1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:04,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Should Know from house Stuff Works 2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:16,799 Speaker 1: and there's Charles W. Chuck Bryant, there's Jerry over there. 4 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:23,639 Speaker 1: And this is Stuff you Should Know, the podcast Childbirth Edition. Yeah, 5 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:28,760 Speaker 1: we we were trapsing into more territory. What does that mean? 6 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 1: I don't know. I mean we've done two on you know, 7 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: feeding babies, done female puberty. Uh, this will this will 8 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:40,880 Speaker 1: get into childbirth a little bit. So yeah, we're not afraid. 9 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 1: I don't care. Yeah, I guess that's what I'm trying 10 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:46,680 Speaker 1: to say. You can be a male doula. You can. 11 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:50,400 Speaker 1: Although I this is the only article I ran across that, 12 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:53,239 Speaker 1: and did you find anything about that anywhere else? I mean, 13 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: it happens. It's just super rare. It happens because I mean, 14 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: we'll go ahead and spoil it. Generally, Uh, doulas are well, 15 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:07,840 Speaker 1: let's just get into this. Generally dulas or women who 16 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:11,679 Speaker 1: have already had a baby. Yes, not even just women, 17 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 1: but women who have had a baby, so they can 18 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:16,759 Speaker 1: really know how to help another lady have a baby. Yeah. Yeah, 19 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:19,880 Speaker 1: and this is actually so this this is an ancient thing. 20 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 1: That's kind of come back around full circle. And even 21 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: the names Doula is a Greek term used way back 22 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:32,559 Speaker 1: in the classical Greek days when a woman giving birth 23 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:37,400 Speaker 1: would have female servants attending to her during birth, helping 24 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: her with it, um probably feeding her some grapes, waving 25 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:44,080 Speaker 1: palm fronds on her, that kind of thing. Um. So, 26 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: doula means female servant or female slave, depending on who 27 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 1: you're talking about. And after you know, ancient Greece, fellow 28 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 1: of Rome and the Roman Empire fell, and all of 29 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 1: civilization took this weird course through about at all women 30 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 1: were helped by other women while they were giving birth 31 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: basically up until about the first third, first half of 32 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:17,080 Speaker 1: the twentieth century in the West, where hospitals entered and 33 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:20,200 Speaker 1: all of a sudden, it was just the mom giving 34 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: birth surrounded by a bunch of nurses and doctors. Is 35 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:28,359 Speaker 1: that true? Yeah, because I could see scenarios where there 36 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:34,920 Speaker 1: were women in the birth room helping along. Uh. I 37 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: think once you started to get into hospitals and the 38 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:43,840 Speaker 1: physicians in the hospital starting asserting their authority more and more, um, 39 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:48,399 Speaker 1: especially through drugs, like I saw that. Um when when 40 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:51,800 Speaker 1: hospitals kind of took over the birthing processor, took responsibility 41 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:55,360 Speaker 1: for it from the family and from midwives, and moved 42 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: it into the hospital. They used to administer a lot 43 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:02,079 Speaker 1: of sedatives as part of the birthing process as part 44 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: of labor. You know, you could understand why they would, 45 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 1: but then there are all sorts of um complications from it, 46 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:12,680 Speaker 1: problems from it, So they stopped giving um sedatives as much. 47 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:17,080 Speaker 1: And about that time, women who were giving birth started 48 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:18,919 Speaker 1: to like kind of come out of it and look 49 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:21,520 Speaker 1: around and say, whoa, it's just me and you guys 50 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: in here. I need some family members in here. And 51 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: at the time, like if you were a dad, you 52 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:29,119 Speaker 1: were not in there. You were not in the delivery 53 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:31,119 Speaker 1: room at all. You were out in what was called 54 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: the stork club, um, handing out cigars, maybe pacing um. 55 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: And the reason why it was because to the doctors involved, 56 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 1: it was just another medical procedure, right, so you're not 57 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:46,440 Speaker 1: gonna have rando's who have nothing to do with the 58 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:50,000 Speaker 1: actual procedure in the room during a procedure. They treated 59 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: childbirth the same way. But women started to say, no, 60 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:54,839 Speaker 1: I need more than just you people who I've never 61 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 1: met before, really attending to the birth of my child, 62 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:00,200 Speaker 1: and so dad started to come in and then more 63 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:04,520 Speaker 1: family members and then now doulas have have um definitely 64 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 1: kind of come back like they were originally. That's my 65 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:11,480 Speaker 1: understanding of the whole thing. Yes, so doula's uh, we 66 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: haven't even said what that is yet, and that would 67 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: probably help clear it up if you don't know. Dulas 68 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:19,280 Speaker 1: are um people, like we said, generally women but not always, 69 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: who are childbirth coaches. They coach you through the process. 70 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:27,000 Speaker 1: They will, depending on the service they offer, will will 71 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:31,720 Speaker 1: come on before obviously you give birth and kind of 72 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: prep you for what's going to happen. And this I 73 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: mean it kind of depends on when you're dula will 74 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:40,599 Speaker 1: come aboard in the process, but at the very least 75 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:43,480 Speaker 1: they will help you in the delivery room and they 76 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 1: are your advocate to kind of coach you through this 77 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 1: whole thing. And that term actually started in an article 78 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty nine by a woman named Dana Raphael 79 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: and then later on in a book in nineteen seventy 80 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:59,159 Speaker 1: three called The Tender Gift Breastfeeding, And that's when she 81 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:02,479 Speaker 1: brought this term and back and said, uh, you know, 82 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:05,919 Speaker 1: we're gonna start calling these women dulas, and it's gonna 83 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 1: be a real job, right And and I think at first, 84 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:11,599 Speaker 1: what was the name of the woman who brought it back, 85 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:14,760 Speaker 1: Dana Raphael. So she had like