Moms Like Me: Doulas...the Pregnant Woman's Friend

It sounds a little scary, but at Gentle Beginning in Warner Robins, three moms - who are also doulas - spend their days and nights helping families overcome their fears so that they can have the birth of their dreams.

When Middle GA Mom Erica Lockwood became pregnant, she already knew how she wanted her delivery to go, "Both of my children, my little girls, were born completely naturally in the hospital. I didn't even have an IV."

With four children, Belinda Enzor's experiences were a little more varied, "I've had all different experiences. I've had natural birth, I've had c-sections."

Both of these moms have been through the pains of labor. And if they had to do it over again, they would only change one thing -they would have a doula by their side. Though her first birth was perfect, Lockwood says her second time around was much more difficult. "So," she explains, "my experiences with my own birth is what made me want to become a doula, because I needed one."

Enzor seconds the motion, "I ended up with a c-section - emergency c-section - with a breach baby, three weeks early. After I recuperated, I thought 'there's a better way. I have to be able to teach that there is a better way.'"

So both ladies became doulas, then joined forces with veteran doula Wilma Matos at Gentle Beginning. It is a facility that provides a place for women and their families (including husbands) to come for pregnancy education. But that's not all a doula does. A doula is the ultimate support for a woman before, during and after pregnancy. That means she'll visit the home, she'll be right beside the mother during her entire labor process and then help after the baby is born.

Matos says, "It doesn't have to be for only those who are planning a natural birth." But if a family plans for a natural birth, they'll help them remember and stick to that plan when the contractions kick in.

"Ultimately, what we want to do is empower women and families to take control of their birth experience," explains Lockwood. Of her own natural birth experience, she says, "I was filled with this incredible sense of accomplishment. And I just felt so strong as a woman and that was the feeling that began my journey as a mother."

Through education and through emotional and physical support, this trio of doulas helps to make the whole birth experience easier and more rewarding for expecting moms. They say that education removes the fear factor - the fear of not understanding what is going on during labor. And the doulas provide constant support that fuels the mother's belief that she can get through the labor process.

Enzor's analogy sums it up nicely, "So to have that person who's on your team one-hundred percent...that person who is all yours for that birth. It's like having your best friend go shopping for shoes because you know you have the same thing in mind."

A doula is not a medical professional. They work in conjunction with physicians and midwives.