Paula, Calhoun
2.0
近期评价1
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近期评价
2.0
最近2年1条近期评价
3年前·美国CA
I had a mixed experience. Overall I felt like my experience with Paula as a birth doula could have been better.
Pros:
-She has years of experience although I do not think she knew the doctor delivering my baby or the nurses on staff
-She can encapsulate your placenta so it is one less person to coordinate with.
-She is excellent with email and text
Summary of my experience:
My water broke 2 weeks early so I don't remember getting my second pre-natal session. I was a bit rattled the day my water broke but worked hard to keep my composure began cancelling my appointments (dr appointments, massage, acupuncture, etc). It was 8am and I know Paula is a night owl so I didn't want to wake her just yet.
I messaged her at 10am letting her know my water broke and telling her I purposely waited so I didn't wake her up. I'm very sensitive to "bothering" people so I think I wanted her to reply with "no, no, it's not a bother, wake me, I'm here for you" . When I didn't get that, I think my subconscious brain felt like I had to be fully convenient for her.
Paula and I went back and forth with scheduling over text to determine when she would meet us at the hospital. After checking in with me in the hospital, she said she would leave and come back when I was in active labor. She left us the TENS unit but did not give us a demonstration or directions on how to use it.In that vulnerable state, a nice gesture like leaving the TENS unit was interpreted by me as "leaving me" because we didn't know how to use the machine.
Paula told me to call her when I was in "active labor". Even though I took a birth class, when I was actually going through labor I wasn't paying attention to when I was transitioning into active labor... I was too busy being in labor. Finally, a random nurse who was taking over the break shift for my nurse asked me if I had a doula. When I responded I did, she said, "well, you should call her already".
When Paula arrived I was in full blown labor. My eyes were closed and I was concentrating on the contractions. She made three comments right away that threw me off and created uncomfortable feelings in me. The first was asking how my husband was doing in supporting me during my contractions. Going in, I was concerned about how my husband was going to do, however, during actual birth, that's not the time to ask for a critique. This was a time when he and I needed to be completely united. Luckily we were. I felt Paula's comment was divisive even though I'm sure she didn't mean it like that.
Next, she told me the TENS unit was on full blast and she lowered it. I didn't respond but in my mind I was upset because I felt like, well, how are we supposed to know how to use it and aren't you supposed to be here? We were doing the best we could.
The third comment was her telling me I should have contacted her earlier. A lot happened and happened quickly when she left the hospital. I knew that she had appointments because she told me about her busy day in the morning when we were trying to determine when she'd meet me at the hospital. Again, I'm not one to bother people so I never felt comfortable calling her. I never knew when the "right" time was until a nurse said--CALL.
When I was pushing, Paula was holding up my leg. I felt very self-conscious about this, even during the worst part of my pain, because I don't like to burden people. I gained a lot of weight and my legs were swollen and very heavy. Paula mentioned as she was holding my leg that she recently had surgery. My first thought was, "oh no, I don't want to hurt her" and my second thought was "stop thinking about anything other than giving birth".
I feel with Paula's years of experience, these kind of comments came as a surprise. Pregnant women are already so hormonal and sensitive why say anything that can be misunderstood?
The day after my birth, Paula dropped off the encapsulated placenta. I was grateful she did that so quickly. She asked me how my baby was doing. I started answering her question in detail when she stopped me because she needed to go. She had somewhere to be. On the one hand, I get that she had plans since I delivered early. However, I was also under the impression she did not have a packed life because birth is so unpredictable. I think for future births, it would be helpful for her to have time for them during the days she is in the hospital; especially for first time moms like myself.
Paula got very, very busy as soon as I gave birth and it became challenging to schedule a post partum meeting. After Paula rescheduled a bit and delayed reaching out, I finally cancelled just because I was so darn sleepy. I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore I was so sleep deprived.
So, overall, when hiring a birth doula, you really need to know yourself so you can make sure there is a match.