a pretty good idea 86 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:17,600 Speaker 1: that was actually ahead of its time. When doulas really 87 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: started to come into use and come into their own 88 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 1: as a profession was in the eighties and the reason 89 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:26,840 Speaker 1: why they came into wider use was because hospitals were 90 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 1: going to c sections a lot um. C sections went up. 91 00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:34,839 Speaker 1: From nineteen seventy four point two percent of live births 92 00:05:34,839 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: in the US involved c sections sixteen years later, in 93 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:42,160 Speaker 1: six a quarter of live births in the US involved 94 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 1: c sections. And there are a lot of complications with 95 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: c sections um and so you could have your husband 96 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: in there, you could have your mom in there, you 97 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: could have friends, but they're just there for you. One 98 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 1: of the first services that doulas started offering was to say, WHOA, WHOA, 99 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:04,640 Speaker 1: does she really need that C section? I are you 100 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:06,799 Speaker 1: sure about that? Or are you just doing it because 101 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: you can charge more money. I think that was overstating 102 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 1: exactly the interaction they had, but that was the role 103 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 1: they had, was to basically provide a barrier between a 104 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 1: doctor who wanted to just give a C section because 105 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:21,800 Speaker 1: he wanted to go home and the mom who really 106 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 1: didn't want to c section. Yeah, and and know it's 107 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:27,160 Speaker 1: not just c sections there. Your advocate there, your birth 108 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:31,520 Speaker 1: advocate UM to to make sure or at least as 109 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:33,599 Speaker 1: best they can to try to ensure that the birth 110 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:36,200 Speaker 1: plan that you feel best about is the one that 111 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:39,600 Speaker 1: you end up with. Things always change, of course, and 112 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:42,480 Speaker 1: ADULA would never put you in danger by insisting on something. 113 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:46,039 Speaker 1: In fact, they can't. But they're there to speak for 114 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:49,800 Speaker 1: you on your behalf because as a mother in labor, 115 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:51,800 Speaker 1: you're going through a lot on your own, so it's 116 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:55,720 Speaker 1: nice to have someone that is just there to do 117 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: that job. Yeah, And and UM is coming from a 118 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:04,160 Speaker 1: place of empathy and sympathy and most importantly experience. Like 119 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:07,160 Speaker 1: you said, most dulas have had children of their own, 120 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:10,680 Speaker 1: but they've also, after a while, attended other births too, 121 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: so they know what they're talking about, they know what 122 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 1: to expect, and they can tell you what to expect, 123 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 1: which can make the whole process easier I would imagine 124 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: for any mother giving birth. Yeah, it's definitely gained popularity 125 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: in the two thousand's. Um. I think I tried to 126 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:29,040 Speaker 1: find more recent statistics than two thousand twelve, but I couldn't. 127 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: But in two thousand twelve there were six percent. And 128 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 1: this is in the United States. It's a it's very much. Yeah. 129 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: I know it does happen all over the world some 130 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: but it's sort of an American thing. Uh, six percent 131 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 1: of people in twenty twelve years to doula versus three 132 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 1: percent in two thousand six. And in that same survey, 133 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:52,480 Speaker 1: twenty seven percent of people said they would they would 134 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 1: like to use a dulah. So, uh, you know, at 135 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 1: least they're they're wishing or hopeful that they can. Yeah, 136 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 1: that was question eight. Would you like to use a dulah? Yeah, 137 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: said um. And so if you get the impression that, 138 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: like a doctor would not really prefer a doula to 139 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:14,680 Speaker 1: be in the labor and delivery room, you you've kind 140 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:17,760 Speaker 1: of read between the lines there. Especially at first, the 141 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:20,880 Speaker 1: medical community saw doulas as they were starting to really 142 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: kind of come into use in the eighties, as basically 143 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 1: meddling busybodies who could potentially put their patient's life in 144 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 1: in jeopardy, right, But then Duelas of North America was 145 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 1: found founded DONA. It's like the first DULA licensing UM 146 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:42,600 Speaker 1: body Certification and Training and Licensing body UM and they 147 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: were founded. It was founded by medical professionals, which kind 148 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:50,320 Speaker 1: of created a bridge. It bridged the gap or kind 149 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:53,440 Speaker 1: of got smoothed over the rough feelings between the medical 150 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 1: community and the DULA community. And it also added a 151 00:08:57,040 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 1: real air of legitimacy to the profession of of being 152 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 1: your dulah. Yeah, And the the impression I get now 153 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: is that, UM, if you have a good dula who 154 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:08,800 Speaker 1: is good with people, which is UM ideally what your 155 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:11,840 Speaker 1: dula is. If you're do listen, not a people person, 156 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 1: that's probably not going to be a good thing. But 157 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:16,560 Speaker 1: the idea I get is that doctors and nurses like 158 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:19,800 Speaker 1: having duela is there now because they can just concentrate 159 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: on They don't have to be the ones uh providing 160 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 1: emotional empathetic support, although they can still do that they want. 161 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,280 Speaker 1: They can just concentrate on the medical aspects of it, 162 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 1: and they know that they have a trained, uh hopefully 163 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 1: licensed dulah. And we'll get into that later on hand 164 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:39,560 Speaker 1: to sort of say, you know what I don't have 165 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:42,040 Speaker 1: to deal with that part of things. You're in good 166 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:44,480 Speaker 1: hands with this, Dulah, and I can just concentrate on 167 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:51,439 Speaker 1: the medical parts now, all love Doulah. That's right. And 168 00:09:51,559 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 1: one of one of the other reasons are functions that 169 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:58,280 Speaker 1: doulas provide you kind of hit on is that they, um, 170 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:02,560 