What's The Difference Between a Doula and a Midwife?
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Unknown Speaker 0:02
Welcome back to Kaely daily. If you are currently pregnant or planning to conceive, you have probably heard of a midwife. Probably you've heard of a doctor or an OB GYN. And maybe you've heard of a doula. And it could be that you're thinking, Okay, everybody has a doctor or an OB GYN and then maybe they have either a midwife or a doula. I say this because it's honestly a common misconception that people have. So today's question is, what is a doula versus a midwife? How are they different? And why would you maybe consider having both?
Kaely Harrod 0:45
So I want to start by saying that I have a whole episode on what is a doula just the basics of that, right? That is going to be linked in the show notes. So that episode, is actually the episode that has been listened to most on this podcast. And I do recommend that you go listen to it. So you have a sense of that. So once you have a good sense of what a doula is, basically, the short version is we are non medical support people who both educate and advocate and bring physical and emotional, spiritual comfort in the midst of labor and postpartum. And that's like the briefest possible description, right? What is that? How is that different from midwife? So a midwife is in fact of medical provider, right? So when you think of an OB GYN, they're the person who potentially is delivering a baby, right? They're catching a baby, or medically kind of managing the process of birth. A midwife is a substitute for that, right? Like they don't do. They're not surgeons, so they don't do like C sections, and things like that. But they do deliver babies, they do prenatal care. They do. Like Well, person care. So like pap smears and things like that. They manage pregnancy and birth, in the same kind of medical way. In terms of like, you don't need both right, like you don't have to have an OBGYN and also a midwife on any given birth team. Now, because of a midwife's smallest scope of practice, meaning that they don't do a C section, for instance, they do always have a backup plan, if something like an unplanned C section were to be needed, but they are managing things medically, differently from an OBGYN in most cases, but in a similar kind of role, right. So oftentimes, if you're looking at who you want to have on your team, then a midwife would be someone to consider for sure, I have some information about like, who is a good candidate for a midwife, right. And that really is something to think about for yourself. Like, if you're a high risk pregnancy, for instance, you could be a good candidate for a midwife practice that is hospital based. But if you're a low risk pregnancy, and your desire is to have an unmedicated birth, then you're actually probably a good candidate for out of hospital birth, potentially, right. And so you could look at midwives that work at a birth center or that do home delivery. And you could kind of figure out your team that way. Now, the difference between a doula and a midwife is our scope of practice. And also, the kind of part of the team that we're filling will return in just a minute after this note from our sponsor. The birth prep blueprint course, is a guide from pregnancy to postpartum, giving you the confidence to walk through this journey. However it might play out. It is pre recorded on demand content, so you do not have to fit your busy schedule around a class or meeting time. You can go back and revisit the lessons as much as you need to, and you can watch or listen to them on your own time. This curriculum has left many families feeling confident in their decisions, knowing what questions to ask their providers, and knowing when they should be concerned in all of these periods. One of the biggest parts of this work in terms of preparing families and walking through this journey is knowing that you have a guide to rely on and that's exactly what this class is. Students have told me they felt like I was walking them along a path to know what to watch for and what to not be worried about. Because you are here as a listener, you get the opportunity to have a 10% off discount on this class. That code is podcast. It It is in the show notes as well along with the link to use to check out for the class, I do really recommend that you go give it a look, because it is going to make you feel more prepared calm and confident for your birthing experience. So when you think about a birth team, I want you to think about the provider being either the OB GYN or the midwife who's like managing the medical side of things, right. So they're looking at how is labor progressing? They're looking at? Is your blood pressure? Fine? How's your like heart rate? How is your breathing? Right? Is your oxygen level good? Is your cervix dilating as we would expect it to like does labor seem to be going well and uncomplicated and safely? Right? A doula is not measuring those things. Now, a doula in some situations might like encourage you to check your own blood sugar or blood pressure, for instance, or help you know what questions to ask your provider. But we as doulas are not actually checking your vital signs, for instance, we're not checking your cervix, we're not catching babies. Right. I mean, I'm sure there are doulas who have caught babies as like a last resort when you know, birth is going crazy fast or something like that. But that is not our role. And that is not within our scope of practice. So when you think about the team, you want to think about like your family or support person or partner or spouse, being kind of your primary emotional and oxytocin support, right. So that person loves you, you're intimately close with them, you. You trust them. I mean, hopefully you trust you. They