I know some of you may not know exactly all what a doula can do. So I thought I would give you the best example by telling you my doula experience with the birth of my daughter, Ella. Don’t worry it’s not going to be “gross” and I’m not going to give you every little detail. But I will tell you my story on how having a doula helped my LONG and PAINFUL birth experience so enjoyable. Yes, I said enjoyable. Haha!

I started having contractions on the morning of June the 7th, the day after Ella’s due date. I would have them every 15-10 minutes and they would last a couple of seconds. I texted my doula Kasey to give her a heads up that my contractions have started. This pattern lasted all day. Kasey would check in pretty frequently to make sure I was doing okay. I just did stuff around the house, took a walk with my mom and later on the day took another walk with Micah. During all of this I had no pain and I felt amazing!

Around 7-8 pm I asked my doula to come over because my contracts were 5 minutes apart and I started to feel a little bit of pain. As soon as my doula got to my house my contractions slowed down. We went over massages and different labor positions and even pressure points to see if it would help move labor along, it didn’t. I was still talking through my contractions so we both thought I was still in early labor and we decided I should go to sleep and Kasey go home.

Once it hit 24 hours, which was about 4 in the morning on June 8th, I felt a shift in my body. My contractions were getting more intense and more consistent. I stayed in bed till 7am when I couldn’t just lay there any more. Around 9:30 I started to have a hard time doing anything through my contractions, at that point I called my doula. She came over and after seeing how I acted and sounded through contractions she suggested I call and talk to my midwife. My midwife suggested that if I felt ready that I could come over and get checked out. We leave for the birthing center to meet my midwife at 10am with my doula driving right behind us.

From 10:30am-7ish pm my contractions got more and more intense and painful. My doula was amazing working together with my mom, Micah and with my midwives. They helped me go up and down the stairs, helped with messages, and Kasey helped make sure I was eating and drinking something to make sure I kept my energy up. Most importantly Kasey helped me breath and keep my sanity. Haha.

Team work makes the dream work! This was my favorite counter pressure position that helped with the back labor I was experiencing.

My doula Kasey and Micah working together to help me up and down the stairs.

You see, my sweet sweet husband was not good as counter pressure/messages and he was thee WORST at vocal support. I mean that in the best way possible, he knows I love him. Haha. We quickly realized Micah has no idea what to do when I’m in pain, his response to the intensity was to make jokes..and they were not helping! My doula quickly realized that his joke telling, was bothering me and making lose my focus so she helped find a place for him to help me. I just needed him to be present and hold my hand… in silence.

My mom(top right), Micah(bottom right) and my doula, Kasey(bottom left) consoling me to breath through a contraction.

Around 7pm was when my water finally broke and instantly my contractions got more instance, more frequent and longer. Kasey didn’t skip a beat. She helped showed my mom what kind of messages I liked so she could take over. There was a moment when Kasey had to step out and I thought I was going to have a panic attack. I had a hard time breathing, Kasey was the only one who knew how to talk to me to get me to focus on my breathing.

Finally it came time to push, let me just say that was the most intense moment of my life. Kasey helped me keep my sanity, helped hold my leg and my mom the other so Micah could be more in the moment. So when Ella was finally born(two hours later) Micah and I were able to enjoy the moment of meeting our daughter for the first time.

This was the moment we were dreaming about, the first time I got to hold Ella in my arms and kiss her.

Now my girl is 3! Time has flown by.

My labor and delivery was long and painful but I had such a sold team, with my doula leading the charge. There was a lot more she did and suggest during the whole process but we would be here forever if I told you everything. I only hope that I could be just as much helpful to laboring mothers as she was to me. If you have any questions I would love to chat with you! You can comment down below, contact me on social media or messaging me on my website. I hope this helped paint a better picture of what a doula can do to help and enhance your birthing experience.