How Do I Work Around My Own Body's Limitations As A Doula?

May 10

Kaely Harrod 00:04
Welcome to doula Tips and Tits. This podcast is a place where we answer one question about doula work, both to support you and to help you support your clients. I'm Kaely Harrod. I've been supporting families in this perinatal space since my oldest was born 12 nearly 13 years ago. I am a birth and postpartum doula childbirth educator, la leche league leader, and a doula coach. I love guiding and supporting doulas as they work out their doula business, it is a tremendous joy to be trusted in this way. Thank you for joining us on this journey. Today's question is how do you do doula work with your own health issues. And I want to dive into this a bit because I think similar to the last episode about needing to have a baby or not having a baby, I think that we put all kinds of barriers in front of ourselves, when it comes to the work that we do and doula work is no different, right? Part of what I want you to think about in doula work is that in general, you need to take good care of yourself. And I will be the first to admit that I did not do a great job of this, one of the things I'm working on this year very actively is, excuse me, taking better care of my body in between births. And so that, for me is a big deal, because I think that it will have less of an impact when I am physically at a birth, if I take really good care of my body in between, right. And so one of the things that I want to talk about today is how I am a doula with three individual conditions. So one thing that I have is diabetes. So I have a condition called PCOS, which is polycystic ovarian syndrome. That is a metabolic condition that impacts other metabolic systems. So in my body, that means that it has impacted my insulin resistance, which lead to diabetes. And so one thing that I have to do is monitor my blood sugar. Now, at the moment, I do not have a continuous glucose monitor, although that is my hope in the future. And so I have a monitor that I like do a finger stick on. And I do that when I'm at birth, the reason that it matters, that births especially is that I have to really make sure that my protein intake is high enough to keep the adrenaline and other hormones that are happening at birth from making my blood sugar tank. Because what typically happens for me at birth is that I go longer than usual without eating. And for me, that makes my blood sugar drop. And so I want to make sure to keep it really nice and steady so that I don't have the symptoms of low blood sugar. And also so that I don't have the long term body impact of having fluctuating blood sugar. So I make sure to have some quick protein filled things that can eat. And also I monitor my blood sugar throughout a birth experience. Now I do that really subtly, right, so my clients don't necessarily know that that's what I'm doing. And so that's something that I'm able to do pretty easily. But I also just set myself up for that, right. So I know that I have some things like applesauce and things that can raise my blood sugar if needed. And then some nuts and things that can kind of keep it steady and help that like blood sugar race stay and kind of normalized, right. The second condition I have that impacts my Doula work is I have arthritis in my hips. Now, this was a fun discovery when I went in for what we thought was a labrum tear. And I did in fact, have a labral tear, but I also had pretty bad arthritis in both of my hips. And it's funny because I have a family of like cracking joints, right, like my parents, so my siblings, but I don't know that anyone else has had an official arthritis diagnosis. But as soon as the doctor said to me, I have really bad news. Like you're super young. And also you have arthritis in your hips. And I was like, Oh, great. I said, Okay, so, Doctor, I'm a birth doula. And he was like, Oh, great. And so right away, I started going to physical therapy and kind of talking through with my physical therapist, how do I set my body up to not be as negatively impacted, obviously, weight, build air weight training, and like muscle building as part of that, but also things like stretching really well when I'm at birth, making sure that my hips and body are in a variety of different positions, so I don't stay in the same place for too long. And so those are some of the things I do to kind of actively work out kinks in my own body and make sure that the long term impact of this work is not as detrimental as it could be on my head. specifically because that's where I have that problem. Okay? The other thing that really impacts my work is that I have plantar fasciitis, well, meaning that my, like the bottom of my feet can be really painful, I get like some significant tension there. And so one thing that I do is make sure that I have really, really, really good supportive shoes. So I spend good money on shoes, and I replace them frequently, and I have good insoles, and I make sure that I am sitting when I can sit and giving my feet breaks, I do lots of like ankle rolls, I stretch them. I do yoga and stretching before and after births. So I make sure that I am addressing these things. So I think sometimes as a doula, especially when you're attending births, but even when you're in someone's house, as a postpartum doula, it's easy to sort of put your own needs absolutely last. But the reality is that the reason we talk about things like if you're in an airplane, and we need air masks, or oxygen masks, you put yours on first, before you put on your kids. Because if you are not well cared for, you're going to be no use to them, right. And so you need to save yourself before you're saving the other people so that you can properly save them. That's the whole point. So in doula work, I want you to think about maintaining your own body well, and actually supporting your own body well, so that your clients can have good support from you. Now, when I say maintain your body, well, what I mean specifically is nourish yourself, rest, stretch, take care of any physical issues that you have, right? Like for me, if I were to ignore my blood sugar, that would be not taking good care of my body, right. And so I am not someone who ascribes to any particular like body size, or diet or anything like that, not even a little bit, I am very much for intuitive eating and Health at Every Size and things like that. That is 100% My philosophy about life. So I do not mean, all doulas need to be like thin. That's ridiculous. What I mean is, if you're going to miss a whole night of sleep as a doula sometimes, then when you're not at birth, you need to sleep better. And this is I'm like preaching to myself, I don't sleep great. So. So that's one of the things I'm working on this year, right. But also, if you have a condition like, like arthritis in your hips, or you know, your feet hurt your heel spurs or something like that, acknowledge it, like it's okay to be imperfect, right? Like, it's okay to be like, oh, yeah, my hips hurt today, because my arthritis, then by all means, like, stick a hot pad on your own body, you know, I mean, take care of yourself, I take these little like sticky heat packs to birth that that you can like stick onto your skin, right? Lots of people use them for like menstrual cramps, sometimes for like muscle injury. And I'll tell my clients, these are for both of us. Like, sometimes I need them. And sometimes you need them. And sometimes we both need them. And maybe it's just because I'm cold. But also it might be because my hips hurt. It might be because my back is hurting. It might be because I'm on my own cycle and my menstrual cramps are happening, right? So I think it I think we sort of put this expectation on ourselves that our doula clients expect us to not have needs of our own. But the reality is that we do have them and a good client, a good person should know that you have needs and want you to meet those needs. So I want you just to take some time to think through what that means for you. Like, what, obviously, not everyone has the three conditions that I have. But whatever it looks like for you, do you need to have some things built in to kind of accommodate yourself? Or do you need to maybe keep your work limited in terms of timeframe and hours and things like that? Or like, you know, how can you support yourself in whatever conditions that you do have? I would really love to hear from you as well. I know I say this all the time. But especially in this if you're sort of like you know, Kaylee, I have this thing and I'm trying to figure out how to make that work with doula work, I would be more than happy to like work that out with you. Like I really love that kind of support and working through things like that. I think that the kind of hive mind mentality is helpful. And so I would be more than happy for you to send me a quick message on Instagram and be like, Hey, I listened to this episode. And I'm wondering about this thing that my body does, how do I support that in a birth? I am happy to talk to you about it. Okay. Until next time, I wish you well. well
Kaely Harrod 10:00
informed, consent filled, do live experiences and I can't wait to talk to you again soon.
Kaely Harrod 10:11
Thanks for joining us for this episode of the doula Tips and Tips podcast. If you learned something today or had an aha moment, we'd love for you to share that on Instagram and tag us at Herat doula, so we can celebrate alongside you. If you found this podcast helpful. We would so appreciate you taking a second to leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast app that helps other doulas find us as we do this work together. This podcast is intended as educational and entertainment it is not medical advice or business advice. Please consult your own medical or legal team for your own needs around.
Kaely Harrod 12:43
Thanks for joining us for this episode of the doula Tips and Tips podcast. If you learned something today or had an aha moment we'd love for you to share that on Instagram and tag us at Herat doula, so we can celebrate alongside you. If you found this podcast helpful. We would so appreciate you taking a second to leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast app that helps other doulas find us as we do this work together. This podcast is intended as educational and entertainment it is not medical advice or business advice. Please consult your own medical or legal team for your own needs around

