Reprinted from the News Journal of Mansfield, Ohio

The Doula: Empowering the Birth Experience

By Rose Marie Feagin
News Journal Correspondent

MANSFIELD, Ohio -- Today's modern maternity wards barely resemble the stereotypical units of days gone, where cigar-packing fathers-to-be paced the floor until that magical moment when the doctor came out and pronounced the gender of their child.

The delivery rooms are a lot different, too. Some women are tempted to give births at centers that offer larger rooms with jacuzzis and other amenities that make the experience seem more like a trip to a spa than a hospital. Mothers also have more options when it comes to the birthing process.

Experts agree that women who have a positive birth experience often use that experience as a stepping-stone for becoming a positive parent. Helping births be peaceful or seen an empowering experience is what Pat Welch and doula groups, such as Turtle Women's Project in Minnesota, are all about. But these groups aren't just in Minnesota -- there are also women in Ohio who offer the services.

Carolyn Zara and Kathy Mullins are two women in Mansfield who have the professional experience and education to provide support for pregnant women. Zara, who is a women's and children's nurse practitioner and doula, has recently opened her own medical office in Mansfield. She said research shows that having a doula present, someone who is supporting the mother and assisting the family, helps to decrease the pain and the length of the labor. Doulas also help benefit the mother's well-being. Pat Dodge a certified nurse mid-wife at Women's Contemporary Health Care in Columbus, Ohio, thinks it depends on a person's perspective as to whether or not they see having a doula in the delivery room as a help or hindrance.

"I look at doulas as sort of the trained support person. I definitely see them as an asset," Dodge said. "They are helpful in suggesting positions that help move the labor along."

Dodge also thinks that having a doula can be really empowering for patients.

"I think sometimes certain practitioners can be threatened by patients who don't do exactly what they tell them to do," she said.