Speaker 1: they provide a serv that hospitals used to provide through nurses, 171 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 1: right where if you had a nurse in a in 172 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:08,200 Speaker 1: a labor and delivery room, they they wouldn't spend as 173 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:11,160 Speaker 1: much time or or give you as much attention to say, 174 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:13,520 Speaker 1: like your your mom would or a friend or your 175 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:16,680 Speaker 1: husband even but they gave you a lot more early 176 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:21,400 Speaker 1: on than they did. As surveillance of patients moved to 177 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 1: electronics right to where somebody could just kind of sit 178 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:27,720 Speaker 1: at the nurses station and check on everybody and they 179 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:30,360 Speaker 1: didn't have to go into the rooms. And now you 180 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:34,559 Speaker 1: nurses were charged with watching even more people at once, right, 181 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:40,280 Speaker 1: so the personal attention dropped dramatically um as as um 182 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:44,439 Speaker 1: electronic surveillance of patients increased, and the duela is kind 183 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:47,080 Speaker 1: of came in to fill that role as well. Yeah, 184 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:48,840 Speaker 1: like they're they're sitting in the room with you and 185 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:53,520 Speaker 1: hanging out. They don't get called in like twenty minutes 186 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 1: before you give birth. They're there with you, you know, 187 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:59,320 Speaker 1: sometimes days and weeks beforehand, coaching you and what to 188 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 1: expect and how to how you're going to go about 189 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:03,560 Speaker 1: this and what your plan is. And then on the day, 190 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:07,320 Speaker 1: like even if dad is in there and the husband 191 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 1: is in there providing support, that's great, But the doula 192 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:14,920 Speaker 1: is just that extra step and that extra measure of support, 193 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:19,800 Speaker 1: um that is super knowledgeable about what it's going to 194 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:22,800 Speaker 1: be like, where the husband might not exactly you know, 195 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:26,480 Speaker 1: be be able to lend the most insightful ear there, 196 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:29,319 Speaker 1: you know what I mean. Uh, So you want to 197 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:31,240 Speaker 1: take a break, Let's take a break, and then we'll 198 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:33,600 Speaker 1: come back and talk about what to expect when you're 199 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:58,679 Speaker 1: expecting to work with a doula. All right. So, uh, 200 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:02,880 Speaker 1: here's a misconception some people get. Um, some people think 201 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:06,720 Speaker 1: that dulas are are authorized or trained to give birth. 202 00:12:07,559 --> 00:12:10,559 Speaker 1: That is not true. They don't deliver babies. Uh, they 203 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:14,280 Speaker 1: don't perform any sort of medical procedures. They don't put 204 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:16,079 Speaker 1: an ivy in your arm, they don't work the heart 205 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:19,840 Speaker 1: rate monitor. Uh. Most times, they don't even work for 206 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:22,840 Speaker 1: the hospital. You have hired them independently, and again they're 207 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:25,960 Speaker 1: just there to coach you. There not even midwives. Midwives 208 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 1: can deliver a baby, right, Yeah, they're they're not allowed 209 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: anywhere near the medical stuff. But they need to know 210 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:36,680 Speaker 1: what the medical stuff is so that they can say, well, 211 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:38,719 Speaker 1: this is what they're about to do or this is 212 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:42,520 Speaker 1: what they're suggesting right now, and here are your options. Um. 213 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:46,120 Speaker 1: And then also when they're administering the medical stuff, which 214 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:49,959 Speaker 1: can be pretty uncomfortable, pretty frequently, I would imagine, um, 215 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 1: the duela is there to kind of tell the mom 216 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:56,800 Speaker 1: what to expect them to comforter in all sorts of ways. Yeah, 217 00:12:56,840 --> 00:12:59,680 Speaker 1: and maybe not even offer advice, like I think. The 218 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:02,719 Speaker 1: idea is that adula will lay it all out there 219 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:05,640 Speaker 1: so you can make an informed decision and not necessarily 220 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:07,559 Speaker 1: say well, if I were you, this is what I 221 00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:10,120 Speaker 1: would do. Well, yeah, that's a that's a slippery slope 222 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:11,960 Speaker 1: right there, because then all of a sudden, if things 223 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:14,200 Speaker 1: go wrong, you can say, well, the dula told me 224 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:19,880 Speaker 1: to do that, and the DULA was like, I'm I'm toast. Uh. 225 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:23,199 Speaker 1: Dulas have to be great listeners. We already talked about 226 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:25,520 Speaker 1: the the empathy piece. They have to be very empathetic 227 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:28,760 Speaker 1: and they will, like I said, start meeting before birth 228 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 1: to answer any kind of questions come up with that 229 00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:36,200 Speaker 1: birth plan uh and really listen a lot to the 230 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:40,320 Speaker 1: wife and the husband so everybody is on the same page. Um. 231 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:43,080 Speaker 1: And like I said, on the day, things can change. 232 00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 1: But going in you generally want to have a pretty 233 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:50,880 Speaker 1: good idea of everything from medications you might want to use, 234 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:54,000 Speaker 1: if any, to uh to where you want to have 235 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:56,600 Speaker 1: the baby. But doula can come on board and kind 236 00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 1: of explain if they're knowledgeable, which hopefully they are, about 237 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:02,640 Speaker 1: the hospitals around you. Uh and maybe even help you 238 00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:07,679 Speaker 1: pick out where you're gonna give birth. Yeah. And I mean, 239 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:09,880 Speaker 1: if you already have an idea of what you want, 240 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:11,840 Speaker 1: the dula can you know, kind of tell you how 241 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:13,840 Speaker 1: to make that happen. Or if you have no idea 242 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:16,080 Speaker 1: what you want, the doula can also tell you some 243 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:19,360 Speaker 1: other alternatives that you might not have thought of. UM. 244 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 1: And I saw a Parents Magazine article about dula's. They 245 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:25,480 Speaker 1: laid out what basically what you can expect from the 246 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:29,640 Speaker 1: average DULA for the dula's fees um one to two 247 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:34,600 Speaker 1: in person prenatal visits and then access to the dulah 248 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:40,520 Speaker 1: for follow up questions through email or phone calls, UM 249 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:44,160 Speaker 1: their full attention in presence during your labor, and then 250 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: sometimes frequently I get the idea UM a follow up 251 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:53,040 