Doulas come in all shapes and sizes, for lack of a better phrase! We have all different struggles physically and otherwise just like all humans! As a person with various chronic conditions, I want to talk through doing doula work while also supporting your own body’s needs and limitations.

Doula work is physically demanding work, so keeping your body well supported throughout the time you’re with a client is super important. I would venture to say that how you care for yourself in the in between time is even more important! Sleep is key, as well as healthy and joyful movement. Adequate and nourishing food intake. Hydration. Relaxation!

In an ideal world I would work a massage and some PT into my more regular post-birth transitions. I do them both regularly, but not as often as I’d like. Even just prioritizing and pre-scheduling such things is super important as a doula.

Key Takeaways:

You can absolutely be a doula even with chronic health conditions
You get to decide if you disclose these to your clients!
If you believe the conditions will dictate part of what you do then share them so they’re not a surprise!
Take good care of yourself! The worst thing is to have conditions that require certain care and not taking that care during a birth.
Set yourself up with tools for success! (I use heat packs, medication containers, etc.)

CONNECT with Kaely on TikTok or Instagram

https://www.tiktok.com/@doulacoach

https://www.instagram.com/Harroddoula/

If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me @harroddoula

Kaely Daily is produced by Kaely Harrod of Harrod Doula Services

It is sponsored by The Birth Prep Blueprint Childbirth Class

Music by Madirfan: Hidden Place on Pixabay