwards.
Only in the past 30 years or so, men have been present
at the births of their babies.
Men are now expected to be the woman's caretaker and
'labour coach', responsible for all her physical and
emotional needs.
Especially for a first time father, labour and birth
can be an overwhelming experience.
At times a man may not understand a woman’s
instinctive behaviour during labour, he might feel
stressed when she is in pain and could be facing the
dilemma of how to help and how much affection to show
in front of strangers.
There are great expectations and no matter how experienced
he is in childbirth, it can be challening to meet
both his own and his partner's needs at this intense
time.
Being there as your doula I
will not be a replacement for the father.
My presence will allow him to make choices about what
role he would like to play during the birth of his
child.
I can show the man how he can support his partner
effectively and he will be able to share his presence
in a way he feels most comfortable with.
If he likes to provide physical comfort, such as back
massage or give support in different positions and
help his partner to stay focussed during contractions,
I can provide guidance and make suggestions for what
may work best.
With a doula the man will feel free from being totally
responsible for his partner’s well-being. He
can take breaks and time to integrate his feelings
on the journey to becoming a father.
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