06/18/2022
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BIRTH CONSUMER INFO
Being a birth consumer you are suddenly thrust into a whole new world of terms and professions. This post is meant to address these and get you up tp speed, especially at the local level.
LINGO TO KNOW
Birth or Labor Doulas: support during labor, birth and immediate hours after birth. They also have prenatal meetings and postpartum check ins.
Postpartum Doulas: begin after the baby is born and provide in home help with baby, feeding, your recovery, cooking, and tasks.
Full Spectrum Doulas: offer both services.
Bereavement Doulas: support families through miscarriage, abortion or stillbirth loss.
ALPHABET SOUP
OK what do all the different letters after the names mean? These represent different certifications or trainings.
CBD: Nope. Not what you think. Certified Birth Doula.
Trained versus Certified:
Trained is the lowest level of experience. Actually it means the person may have no experience, only training which can be online or in workshops.
Certified is the next level. To be certified means you are trained, done a bunch of extra studying AND have usually attended a minimum of 3 real world births. From there it comes down to numbers of births, breadth of birth places and care providers, and breadth of birth situations, such as, twins, breech, single parent, high risk, surrogacy, etc.
NUMBERS
I have included numbers of births with each doula to help you understand their experience level. As a 100+ doula myself I know I was a very different doula at the end of my career than the beginning. That isn't to say I wasn't a good doula in the beginning who provided good service to my clients. I did. But when you do a job for decades you grow. When it comes to birth work no amount of book learning or workshop certifications can give you the learning that comes from witnessing birth. Lots and lots of different births. Each birth a new lesson.
Birth Number Categories
0-3
4-10
10-50
50+
100+
But do you need a highly experienced doula? Many women don't. They simply need the right doula "fit". If you are higher risk, have a more complex psychosocial situation, or suffered a past birth trauma you may want to consider paying for a more experienced person. Keep in mind in the world of doulas the more births they have attended the higher their rates will usually be. Consider your needs and remember "My Doula was worth the Moola!"
CERTIFICATION
But what does it mean to be certified? As a consumer you need to know that there is no State recognition or licensure of doulas at this point. Any organization can create a training, charge people a fee and certify people who complete that training. There is no standardization. No requirements. No boards to pass. They each have a different flavor based on the strengths, beliefs and world view of their founders.
DONA Doulas of North America (first org to certify doulas for hospital births based on the founder physical therapist Penny Simkin's work)
CAPPA Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association (offshoot org of DONA. Don't ask. It's political, financial and meaningless to you the consumer)
ICEA International Childbirth Education Association (as the name implies it began with teacher training and later expanded into doula training)
These are the oldest and largest certifying entities. Others come and go. Birth Works, Birth Arts, Indie Birth, Innate Traditions, Massage Doula, and even the one I was certified with, Intuitive Doula. We also have a local organization that has created their own certification process, the SLO Birth & Doula Collective.
On top of basic certification many doulas now get additional trainings in lactation (CLE, LLLL, IBCLC, LE) or techniques such as traditional Rebozo work or Spinning Babies. Some seek out trainings on parenting and child development. Each of these have certificates and letters you can put after your name. All of this training has certainly made the profession more professional but can be overwhelming to consumers.
It also doesn't insure a good doula experience. I pulled this from ICEA's website. "Certification is a means to verify that you have a basic level of knowledge. It does not guarantee compassion or skill. The same applies to any certification or degree. Public school teachers complete requirements so that they qualify to teach, but it does not guarantee that they will be gifted teachers. Nurses take courses and exams to qualify for practice, but that does not mean that they all have the same level of skill in starting an IV or performing other tasks."
Most doulas bring something more with them than their trainings. First their is their personality, their energy, and their heart. Then there is their personal life experience and the culture they were raised in, where and how they birthed, teen mom or older mom, twin mom, VBAC mom. Some have other passions or careers they blend into their doula work, massage, yoga, Reiki, nutrition, fitness, psychology and more. Each doula is unique. What are the "extras" that speak to you? What tools do you think you will need to lean on? Whose story resonates?
SPECIALTY ALPHABET SOUP
VBAC vaginal birth after cesarean
HBAC homebirth after cesarean
NICU neonatal intensive care unit
IBCLC International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (highest level of breast/chestfeeding training)
LLLL La Leche League Leader volunteer trained in breastfeeding support
CLE certified Lactation Educator
Are you confused by the various DOULA GROUPINGS? Collectives, networks, partnerships? What does it all mean for you? Honestly very little. Here is the rundown for SLO and Santa Maria area. As you visit these various sites you will begin to see some familiar faces as many of our local doulas are posted in multiple places.
SLO Doula Connection is a web site that lists doulas for a fee. You don't pay. They do. It is a way for doulas to get their name out into the public eye.
https://www.slodoulaconnection.com/
SMV Doula Connection is also a web site that lists doulas. This one is free for the doulas and for you. Their mission is to bring awareness that doulas are working in the Santa Maria Valley which has been a wasteland for birth consumers.
https://www.smvdoulacollective.com/
SLO Birth Collective is not just a website. It is an agency. They train their own doulas. If you are looking for help figuring out who to hire or how to deal with issues such as contracts, you can work through this intermediary. You do not contact the doulas on the site directly. And yes there is a fee for the doulas and you the consumer.
https://slobirthcollective.wordpress.com/
Central Coast Childbirth Network is an organization with all types of resources for pregnancy, birth, postpartum and early parenthood. That includes a section on local doulas who are paying members and support the organization in other ways. There is no fee to you and no service provided other than the listing.
https://www.centralcoastchildbirthnetwork.com/doulas...
The Doula Circle is a peer group of doulas on the Central Coast of California coming together to support one another and unite to find ways to better support our birthing community. It is closed to consumers. https://www.facebook.com/groups/800343083878530
Birth Within is an example of a doula partnership. It is an individual business with two doulas. You can hire either of them. They work independently but within the same business.
https://www.birthwithindoula.com/
Birth & Baby Resource Network was the nonprofit grandmother of all of these other entities. It still has a Facebook presence but their doula information is hopelessly out of date. Most of the doulas are no longer providing doula services here.
https://www.facebook.com/BBRN.SLO/
This Resource Guide is attempting over time to list ALL the doulas working from Cambria and Paso to Lompoc. There is no fee to them or to you. It is simply a listing with a connection for you to then research any of them that strike your fancy. Do your research. Reach out to their clients. Talk to your girlfriends. Consider who you are and what you need in a doula. "Fit" is everything. You are inviting someone into your toughest most sacred and intimate moments. Who feels right to you?
