LOCAL

Doula to offer services, classes locally

Cassidy Smith Times Intern
Doulas stay with and assist a woman before, during or after childbirth, to provide emotional support and physical help if needed. [Birth Boot Camp/Special to The Times]

A different kind of birth experience is now available for expecting parents in Gadsden and surrounding areas. Alabama Births, launched by doula and Birth Boot Camp childbirth educator Jillian Freeland, offers comprehensive birth and parenting classes as well as training courses for those interested in becoming a doula.

Freeland is a Birth Boot Camp childbirth educator who is new to Alabama. “I have four kids, and realized after my third that there was something missing in my birth experiences,” she said. “I was dealing with so many questions with not much emotional support. For my fourth pregnancy, I chose a doula to support me throughout my pregnancy and delivery, and it was a much more rewarding, emotionally fulfilled experience. My husband loved having a doula as well. It took the pressure off him — he will always hire a doula!"

Gov. Kay Ivey signed HB315, known unofficially as the “Decriminalization Bill,” into law in May 2017. This bill legalized midwife practice in Alabama, as long as the midwives are licensed through an accredited organization.

In a statement on her website, she said the bill “gives mothers more options to choose how to deliver their baby, while simultaneously ensuring that those midwives who practice in Alabama are qualified to do so.”

She said it “strikes the appropriate balance of removing regulations to allow midwives to practice, while also making sure offered services are safe for and in the best interests of mothers and children.”

There is a major difference in doulas and midwives — midwives act as medical professionals during birth; doulas are focused on comfort and care for the parents) — these caregivers often work side-by-side to give the parents and newborn the care and attention they need. Especially in home births, most women choose to have both a midwife and a doula in attendance.

Doulas like Freeland offer birthing classes, including Out-of-Hospital Birth, Food and Fitness, and Siblings at Birth. These are designed to allow parents to explore nontraditional options for birth. This usually results in parents feeling more comfortable in their birthing plan and more confident that they will have the experience that they want.

“I want to serve other women and help them and their partners find the confidence they need to be the best parents they can be,” Freeland said. “Doulas serve at all kinds of births, even C-sections. Statistics show that the presence of a doula at a birth can lower the chances of a C-section.

“When (doulas) work together with hospitals,” she said, “we help families understand medical jargon, let the parents know what to expect, and prepare them for skin-to-skin time and breastfeeding.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the C-section rate was at 32 percent nationwide as of 2015, despite numerous organizations stressing the importance of lowering the rate. With the help of doulas and places like Alabama Births, parents can choose a non-surgical option when they are educated about other methods that are safe for them and their child. According to a study conducted at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, out of more than 69,000 women studied, 20.4 percent of doula-supported women had Caesarean deliveries compared with 34.2 percent of the women without doulas.

Birth Boot Camp is an online and instructor-led childbirth education curriculum that originated in Texas, with a commitment to preparing couples for birth, breastfeeding and parenting. It also certifies doulas, trained professionals who provide continuous physical, emotional and informational support to mothers before, during and shortly after childbirth.

This process, explained Freeland, “is a three-day workshop, but we have prerequisite modules to be passed, which normally take about 3 months.” Gadsden will have its own workshop for doula training in November.

Out-of-hospital births have become more and more popular as parents search for intimate, safer ways to deliver their children. According to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, in the United States, about 35,000 births (0.9 percent) per year occur in the home. However, Freeland says that doulas are not limited to just home births; they can work in-home, and in hospital and birthing center deliveries as well.

“Doulas sort of partner with nurses during hospital births,” said Freeland. “While they’re running around doing what they need to do with medication, testing, whatever else, we stand beside the mother and offer whatever kind of support she and her partner may need at that moment.

“When you’re walking through a pregnancy with someone, being there in such an intimate and emotional time for them, you really begin to form bonds with those people,” she said. “Between prenatal birth planning to the postpartum home visits, there is so much change and uncertainty there that a doula can often be like a tour guide, especially for new parents with no previous experience with childbirth.

“My hope is that by being present in Gadsden,” she said, “I can help change the birth atmosphere here by being more mother- and baby-friendly.”

Alabama Births will begin classes in March. Expecting couples can find more information at alabamabirths.com or birthbootcamp.com.