5 Frequently Used Skills You Might Not Realize Your Doula Rocks

Last night as I spent the night sleeping on my friend's couch as she recovered from a medical procedure, I realized that it wasn't very different then something I regularly do as a doula. In fact sleeping in random places is a skill I had long before becoming a doula and has just made it easier to get the bits of rest I might find I need. This got me thinking about what skills I find myself using with every client that people might not think of when it comes to doula work.

1. Being Able to Sleep Anywhere - Being a doula means providing continuous support for our laboring clients. This may stretch longer than 24 hours and it becomes vital to get whatever little rest we can as the mother does. As a child I could and did sleep anywhere and that's a skill I've carried into adulthood and my profession when needed.
2. Knowing When and How to Bite Her Tongue - It is the doula's job to support the birth that is best for her client by respecting all their decisions even when they may conflict with your own preferences. Birth is not the time to sew seeds of doubt, share "horror stories", or advocate for your own beliefs.
3. Always Looking on the Bright Side - Birth can be unpredictable. Things might not go as you plan, but your doula wants you to look back on your experience as one of the best in your life. This may mean she reframes the situation to highlight how what happened was the best for you.
4. Leaves Her Baggage at the Door - Your birth is about you. So just like knowing what not to say, your doula also doesn't let her personal experiences interfere with the care she provides to you. The last thing she wants to do is project her negative feelings onto you so she does well to leave these behind.
5. Driving in Inclement Conditions - Postal workers are not the only ones with the creed of carrying out their work despite "rain nor snow, nor sleet nor dark of night”. Your doula wants to do everything in her power to be there when you need her and this might mean driving in the dead of night or through such dense fog that it’s hard to see beyond a few feet in front of her.