Speaker 1: visit in at your house after the baby comes home. 252 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:55,960 Speaker 1: That typically if you hire a dula, this is this 253 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:58,640 Speaker 1: is about the average you can expect to him. There's 254 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:03,240 Speaker 1: definitely a lot of um differences. There's some will give 255 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:05,240 Speaker 1: you a little more, some we'll give you a little less, 256 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:08,400 Speaker 1: some will charge more, some will do it for free. Uh, 257 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:10,840 Speaker 1: it's just all over the place as far as you 258 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:12,840 Speaker 1: know what you're actually going to shell out and what 259 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:15,360 Speaker 1: you're going to get from adula. But but for the 260 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:19,320 Speaker 1: most part, you the duel is going to have met 261 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:23,520 Speaker 1: you before you give birth, and then the doula will 262 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:27,280 Speaker 1: be there throughout the whole labor and delivery process. Yeah. 263 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:30,520 Speaker 1: And it says in this article that there are specialists 264 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:35,480 Speaker 1: dulas like antipartum doulas and postpartum dulas and labor dula's 265 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:39,520 Speaker 1: UM that if you want an antipartum doula to be too, 266 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:42,120 Speaker 1: if you want more than those two meetings, you might 267 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 1: want to hire someone who will be with you for 268 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:47,440 Speaker 1: several weeks beforehand, or if you want someone postpartum to 269 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:51,560 Speaker 1: be with you to coach you through breastfeeding or you know, 270 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:53,680 Speaker 1: changing diapers or just any of that kind of coaching, 271 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:56,120 Speaker 1: you can hire someone to do that. But I get 272 00:15:56,120 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 1: the sense that dula's generally will sort of uh, work 273 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:04,120 Speaker 1: with you on whatever kind of plan you want, right. 274 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:07,600 Speaker 1: It may make cost little extra, but UM, I get 275 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:09,480 Speaker 1: the sense of ave dula wouldn't say like, Nope, you 276 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:12,600 Speaker 1: get two meetings and that's it. It might be like, no, 277 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:14,520 Speaker 1: I'll come in for a third and fourth meeting. It'll 278 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:17,640 Speaker 1: be an extra of this much money. Um, and I 279 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:19,360 Speaker 1: can hang with you for a week or two afterward 280 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:21,480 Speaker 1: here and there. UM I found I think it was 281 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:24,880 Speaker 1: through a BuzzFeed article. I stumbled upon a there's a 282 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:29,720 Speaker 1: huge rift in the doula community actually, um between the 283 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 1: typical traditional approach to being a dula, which is, uh, 284 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:38,440 Speaker 1: I'll work with you on a sliding scale for how 285 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,200 Speaker 1: much you can afford, or this is my fee, but 286 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:43,320 Speaker 1: I'll throw in an extra visit just to you know, 287 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:45,440 Speaker 1: make you feel like you're getting your money's worth, or 288 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,920 Speaker 1: I'll do it for free. I just want to help 289 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 1: you because dona's um mission is that a doula for 290 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:57,680 Speaker 1: every every mother who wants one, Like every mother should 291 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 1: have a dula basically, right. And then there's this other 292 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:04,760 Speaker 1: group called pro do la and there they can't stand 293 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:10,280 Speaker 1: dulas who who charge less than like a decent amount 294 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:13,119 Speaker 1: for their services or do it for free. They actually 295 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 1: call uh dulas who who do this for free oxytocin 296 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:19,919 Speaker 1: vampires Like they're just there to to bask in the 297 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:23,480 Speaker 1: reflective glow of this this amazing experience that the mother 298 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:26,800 Speaker 1: just went through, the parents just went through. Um. And 299 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:32,240 Speaker 1: they're really kind of kicking other duelas around and and 300 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 1: they're they're kind of bullies. It's in a really weird way. Um. 301 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 1: But there's like this big debate over whether doulas are 302 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:46,280 Speaker 1: undervalued or um underselling themselves. But I, I mean, I 303 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:50,320 Speaker 1: definitely get the idea that every woman who wants to 304 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:52,879 Speaker 1: have a dula should be able to have a duela 305 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:56,439 Speaker 1: regardless of her income. You know, that makes sense to me, 306 00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:00,639 Speaker 1: like a pro bono for for people that don't have 307 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:03,240 Speaker 1: as much money. Yeah. On the other hand, I also 308 00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:05,120 Speaker 1: get that if you are a duela and you're doing 309 00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:07,480 Speaker 1: your job really well, then yeah, you should expect to 310 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:09,920 Speaker 1: be paid. Um. I think there's a happy medium. I 311 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:12,399 Speaker 1: don't think it has to be like Nope, this is 312 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:14,879 Speaker 1: the price, and anybody who goes underneath it should be 313 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:18,280 Speaker 1: ostracized from the DULA community. Yeah. The other thing about 314 00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:21,440 Speaker 1: dula's another misconception a lot of people think is that 315 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:24,280 Speaker 1: it's just some hippie dippie thing that if you don't 316 00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:26,600 Speaker 1: want to if you only want to have like a 317 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:30,000 Speaker 1: natural childbirth, then you get the doula in there, and 318 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 1: that they're not there for anything other than that. And 319 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:35,359 Speaker 1: that's not the case. They they are there to support 320 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:37,720 Speaker 1: you in whatever kind of birth you want to have, 321 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:40,640 Speaker 1: whether it's a home birth or water birth, or whether 322 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:42,919 Speaker 1: or not you want to get an Eppord dural or 323 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:48,120 Speaker 1: be loaded up on every pharmaceutical they offer mothers in labor. Uh, 324 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:51,440 Speaker 1: they're they're just to have knowledge of all that stuff. Um, 325 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:54,120 Speaker 1: so you know what you're getting into. And then so 326 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:56,560 Speaker 1: during labor, this is where this is where the doula 327 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:01,000 Speaker 1: shines right there there to um help with alternatives to 328 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:05,200 Speaker 1: to pain treatment. Right. So again, they can't administer any 329 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:06,879 Speaker 1: kind of drugs or anything. I would guess that they 330 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:10,119 Speaker 1: could even get in trouble for giving you an advil um. 331 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:13,240 Speaker 1: But they can do other things like they can um 332 