Interview With A Doula

@hoodrichj 4

Humans have been giving birth at home for thousands of years. Despite all the advances in modern medicine, there are still scores of women today who opt for delivering their babies in private settings rather than at a hospital. 

Jalisha Hanshaw, 23, is a certified doula living in upstate New York. She goes to school for Health Service Administration and Women Studies at CUNY Lehman College. I had the chance to talk to Jalisha about what it means to be a doula. Below is an edited transcript of our discussion.

 

Can you start by explaining what a doula is?

Hanshaw: A doula is basically a birth worker. We help women through pregnancy, birth, and even postpartum. We don’t deliver [the baby]; we’re usually there for emotional and mental support. So whenever they need any help like with anxiety or getting through the whole birthing process, we’re there to help them get through it mentally and emotionally.

 

Can you differentiate between a midwife and a doula?

A midwife actually has the certification to perform the birthing process. It’s basically an assistant to the doctor. Basically we’re there aside the midwife, but we don’t even have to be with a midwife, we can be there just assisting the mother [in] get through the birthing process. The difference between the two is that they’re certified and we’re not certified to perform birth, so we’re there just for the support. A lot of women don’t know the difference.

 

Can you talk about how your interest in this began?

My dad is actually a RN [registered nurse] at a hospital in New York City. One day my mom and I were going to pick up my dad and we were standing outside, and this lady and her husband pulled up in a minivan and she’s like, about to give birth. She didn’t really speak any English, and my mom speaks a little Spanish, she’s bilingual, so she was helping talking to her about the situation and trying to calm her down. I was rubbing her back and I felt so bad for her, she didn’t have any support. In that moment I was like, You know what? I really like doulas. I like helping woman through birth and their pregnancy and postpartum.

Also, I go to school for health service administration so I have a little bit of a background in human resources and why it’s important to always help people.

 

What was your training like?

I actually found the doula certification training through Instagram. Her name is Latham Thomas and she has her own organization called Mama Glow. I signed up for that and it was located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It’s a three day training and there are so many women who come to this event from all over the United States, from different countries. We’re usually there sitting in a circle. She’s a certified doula, she has a lot of connections to other people like acupuncturists and physicians.

The first day she’s actually teaching us about the anatomy of the woman’s body and what the body actually looks like before, during, and after pregnancy. So we’re learning about the science behind pregnancy and birth. The second day it’s more of like a holistic outlook. The third day is more about why it’s important to have a doula, so it’s more informative.

 

What’s the environment like where you work? Are you doing a lot of home births?

It’s really up to the mother. I live in upstate New York so a lot of woman do not know what a doula is, so they already have a birth plan. There aren’t a lot of places where I live where there are water births, home births, and access to midwives. A lot of women do just go to the hospital. I’m into virtual — a lot of women like their private births, so most of the time I’m on FaceTime with them. I haven’t actually been to the hospital with a mother yet just because they’re still unsure of the whole point of having a doula.

 

How do you think living here in New York affects what you do and the type of women you work with?

What I notice is there’s a big social disparity between different types of women. I feel like I have more access to white women than I do with people of color just because a lot of Caucasian women already have a lot of support from their families, their friends, versus someone who is Black — they don’t have as much support. So they experience more anxiety, more cesarean sections, and stuff like that.

I really try to target those populations — not saying I don’t target Caucasian women — you should never just target one population because everyone is different. But I notice that I do actually have to focus on those populations that don’t get those services. Today, I came from my orientation for maternal depression where we’re going to different boroughs of New York City that suffer from those social disparities. I’m looking forward to that because then I can actually get to know different types of women, understand their struggles, and why they don’t have a lot of support.

 

I know that the maternal mortality rate for women of color is higher [than that of white women]. Do you think that having access to doulas and people supporting them would help change that?

It starts with healthcare providers; they are the frontline to the patients. Having a lot of support is important, but having the knowledge and information about those resources comes from the healthcare provider. So I feel like doctors and midwives and social workers, everyone involved in the healthcare system needs to understand that they have to do their work, as well. I need to target those populations that struggle with maternal mortality, which is highest among African Americans.

The lady who gave me my certification is going around the country talking to residents [doctors and physicians], about how they need to interact with those communities. I think it’s important hearing it from the doula and midwife because for centuries, even before doctors and OB-GYNs existed, these people have been helping [others] give birth for thousands of years and have the most knowledge. That’s why we as people, as healthcare providers need to learn from them. They have so much knowledge about giving birth and pregnancy and postpartum.

