As the open screen door let in warm summer air, birth doula Sherilee Valenta told a very-pregnant Lindsey Pratt as they stood in the kitchen over the counter: “Stick out your booty.”
Pratt complied; she laid the upper half of her body on the counter and, well, stuck out her booty. Valenta then carefully caressed her back and hips.
This practice is supposed to help pregnant women with backaches and give space for the baby to get in a good position for birth.
This prenatal in-home visit is just one part of Valenta’s job as a doula in Clark County, where she has lived for 18 years. She operates Baby Nest Birth Services, a firm of doulas, which includes five birth doulas and one postpartum doula.
Certification and Cost
There isn’t a standardized path to becoming a birth doula. You don’t need a diploma, but there are various trainings and certifications that are helpful. DONA International, the largest doula certification organization, requires several workshops and trainings.
Doula services vary in cost. Doulamatch.net shows 65 different doulas serving the Vancouver area, with fees anywhere from free to $2,000. Baby Nest Birth Services lists its birth fees between $750-$975. Find out more at babynestbirth.com.
A doula, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is a person trained to provide advice, information, emotional support and physical comfort to a mother before, during and just after childbirth. This is different from a midwife, who assists as an actual health care provider. A doula is more like the new mother’s best friend, who champions her through the process, with a singular goal of a positive birth experience. Because as happy of a time as it may seem, it’s also draining and scary for many, and a midwife doesn’t always serve those more emotional needs.
A 2013 study published in The Journal of Perinatal Education showed that families who employ a doula had better birth outcomes, including that doula-assisted mothers were four times less likely to have a child with low birth weight, two times less likely to experience a birth complication involving themselves or their baby, and significantly more likely to initiate breastfeeding. Some cities have even enlisted doulas as part of a larger effort to reduce infant mortality rates.
Tackling fears
Doula work doesn’t look the same for everyone, because all families are different and have different needs.
“Some women are super-excited and some are super-fearful. We kind of mold in that to get them where they need to go,” Valenta said.
Valenta likes to focus on assuaging parents’ fears and adjusting to whatever their needs are. She’s careful to note that she’s sometimes hired to focus on the partner’s fears, rather than only the mother. She helps couples and mothers of all types, including same-sex couples and single parents.
A fear that Valenta frequently encounters is the worry of being terrible parents. She also hears from women that they’re scared of tearing. Sometimes, they simply need a confidante to listen to their fears; they might not be ready for the baby at all.
“If they don’t work through their fears, we don’t talk about them, then they will be there in the birth room and then that’s going to be a hindrance,” she said.
Tension isn’t good during labor, so she worked carefully with the Pratts at their home to practice relaxation techniques.
Though Valenta most often works with couples who are planning a hospital birth — she said that it’s a common misconception that doulas only are hired for home births — the Pratts are having their second baby at their east Minnehaha home. Their first birth, they said, was a struggle.
“I think … not knowing the intensity of it, because you don’t know what to expect going into it the first time. It was way more intense, way more work than anyone is able to explain to you, so it’s huge to have someone that goes, ‘You’re doing this. This is normal, you’re in it,’ when you say, ‘I can’t do this anymore,’ ” Lindsey Pratt said in between positions.
At hospitals, doulas have to be careful not to overstep their bounds and keep a good relationship with doctors and health care providers.
“We are an advocate, but we don’t make decisions for our client, ever. We don’t tell the medical provider what to do; that’s not a good doula practice. More, we try to give the client information for them to be able to advocate. We try to educate them so they have the right questions to ask,” Valenta said.
Seeing the need
Valenta, who along with her husband also operates The Mighty Bowl restaurant in Vancouver, grew up on a recreational farm in Edmonton, Alberta, where she would observe animals give birth.
“I would watch this mother horse groan and moan and move, and then plunk out a baby and then take her deep breath and then nurture the baby. So seeing that as a young person, I definitely think that gets inside of you. You really trust birth and realize that it’s normal and happens all the time,” she said.
The Baby Nest business came to be after Valenta first gave birth 15 years ago. She didn’t use a doula, nor did she know what one was, but she did have a particularly engaged midwife.
“I felt so empowered and strong, and so many things came to life through that experience. That’s what made me go, ‘OK, other people need to be able to give birth this way.’ Other people need to not be afraid, other people need to have a woman believe in them like I had,” she said.
Though the vast majority of doulas are women, there are some male doulas out there. Valenta calls them “dudelas.” There are also other types of doulas in the United States, including death doulas, who help people during the death process, and abortion doulas, who provide emotional support to women undergoing abortions. Valenta focuses on birth and increasingly, postpartum services.
“I don’t really know where I’m going until I see the new need. The new need that I’m starting to toil with … and what does it look like for Vancouver, is postpartum (depression). Having a baby is amazing, but it’s extremely isolating. Moms will say, ‘I’m alone all day and bored, and I feel like my brain is going to mush,’ ” she said. She’s hoping to conduct more classes — she teaches the Bradley method — and support groups.
“Every year we get busier and busier so it’s been great. That’s what makes my heart happy, that we’re helping more and more families. That means so many more families are having more supportive births and not feeling alone,” Valenta said.