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:16,920 Speaker 1: massage you in ways that you had not ever heard 333 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:20,719 Speaker 1: of before that helps with labor pains. I came across 334 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:24,000 Speaker 1: this one technique where they pull on a couple of toes, 335 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:29,439 Speaker 1: um specific toes, and it helps actually UM move the 336 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:32,040 Speaker 1: labor along if you're if you have a slow labor, 337 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:36,560 Speaker 1: there's needing techniques, they're stroking techniques, UM pressure around the 338 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:38,680 Speaker 1: bottom of your feet. There's all sorts of stuff they 339 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:42,200 Speaker 1: can do at various times throughout the labor and delivery 340 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:46,320 Speaker 1: process that can help alleviate the pain that you're going through. UM, 341 00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:48,320 Speaker 1: and that's one of the big roles that they played 342 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:52,080 Speaker 1: during labor. Yeah, when my kid was born, it was 343 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 1: I was shocked at how many people were in the room. 344 00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:59,600 Speaker 1: First of all, how many oh Man Baker's doesn't I 345 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:07,760 Speaker 1: mean Emily and I birth mom obviously our adoption counselor 346 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:10,359 Speaker 1: who was a licensed duelist, so she really served that 347 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:14,040 Speaker 1: function for the birth mom, which was really a great 348 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:20,720 Speaker 1: great plus. UM the doctor, I guess the I'm not 349 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:23,680 Speaker 1: even sure what the roles are what their technical titles are. 350 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:27,959 Speaker 1: But um, the doctor came in when it was go 351 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:31,600 Speaker 1: time and basically just check things out and said, well, 352 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:33,600 Speaker 1: I think it's go time. And then he stepped out 353 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:36,000 Speaker 1: of the way, and these two nurses came in there 354 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:40,400 Speaker 1: and ninety seconds later there was a baby. So it 355 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:43,320 Speaker 1: was and and those were so it was two nurses 356 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:45,920 Speaker 1: that that was probably like there was probably at least 357 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:48,800 Speaker 1: twelve people in that room. That's a lot of people. 358 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:54,160 Speaker 1: It was crowded and fast and surreal and weird and amazing. Uh, 359 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,040 Speaker 1: even even weirder. They brought in carrot top to cut 360 00:20:57,119 --> 00:21:00,960 Speaker 1: the cord, but no, Emily cut the cord. Emily actually 361 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:02,639 Speaker 1: helps sort of deliver in a way because you know, 362 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:06,359 Speaker 1: they like to bring in uh. I guess you know, 363 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 1: in a in a regular biological birth, that would be 364 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:12,320 Speaker 1: the husband probably uh in there saying hey, do you 365 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:14,960 Speaker 1: want to help hold the legs or do whatever. In 366 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:17,360 Speaker 1: this case, it was Emily, and I just took a 367 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:23,200 Speaker 1: respectful position, uh by the birth mom's head, uh, sort 368 00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:27,359 Speaker 1: of looking looking down that way. I was like, you 369 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:29,240 Speaker 1: know she was She was like, you can go wherever 370 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:30,600 Speaker 1: you want to go. But it's like, you know, I'll 371 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:34,040 Speaker 1: just hang right here, right, And Emily's like, that's right, Yeah, 372 00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: I just I wanted to be there, and you know 373 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 1: I was. I was helping support her as well, uh, 374 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:41,000 Speaker 1: holding her hand and patting her on the head and 375 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:43,720 Speaker 1: all that all that nice stuff. That's cool, man, Yeah 376 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:45,520 Speaker 1: it was. It was amazing. Did I ever tell you 377 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:49,240 Speaker 1: the story for when my niece Mila was born and um, 378 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:52,000 Speaker 1: my sister in law was giving birth and she let 379 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:55,680 Speaker 1: everybody in the in the labor room. I was surprised, 380 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:58,240 Speaker 1: you can have a party in there. Yeah. And um, 381 00:21:58,359 --> 00:22:03,520 Speaker 1: when she really was going into she was delivering, Um, 382 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:07,199 Speaker 1: I stood back behind this curtain, right and um, the 383 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:09,800 Speaker 1: doctor comes in and walks past me and kind of 384 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:11,359 Speaker 1: gives me a nod, and I hear him go to 385 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:13,480 Speaker 1: the crowd. He's like, you know, there's like some guy 386 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:17,639 Speaker 1: standing behind that curtain right, Like, yeah, he's supposed to 387 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:22,560 Speaker 1: be there. He's the he's the word creeper, right exactly. 388 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:24,800 Speaker 1: I'm like, Okay, I've heard enough here. I'm going to 389 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:28,639 Speaker 1: the next room. Uh all right, well, let's take another break. 390 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:32,040 Speaker 1: Now that we've shared our stories, we'll come back and 391 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:33,840 Speaker 1: talk a little bit about how you become a duela. 392 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:57,240 Speaker 1: Right for this? All right, Chuck. So if you wanted 393 00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:01,800 Speaker 1: to become a duela, um, basically you're you start in 394 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:05,359 Speaker 1: training at age three, you're sent off to Europe to 395 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:07,679 Speaker 1: apprentice at the one do list school in the world 396 00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:10,440 Speaker 1: and they make you eat a lot of magic cake, 397 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:13,320 Speaker 1: and then when you're sixty you get to actually start 398 00:23:13,359 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 1: out on your own. That's that's exactly right. Okay, Well, 399 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 1: before you decide to become a duela, you need to 400 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:22,240 Speaker 1: give a lot of thought on what you're going to 401 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:25,600 Speaker 1: be getting into. Uh. You know, the hours are long 402 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:29,080 Speaker 1: at birth job birth, it's very stressful, and especially if 403 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:33,040 Speaker 1: there are complications that can be super stressful in a 404 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:34,560 Speaker 1: matter of life or death. So you've got to be 405 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:37,480 Speaker 1: able to deal with that stuff in the moment and 406 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:40,879 Speaker 1: hang in there and be the birth coach that mom needs, 407 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:44,480 Speaker 1: you know, in the most stressful of situations. But then 408 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:47,399 Speaker 1: on the plus side, you get to see little babies 409 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:51,200 Speaker 1: coming out on the rag and what's better than that? 410 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:54,760 Speaker 1: You know, I can't think of too many things talk 411 00:23:54,800 --> 00:24:00,719 Speaker 1: about an oxytocin hit maybe magic cake, magic cake. Uh. 412 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:04,520 Speaker 1: You do not have to have a college degree, you 413 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:08,000 Speaker 1: don't have to have a high school