 

Can you talk a little about your responsibilities with the women you work with?

The woman I work with right now suffers from severe anxiety. She’s almost due, so I’m trying to figure out the best ways to bring down her anxiety [with] different essentials oils, prenatal yoga.

Anxiety comes from stress. This is her first child, [so this anxiety] is very common. People who have children their first time are very scared and they don’t know what to expect. She has a lot of support from her husband, and we’re starting to do sleeping hypnosis on her, which relaxes the mind before she goes to bed. Affirmations are something good, too, like a poem or something to read to her while she’s giving birth. Also breathing techniques. Acupuncture induction is good, too, because Pitocin [a drug that helps the uterus contract during labor] is kind of dangerous because when that happens, they’re not able to feel themselves pushing out the child and that can cause blood clots. Doing holistic and natural remedies is the best way to go, especially for someone who’s high risk.

 

That was something that I found so interesting. I heard about hypnosis and how that can totally change how a woman thinks. They can go into their pregnancy and the birthing process with a completely different mindset, and that can actually relieve the pain. These holistic practices are something you learn during training?

Yeah, between those three days she actually had some acupuncturists come in and teach us how to induct the mother if she’s like 40, 41 weeks. A lady named Kimberly — she’s in charge of birth consulting — she came and introduced her book to us. I’m actually taking a birth consulting class in May, so I’m going to be learning more about that. That’s a separate certification so I’m trying to get that as well so I can learn more about how to help mothers, because the most important thing is that she comes back to [a healthy] mindset after. A lot of women go into postpartum depression because of a lack of support and not understanding how their body is now versus before [birth].

 

Do you ever talk to mothers, either while their pregnant or postpartum about sex?

Yeah, that’s really important. Having sex during your birth is actually encouraged because the more you’re open and aroused the faster the process is.

 

Wait, during the actual birth?!

They suggest it. Not actual intercourse, but being aroused is another way of opening up. Another reason why some people have C-sections is because they’re so tense. It’s hard for the baby to come out of the vagina because she’s so tense. So that’s why it’s so important to have, like I said before, a lot of support, especially from the partner or the husband, whoever is there who’s been supporting her since the beginning [of the labor process] is very important. And that’s why it’s important to have a doula because some people just don’t have that support.

 

What’s something you wish everyone could know about being a doula or pregnancy and childbirth, in general?

I wish people were more open to holistic things. Ever since the start of the 19th century when OB-GYNs and medicine were introduced, [there’s] been a change, especially for women.

I feel like we should really focus on how to use natural things instead of medicine, because medicine is not always the answer. Half of the time you don’t even have to use medicine. If you have a headache, for example, or you have menstrual cramps. You can simply take a walk. These [are] things people don’t know, and I think it’s important that they do. Especially communities, like I said before, that aren’t informed about alternative solutions.

 

What’s a personal goal you have in this field?

I want to see everyone go through a natural birth. I don’t want anyone to say, “I had to have a C-section. I had to take…” Even my mother, she practically almost died giving birth to my brother because of the simplest complications that could’ve been solved. It’s terrible to hear those things and I feel like a lot of those things could be resolved if people were given the right information and people were given the support.

 

So you haven’t witnessed an actual birth?

Not yet, I just got my certification in October, so between that time and now I was searching for women who were 5-6 months pregnant. I have a few clients right now, I have one that’s going to be delivering on February 24th, and then one who’s due June 4th. Right now I’m working with them. I’m really excited for February 24, because she wants me to physically be there — which is very different because a lot of women, once I tell them that I have to be there to witness the birth, it’s like, “Oh, never mind. I want it to be personal.” Which is fine, everyone is different, but knowing someone wants me to be there and wants that support is very exciting.

 

That’s so cool. Are there any resources you would recommend to people who are interested in becoming a doula, or who are interested in the services you provide?

People can email me or DM me on Instagram if they have any questions about fertility, having a doula, postpartum. I’ll be more certified in that section in the Spring [of 2019]. If they’re interested, they can email me at mynamesjalisha@gmail.com.

 

 

For more information on the services a doula provides, click here. You can follow Jalisha on Instagram here. 
Photos of Jalisha taken her brother, Jamont Hanshaw.Â