Pregnancy: Doula

My husband was my pregnancy and birth partner. I was blessed to have his continuous presence and care throughout the pregnancy, all the way to the 36 hours of labor, and finally, the delivery of our baby girl. Pregnancy is not easy, labor and delivery are hard, and the first few months after the baby arrives are physically and emotionally challenging. Going through those days alone can be daunting. Having an understanding and helpful partner would definitely help smooth things out. Unfortunately not all pregnant women are that lucky to have their partner always by their side. Some women have partners who travel a lot, while some others are single parents or parents-to-be.

If you fall into this category, you probably should consider getting a doula. A doula is an assistant who provides various forms of non-medical support (physical, emotional and informed choice) in the childbirth process. The practice of doula is not yet that known in Switzerland. In US or UK, among other countries, the importance of doulas is well acknowledged. If you choose to use a doula service, she would be your “new best friend”. She would be the one taking care of you during the pregnancy and after the delivery, and if she’s your birth partner, she would be the one making sure that you get as comfortable as a birthing mother can be. In this case, a doula can actually be more supportive than your living partner as she understands the whole process of birth and know exactly what to do to help ease your pain.

According to the Doula Suisse website, the fee for a complete service (visits during pregnancy and after delivery, companion during labor and delivery, and unlimited phone consultancy) is CHF800. Partial services are also available, ranging from single house visit (CHF60), to several house visits and phone consultancy (without the companion during labor and delivery) for CHF300-550. The number of visits is decided according to the need of the mother. However, unlike the midwife services which some are covered by health insurance in Switzerland, a doula service is not.

According to the Doula Suisse website, the doula living closest to Lausanne is Christelle Küffer (079 422 49 87, christelle.kuffer(AT)gmail.com). And the good news is… she speaks English! List of other doulas can be found on this website.

If you used the service of a doula, could you please leave a comment and share your experience with us?

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3 Comments

Monica Borel February 6, 2010 at 9:17 pm

Hi Lausanne mom! I wanted to let you know that I am an American, English-French bilingual doula living here in Lausanne. My website is http://www.lausannedoula.com. I just recently completed my training through Childbirth International, and have begun attending births in the area. Please feel free to visit my website- http://www.lausanedoula.com!

Sheila June 10, 2010 at 3:38 pm

Hello all, I just wanted to respond to this post from Monica regarding her doula services. During my pregnancy I did all I could to educate and prepare myself for the physical, emotional and spiritual journey of giving birth and becoming a mother. This included the decision to hire Monica to be my doula. The results were nothing less than perfect. Although I was Monica’s very first client, I felt I was in the hands of a very experienced, competent birth assistant. From the moment she laid hands on me, I felt a wave of relief and support so great that I nearly came to tears. Throughout the 17 hours of labor and delivery she was always by my side, attentive to my physical and emotional state and was exactly the coach and assistant I needed to stay calm and centered–a critical factor in moving through contractions consciously and avoiding the fear-tension-pain cycle. When I watch the video of the birth now, I am surprised by how calm I really was, and I know that this was due in large part to Monica’s steady support and reassuring presence. Her presence also allowed my husband to just ‘be’ with me and experience the birth of our son without having to feel that he was solely responsible to help me. Monica is passionate about empowering woman through pregnancy, birthing, and motherhood and this gives her the energy and drive to continually seek out new ways to improve her skills and increase her knowledge. In the classes we did before and after the birth she provided me with very helpful information and hands on training, which I had not heard, read or received elsewhere. I will be forever grateful for her graceful assistance in the birth of my son and can unconditionally recommend Monica to anyone looking to have an empowered birth experience.

Helga September 1, 2010 at 10:09 am

Hi all,

We too, made use of Monica Borel’s doula services. Thank goodness!
My oldest son was born with a cesarian, after 11 hours of labor, because the birth just stalled — nothing happened for hours — and the baby started to get distressed. I had back labor and had received an epidural as soon as I had entered the hospital (Clinic Cecil). The sedation unfortunately only worked on one side of my body. Anyway, we had a healthy son so I can’t complain. Moreover, I was thinking that one wouldn’t refuse sedation just because it is not natural, in line with getting sedated at the dentist.
My husband though has been wondering ever since whether we could have had a successful vaginal birth if I hadn’t had the epidural — what with more opportunity to move around and assume different positions throughout the labor.

In any case, I realized that we had been woefully unprepared for the whole birthing process and that I had had no idea how to breathe or use any other coping mechanisms.

For this pregnancy I therefore contacted Monica with the idea of getting better prepared. I also asked my gyneco whether a doula could be around during the birth. He was ok with it, but would have wanted her to leave during the final stage (the “pushing”). With first me and then Monica on vacation, I let the whole idea slip a bit, until I realized we were still unprepaired and set up a meeting. Monica came to our house and at our request provided us with factual information possible (medical) interventions associated with the birthing process. Although I had considered myself well-read on the topic, this proved extremely useful. I am a rational person and having this additional information helped me overcome many of my fears of going into labor again.

As it turned out, our baby arrived 10 days early and we never managed to have our second preparatory meeting… Luckily, Monica had considered herself “on call” after our first meeting, and so I contacted her at 5am. She arrived at the hospital shortly after and got us through labor and delivery in a terrific way. My husband was by my side the whole time and of tremendous support, encouraged and assisted by Monica. I never took an epidural although it was offered as soon as i got to the hospital: Monica had explained that if you wait with an epidural until 5cm opening there is less chance of it derailing the remainder of the labor. The first centimeters were tough but I got through them with the help of my husband and Monica, and after that things went very swiftly so there was little point in getting sedation any more.

At some point it got very difficult for me to hang in there, and Monica had the right hunch that we were almost ready to push — due to her smart suggestion to ask the midwife for an other check of how much I had dilated, I was able to gather courage again and hang in there until the actual pushing started.

Monica also had a wonderful way of interacting with and working with the midwife. It was the midwife’s first time working with a doula, and she expressed her appreciation for Monica’s skill and demeanor afterwards. Also, my gyneco was on vacation and his replacement never asked Monica to leave the room.

BTW, when I first heard about the concept of a doula I thought it was all a bit esoteric Turns out Monica is the best source of hard facts you can find, allowing you can make up your own mind. During the birth she did not make a single decision for us.