play a very specific emotional role on your team, and a physical role, right, but they're not experts in birth, like they're probably doing this as many times as you've done it. And so, so that's kind of one role, then the, the midwife or the OBGYN is helping to guide the medical process being meaning that like they're looking for, like signs of complications or concerning signs are also looking for reassurance that things are going well. And they're looking for your vitals to continue to be stable and the baby's heart rate should be good, and all of that kind of stuff. Not that they're not offering some emotional support, potentially. But that's not their primary role, right? And then a doula sort of brings, I think we're kind of the glue for the team, right? So we are helping to communicate things to you, we're helping to answer questions that you have. We're helping to physically provide support, like do hip squeezes and things like that. We are helping to guide your partner and how to support you. We're helping to normalize what you're feeling if what you're feeling is normal. And we sort of free up the other folks on the team to do their roles, right? So if you have a doula and the doula can help navigate when you need to do the next thing in the process, right, then your partner is not in charge of that. So one big thing that partners always say to me is that they are really nervous about when and how to get their pregnant spouse or partner to the hospital. Right? Like if you go into labor, how do I get them there? And when do I get them there? Because that is like my primary role, right? If you have a doula and your doula is helping you navigate that, then you really don't have to be an expert in that thing, right? Like you don't need to know when to go to the hospital, for instance, if that's what you're choosing, because your doula can help you navigate that, and then you can just be a really awesome partner. Right? So it really does free up the partner to not have to know all about birth, and everything to expect because they have someone on the team who does know that right and can kind of guide that process logistically on the other side for the for the provider like either the midwife or the OB GYN.
Kaely Harrod 9:33
I think the doula actually provides a layer of comfort knowing that their patient has comfort measures, they have emotional support. And so they don't have to try to do that if they're not able to do it, or also feel badly that they're not able to because they're doing the medical stuff, right. So again, I think it kind of frees that person up to do their role. They have to do that role really well, and to have some reassurance that the other roles are being filled in other ways. So, I hope that's helpful. I want you to remember that we are into this 2023 year and season and podcast life. And I am collecting questions again for people to people to submit and have answers for the questions that they have around birth, pregnancy fertility, postpartum lactation, anything around those. And so please do shoot me a message over on Instagram Herat doula is my instagram handle. And let me know what your questions are. If you're able to send a voice message like just a quick recording. This is like hey, Kaylee, my question is, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, then I can actually put it on the podcast, which I would love to start doing this year. So please do send me a quick message so that I have your question. And until next time, I wish you consent filled, well educated. So all of this information is intended to be educational and entertainment. Please use it as such. And if you have questions about your own medical health, or need recommendations from your own provider, please do speak to them. This is not intended to replace them in any way. We are so happy that you are here joining us in this walk through pregnancy postpartum and lactation. Please take a second to like and subscribe, leave a positive review. That is how other families get to hear about us and get to learn from all the answers that we have here on this podcast. As always, I would really love to connect with you. I love answering questions. I know that you know that because you are here, but I would love to hear what your questions are. So if I have not yet answered them on the podcast, I would love to add them to the list of questions to be answered. please do reach out to me on Instagram or via email Kaely at Herat, doula services.com so that I can answer whatever question you have, and so that I can hear the feedback that you have about the podcast. Until we meet again, I wish you well informed consent filled birth and postpartum experiences
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Doulas and Midwives have been confused for a long time by various people. One major misconception is that we are the same or that you only need one or the other if you’re giving birth. Midwives are not the same as doulas, we each play very distinct roles on the birth team. Today’s episode goes into the differences between midwives and doulas and how our different roles complement each other on a birth team.
If you’re unsure of what a doula even is, listen to our first episode: What is a Doula and Who Needs One?
https://www.harroddoulaservices.com/kaely-daily-podcast/episode-1
Key Takeaways:
Doulas are non-medical support
Midwives are medical providers
Doulas provide continual educational, emotional, and physical support
On a good, supportive birth team nurse, provider, partner and doula all play vital roles in the comfort and support of a birth
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https://www.harroddoulaservices.com/podcast-audience-quiz
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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