degree. UM. Now 414 00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:10,280 Speaker 1: even you don't even have to be certified. It's not 415 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:13,800 Speaker 1: law that you have to be certified. Yeah you don't, 416 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:16,520 Speaker 1: but it is UM. There are more and more programs 417 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:21,760 Speaker 1: now and more certification and licensing programs out there. So 418 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:23,480 Speaker 1: if you want to be a duela, my advice is 419 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:25,680 Speaker 1: to go that route. You probably just get more work 420 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:28,440 Speaker 1: that way, right, So when you're when you're starting out, 421 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:31,120 Speaker 1: you would go to UM. If you wanted to get certified, 422 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:33,080 Speaker 1: you would go to one of the certifying bodies like 423 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:36,359 Speaker 1: DONA or UM. What are what are the other two 424 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:38,639 Speaker 1: that are mentioned in here. There's one called c A 425 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:43,199 Speaker 1: p p A, KAPPA Sure, and then the American Pregnancy Association. 426 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:48,119 Speaker 1: All three of those certify and train dula's UM. DONA, 427 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:52,080 Speaker 1: from what I could tell, is the oldest. Obviously it 428 00:24:52,119 --> 00:24:54,119 Speaker 1: was the first one and it seems to be the 429 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:56,720 Speaker 1: most respected. But I would guess if you get your 430 00:24:56,720 --> 00:25:00,639 Speaker 1: training from any of those three, you're probably doing pretty good. UM. 431 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:05,080 Speaker 1: They'll offer online classes, in person classes, UH, self paced 432 00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:09,520 Speaker 1: study and UM. You typically need to go take a 433 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:13,520 Speaker 1: birthing class, a breastfeeding class because again you need to know, 434 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:16,560 Speaker 1: like you need to be current on all the stuff 435 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:20,240 Speaker 1: that's going on with labor and delivery. Right if you 436 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:22,480 Speaker 1: if you took these classes ten years ago and they 437 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:25,320 Speaker 1: did it again today, you would probably find some real 438 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:28,240 Speaker 1: differences and new stuff that's been discovered in the last 439 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:30,359 Speaker 1: ten years. So you would need to be pretty current, 440 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:33,439 Speaker 1: even if you've had kids of your own before. UM. 441 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,760 Speaker 1: And then you also need to attend at least one 442 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:42,440 Speaker 1: I have the impression that multiple births under the apprenticeship 443 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:46,639 Speaker 1: of another doula who's already certified or trained or experienced 444 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:49,320 Speaker 1: UM before you really go off on your own to 445 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:53,600 Speaker 1: become certified. Uh. And And that's I mean, that's just 446 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:56,960 Speaker 1: I would I would say, how many births have you 447 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:01,040 Speaker 1: been a part of, you know, all ready before I 448 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:03,320 Speaker 1: hired a dula. That's a pretty big question if you 449 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:05,520 Speaker 1: ask me so they would want to say, well, I've 450 00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:08,320 Speaker 1: been you know, I've assisted in like three or five 451 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:11,439 Speaker 1: or however many. But you're gonna be my first solo 452 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:16,560 Speaker 1: your first solo flight. Yep, Uh, you will. It depends 453 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:19,000 Speaker 1: on where you live, on how much you're gonna pay. UM. 454 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:21,320 Speaker 1: If you if you live in a big fancy city 455 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:24,760 Speaker 1: like New York City, you're gonna be paying top dollar 456 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:26,560 Speaker 1: for your dula. If you live in Los Angeles, gonna 457 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:28,439 Speaker 1: be paying top dollar for your dula. I saw like 458 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:31,960 Speaker 1: thirty five hundred at least for each of those cities. Yeah, 459 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:34,240 Speaker 1: but that that scale can go all the way down 460 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:37,840 Speaker 1: to uh zero, Well, sure, all the way to zero, 461 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:40,000 Speaker 1: But if you're paying a doula, that number can go 462 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:43,439 Speaker 1: all the way down to six hundred to eight hundred 463 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:48,960 Speaker 1: thousand dollars. And you know, and in the fly over states, right. 464 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:51,840 Speaker 1: But again, I mean like, if if this is the 465 00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:54,600 Speaker 1: duel is first time on their own, you're probably not 466 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:59,720 Speaker 1: going to be paying top dollar. Um. And if you say, look, 467 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,160 Speaker 1: I really really really want to have Adula at my 468 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:07,119 Speaker 1: at my child's birth, but I really genuinely don't have 469 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:11,320 Speaker 1: this money. Um. Actually got a lift once from Adula, 470 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:13,560 Speaker 1: and she was talking about having to deal with this 471 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:18,480 Speaker 1: family who clearly was very well off but was pleading poverty. 472 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:21,720 Speaker 1: And she was like, I'm the one who's Adula and 473 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:24,040 Speaker 1: driving a lift here, and these guys are trying to 474 00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:27,439 Speaker 1: like short change me. So she said she told them no. 475 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:29,560 Speaker 1: She said she tried to work with them, but they 476 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:33,560 Speaker 1: wouldn't they wouldn't budge about whatever they thought her services 477 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:36,920 Speaker 1: were worth so she had to just walk on. But um, 478 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:40,200 Speaker 1: I why would have family that's well off not paid 479 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:43,240 Speaker 1: eight hundred dollars. I don't know. I don't know because 480 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:45,919 Speaker 1: I remember thinking like, wow, that's that's all it costs 481 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:48,240 Speaker 1: for adula. She might have even been quoting them less 482 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:52,440 Speaker 1: than eight hundred dollars. Yeah, So there is definitely like 483 00:27:53,119 --> 00:27:56,000 Speaker 1: there seems to be a tension between the desire to 484 00:27:56,080 --> 00:28:00,560 Speaker 1: have a doula and the um the sense of non 485 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:04,560 Speaker 1: obligation to pay a dula a decent wage, which I 486 00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:08,480 Speaker 1: think is where that produla um group pulls their hair out. 487 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:12,520 Speaker 1: You know, uh, well, you you may get it covered 488 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:16,119 Speaker 1: by insurance. Um. There are more and more cases and 489 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:20,159 Speaker 1: insurance companies that will let something like this be covered. 