If it's the latter, then I want you to think about the precipitating event that made you decide you were not going to give birth the same way you did last time. Or perhaps you're a first-time mom and someone has strongly encouraged you to hire a doula for your birth. In that case, give that friend a big hug and just read along. But for those of us who have given birth a time or two and figured out that something rubbed us the wrong way, will you consider sharing with the class what that ONE MOMENT was where you knew you needed another set of hands with you beyond your partner and/or parent?
I remember my moment. I had battled severe postpartum depression for nine months following the birth of my second son. Those were dark days, and I will never, ever forget the way I felt then. I was just finally breaking out of it when I found out I was pregnant with my third. Yeah. It would be an understatement to say that I was not excited, because I was imagining all kinds of badness during my next postpartum period.
As a result, it took me a couple of months just to get to the point where I was ready to go to the OB-GYN.... And when I called, the receptionist greeted me with a snide, "You waited HOW LONG to call us?" In truth, I was about three months along and I'd never had complications during pregnancy. She just felt it was appropriate to be rude to me then, and she made emotional me instantly drop into a jumbled mixture of shame and anger. I never called that office again. Not for any of the other transgressions I felt like I had suffered, but because the girl in the front office judged me. I vow to try to never be that person to anyone else.
However, in a way, the unprofessional attitude of that receptionist started a snowball rolling that pointed me in the direction of birthing with a CNM (certified nurse midwife) in a local Birthing Center, which was preparing me for my eventual homebirth, which led me to working with a local midwife, who strongly encouraged me to do what I needed to do to become a doula. There's a reason for everything.
Will you share your MOMENT? Maybe we will recognize ourselves in each other.