490 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:22,920 Speaker 1: But it never hurts to ask. This article points out 491 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:24,840 Speaker 1: you can. You can always ask. You can always file 492 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:27,399 Speaker 1: a claim, uh and just see if you'll get a 493 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:31,240 Speaker 1: little assistance there. Yeah, if you live in Oregon and Minnesota, though, 494 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:35,840 Speaker 1: Medicaid will reimburse your full DULA expenses for certified DULA, 495 00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:40,120 Speaker 1: which is pretty awesome. Like, that's huge in groundbreaking that 496 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:44,880 Speaker 1: those two states have that um. The reason why they 497 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:48,280 Speaker 1: would pay anything for a DULA rather than just being 498 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:50,640 Speaker 1: like just burned some sage or something and and and 499 00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:54,280 Speaker 1: you know, spend five bucks. Is because there has been 500 00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:58,240 Speaker 1: studies about Dulah's and they have come out quite positive 501 00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:01,360 Speaker 1: in some pretty good period viewed studies in peer review 502 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:06,720 Speaker 1: peer reviewed journals. Right, um, have you seen any of this? Well, yeah, 503 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:09,320 Speaker 1: I saw the one, uh fifteen thousand people. That's a 504 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:15,920 Speaker 1: pretty decent study size. And they said, in this study size, 505 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:18,840 Speaker 1: there were some women who had dulas and some women 506 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:21,040 Speaker 1: who did not have dulas or any kind of support 507 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:25,080 Speaker 1: like that. And then outcomes for women with continuous support, 508 00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:28,120 Speaker 1: we're better than those without, meaning their labors or shorter 509 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:31,880 Speaker 1: by about forty minutes on average. Their babies had higher 510 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:35,800 Speaker 1: APCAR scores, which AFCAR these tests they give your baby, 511 00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:37,520 Speaker 1: Like the first thing your kid has to do is 512 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:41,640 Speaker 1: take a test. No seconds later, they're giving your kid 513 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:46,080 Speaker 1: their first test. Yeah, activity, pulse, grimace, appearance, and respiration. 514 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:50,680 Speaker 1: That's right. Yeah, And so higher APCAR scores um a 515 00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:54,520 Speaker 1: fewer negative feelings about childbirth, like this is the emotional component. 516 00:29:54,880 --> 00:30:00,200 Speaker 1: They required, less pain medication, fewer uses of FORCETEP, sort 517 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:06,120 Speaker 1: of vacuum assisted interventions c sections across the board. Dula's helped, 518 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:10,240 Speaker 1: and what what was really interesting was there was basically 519 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:12,840 Speaker 1: nothing that could point out that said having a duela 520 00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:15,360 Speaker 1: was a negative in anyway. Yeah, and even when they 521 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:18,080 Speaker 1: look just at dulas rather than just all types of 522 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 1: continuous support, just at dulas, the duelas they held up 523 00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:25,760 Speaker 1: to there was less use of potos and less c section, 524 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:29,840 Speaker 1: more spontaneous vaginal deliveries UM, less of a risk of 525 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:34,040 Speaker 1: being admitted to a special care nursery, UM, four times 526 00:30:34,120 --> 00:30:36,160 Speaker 1: less likely in one study to have a low birth 527 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:39,720 Speaker 1: weight child, two times less likely to have complications, and 528 00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:43,920 Speaker 1: they were significantly more likely to initiate breastfeeding when cared 529 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:46,880 Speaker 1: for by a DULA. Right, So there's all these like 530 00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:51,480 Speaker 1: like demonstrably positive outcomes and then you hit upon the 531 00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:55,640 Speaker 1: other thing too that they um, they make the harsh 532 00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:59,960 Speaker 1: hospital environment. There's something called harsh environment theory UM where 533 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:02,480 Speaker 1: the bright lights and the people you don't know coming 534 00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:04,160 Speaker 1: in and out and treating you like a piece of 535 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:06,960 Speaker 1: meat that they need to get this thing out of um, 536 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:11,600 Speaker 1: that they can actually produce a traumatic experience. I suspect 537 00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:15,720 Speaker 1: him more women than than you would think having birth 538 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:19,360 Speaker 1: or giving birth in a hospital is kind of traumatic 539 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:21,240 Speaker 1: and for some women, from what I read, it's like 540 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:26,080 Speaker 1: like deeply traumatic um. And that's that's been a huge 541 00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:29,880 Speaker 1: reason that dulas have really come into use lately, is 542 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:33,400 Speaker 1: because they mellow everything out for you a lot more. 543 00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:36,680 Speaker 1: And there's actually I read there's a group of renegade 544 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:39,840 Speaker 1: duelas who are acting as midwives out in the pot 545 00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:46,880 Speaker 1: growing country of northern California. Uh, what's the relationship there 546 00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:52,360 Speaker 1: to the pot growing I would guess they probably do both. 547 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:55,480 Speaker 1: They grow the pot and deliver the babies. I think 548 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:57,240 Speaker 1: it's kind of like a whole back to the earth, 549 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:02,720 Speaker 1: to hell with the man's established meant hospitals. Apparently it's 550 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:06,320 Speaker 1: illegal to give birth like this without like a certified 551 00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:10,640 Speaker 1: um someone from the medical community being there to assist 552 00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:13,960 Speaker 1: in the delivery. They're they're saying nuts to that, which 553 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:17,720 Speaker 1: I would guess is pretty dangerous but also illegal. And 554 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:21,720 Speaker 1: if there's anything that screams Northern California more than dangerous 555 00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:25,680 Speaker 1: and illegal, I don't know. Yeah, Uh, if you want 556 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:29,600 Speaker 1: to use a dula, and and I'm officially endorsing this, 557 00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:34,800 Speaker 1: I say don't say don't say do la. Sorry, I 558 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:37,960 Speaker 1: couldn't resist on that one. It was worth it. Um, 559 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:40,880 Speaker 1: you just get online, you know, the dulas are easy 560 00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:43,880 Speaker 1: to find in your area. Do a little Google searching, UM, 561 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:46,800 Speaker 1: get a reference, a personal reference if you can, would 562 00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:49,560 Speaker 1: be great. Get online, find a friend who was used 563 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:51,959 Speaker 1: to DOLA they can recommend. I mean that's really the 564 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:54,360 Speaker 1: best way. UM. I don't know if I'd go on 565 00:32:54,840 --> 00:33:00,600 Speaker 1: Yelp or anything like that or Angie's List though maybe 566 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:03,960 Speaker 1: who knows, But it's better if a good friends says, hey, 567 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:06,640 Speaker 1: I use this DULA and she's great. I think. Also 568 00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:11,920 Speaker 1: the certifying bodies UM have directories of certified dulas in 569 00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:14,280 Speaker 1: areas to Yeah. I mean you wanted to be a 570 00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:17,959 Speaker 1: good personality match too, so you should talk to your 571 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:20,600 Speaker 1: DULA on the phone at the very least, UM, but 572 00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:23,680 Speaker 1: ideally you have a little in person meeting to make sure, like, 573 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:25,760 Speaker 1: is this someone I want to I want to jump 574 00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:28,800 Speaker 1: into the foxhole with because they're gonna be around a lot, 575 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:30,560 Speaker 1: you know, and you have to have a good personality 576 00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:33,480 Speaker 1: match there. Well. Yeah, and your husband or co parent 577 00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:36,480 Speaker 1: needs to like them too. You don't want weird tension 578 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 1: between those two in the delivery room. They need to 579 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:43,840 Speaker 1: fit into your jam pretty well, yeah, or else it's 580 00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:45,880 Speaker 1: this gonna be Especially if you're one of those people 581 00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:49,800 Speaker 1: who can't stand conflict, that would be awful. To have 582 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:53,880 Speaker 1: a duela who your husband or co parent or wife 583 00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:56,920 Speaker 1: or whoever doesn't like and butts heads with in the 584 00:33:56,960 --> 00:33:59,560 Speaker 1: delivery room. That would just be bad. And then you 585 00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:01,760 Speaker 1: have to pay them afterwards, that would just be terrible. 586 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:04,200 Speaker 1: So yeah, you want to vet them pretty well ahead 587 00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:08,279 Speaker 1: of time. Yeah, and while you um, while adula is 588 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:11,560 Speaker 1: that aduela is there to support you. So while they 589 00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:14,239 Speaker 1: may have their own opinions on what they might do 590 00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:20,719 Speaker 1: in a given situation, their childbirth philosophy is your childbirth 591 00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:23,600 Speaker 1: philosophy as a mom is what matters, you know, So 592 00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:26,399 Speaker 1: a good duela will get on board with that um 593 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:29,520 Speaker 1: or if they aren't on board with that, then they 594 00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:31,960 Speaker 1: probably shouldn't be working with you. And yeah, I can 595 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:34,440 Speaker 1: see them being like, look, I I can recommend a 596 00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:36,400 Speaker 1: couple of other people who are more in line with 597 00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:40,640 Speaker 1: what you're looking for than me, you know, instead of 598 00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:42,759 Speaker 1: wrong wrong wrong, This is all wrong. This is how 599 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:46,120 Speaker 1: we're gonna do right. That's right. Are you got anything 600 00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:49,360 Speaker 1: else on duels? Just this little bit on death duelas. 601 00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:53,279 Speaker 1: We may have covered this in our geeze in our 602 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:56,439 Speaker 1: dying episode. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I feel 603 00:34:56,440 --> 00:34:59,080 Speaker 1: like we've talked about it. But it is a job. Um, 604 00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:03,319 Speaker 1: if you want to help family or a person or 605 00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:06,000 Speaker 1: both through end of life care, Uh, there are people 606 00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:07,880 Speaker 1: you can hire just to do that, and it's not 607 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:12,120 Speaker 1: the same as Uh they can work in concert with 608 00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:14,839 Speaker 1: hospice care. But it's not like a hospice nurse. It's 609 00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:17,840 Speaker 1: someone just like a birth dula who is there to 610 00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:20,759 Speaker 1: really just emotionally kind of coach you through through the 611 00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:24,360 Speaker 1: dying process with a family member, and also to to 612 00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:28,759 Speaker 1: very concretely hold your hand, make sure you're comfortable, move 613 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:31,200 Speaker 1: you around a little bit, listen to you talk, tell 614 00:35:31,239 --> 00:35:33,440 Speaker 1: you stories, whatever you're you're looking for to make the 615 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:38,919 Speaker 1: whole thing better. That's right, pretty pretty neat. Up with doulas, Yeah, 616 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:42,319 Speaker 1: Up with dulas agreed. If you want to know more 617 00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:45,080 Speaker 1: about Up with Dula's this new organization that Chuck and 618 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:49,000 Speaker 1: I just now founded, you can. I'll just wait a 619 00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:51,080 Speaker 1: little while. We need to get to work on the website, 620 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:54,279 Speaker 1: and in the meantime, let's listen to some listener mail, 621 00:35:56,640 --> 00:35:59,160 Speaker 1: all right, I'm gonna call this flu shot clarification because 622 00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:02,520 Speaker 1: that's what the sub decline says. Hey, guys, Avid Listener 623 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:06,000 Speaker 1: wanted to comment on the flu episode. I'm a graduate 624 00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:08,320 Speaker 1: student and a few months away from completing my degree 625 00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:12,720 Speaker 1: to becoming a physician's assistant. Well, never mind, then, buddy, 626 00:36:12,719 --> 00:36:15,320 Speaker 1: I don't want to hear it now. I'm just kidding. 627 00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:18,320 Speaker 1: H I spent a lot of time seeing patients answering 628 00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:21,960 Speaker 1: questions about things like flu shots and who should receive them. Uh. 629 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:24,880 Speaker 1: The CDC new recommends that everyone over the age of 630 00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:27,920 Speaker 1: six months receives a flu shot, even those who are 631 00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:31,279 Speaker 1: perfectly healthy, even those who are allergic to eggs. They're 632 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:35,319 Speaker 1: cuckoo for flu shots. The flu shots are now being 633 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:39,360 Speaker 1: designed to be egg free. Uh so their egg free, 634 00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:44,920 Speaker 1: gluten free? What else? Dare they contained teen percent keen 635 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:49,200 Speaker 1: wa And there's no evidence to suggest flu shots in 636 00:36:49,239 --> 00:36:52,600 Speaker 1: recent years could cause a reaction. And those allergic to eggs, 637 00:36:52,719 --> 00:36:55,719 Speaker 1: all right, that's interesting. Did not know that he said 638 00:36:55,719 --> 00:36:58,759 Speaker 1: the benefits of the flu shots far outweighed the risk 639 00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:02,760 Speaker 1: in his opinion. This guy's opinion, Yeah, and it sounds 640 00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:06,640 Speaker 1: like it's an informed opinion at the very least sure so. 641 00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:14,080 Speaker 1: Uh that is from Devon from Philadelphia. Go Eagles do 642 00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:16,640 Speaker 1: you think so? Really? Yeah? I mean why not? They're 643 00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:20,120 Speaker 1: doing great? Okay, Well, thanks a lot, Devon. I appreciate 644 00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:22,440 Speaker 1: writing in. That was nice of you. And if you 645 00:37:22,640 --> 00:37:24,680 Speaker 1: out there want to be like Devon, you can tweet 646 00:37:24,719 --> 00:37:27,239 Speaker 1: to us at josh um Clark or s Y s 647 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:30,399 Speaker 1: K podcast. You can join us on Facebook dot com, 648 00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:33,840 Speaker 1: slash Stuff you Should Know or slash Charles W. Chuck Bryant. 649 00:37:34,239 --> 00:37:37,400 Speaker 1: You can hang out with us at um on email, 650 00:37:37,560 --> 00:37:40,040 Speaker 1: at stuff podcast at how stuff Works dot com and 651 00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:42,120 Speaker 1: has always joined us at home on the web, Stuff 652 00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:48,480 Speaker 1: you Should Know dot com For more on this and 653 00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:51,040 Speaker 1: thousands of other topics. Is it how stuff Works dot 654 00:37:51,120 --> 00:38:00,120 Speaker 1: com th