Birthing Babies: Becoming a Doula
Written by Mary Welch Tuesday, September 14 2010
Snapshot: Alice Turner
Alice Turner lives in Atlanta with her husband and four children. They have two girls and two boys, ages 9, 6, 3, and 7 months. She graduated Vanderbilt University with a bachelor's in biomedical engineering and a minor in computer science. After graduating, she and her husband spent three years in Seattle where she worked for a biotech company. They returned to the South to be near family. They eventually returned to her hometown of Atlanta where she worked as a computer programmer until the birth of her first child. In 2005 she found her calling to become a doula and has since become a certified Lamaze educator.
Womenetics: Tell us about your decision to become a doula.
Alice Turner: After the birth of my second child (my first natural birth), a friend asked me to stand in for her husband during the birth of her child if he was out of town at the time of labor. I got so excited and then realized that I was acting as a doula. Her husband made it for the birth, and I was so disappointed that I decided to pursue being a doula as a profession. The more I learned about the profession the more I realized that it is my passion.
Womenetics: Are doulas allowed in hospitals or only home births?
Turner: The vast majority of my clients give birth in hospitals.
Womenetics: What does a doula offer to the birthing experience?
Turner: Doulas help couples have the birth experiences that they want to have. As a doula, I meet the couples before labor and really get to know them. We discuss things like what they want out of the birth, how they deal with physical pain of giving birth, and what type of childbirth education they have. Doulas devote their entire attention to the mom during labor. We are there to assist through the labor, birth, and initial breast-feeding to provide emotional, physical, and informational support.
Womenetics: How does one find a doula and what are the questions one should ask in selecting one?
Turner: There are a few doula certification organizations like DONA and CAPPA that have an online list of certified doulas. One of the most important things in finding a doula is to meet several in person. You want a personality that works with you and your partner.
Womenetics: How are doulas different from midwives?
Turner: Doulas do not perform any medical procedure. They do not deliver babies. Doulas are support people.
Womenetics: You started YourDoulaBag.com. Tell us about it.
Turner: It is a web store that sells items that doulas use in their work. Most doulas carry a bag of tools that we use to support laboring women. I am an avid online shopper and was shocked not to find an online store for these products, so I started this site to fill that need.
Womenetics: Did you always have an entrepreneurial streak?
Turner: No, but I have always had a lot of ideas and have always been a hard worker. I started working when I was about 13 and haven't really slowed down.
Womenetics: You also started YourBirthBag.com. What is that about?
Turner: It is a web store that sells items for moms to pack in their bags for birth. After supporting nearly 100 women in labor, I have a good understanding of what items are most helpful during a birth. I was enjoying the doula site so much that I wanted to tackle a consumer site as well.
Womenetics: What should first-time mothers know about pregnancy and giving birth?
Turner: I would like first-time mothers to know that they have options in their births.
Womenetics: Are more women opting for at-home births or different experiences other than a traditional hospital stay? If so why?
Turner: I think women are finding out that they have options, but I wouldn't say that home birth is rising in Georgia. A lot of women I meet are concerned about the very high C-section rate and want low intervention births.
Womenetics: You have four children, what types of births did you have with them?
Turner: The first was what I call a typical epidural hospital birth. The second time I wanted to go without intervention and pain medication. I studied hypno-birthing (involving deep relaxation and self-hynosis) and used it to have a natural birth at the hospital. The third birth was a water birth (where the mother sits in a warm bath during labor and delivery) at home attended by a midwife and doula. The fourth was also a water birth at home with a midwife. It was super quick, and my doula didn't make it in time.
Womenetics: How do you intend to grow your businesses?
Turner: I want to get the word out about the businesses. I will probably do some online advertising, and I have a trunk show planned for Nashville in October. I would like to continue these shows throughout the country.
Womenetics: What are the challenges facing you in your businesses?
Turner: Time is my biggest challenge. There are a lot of things that I’d like to do, but not a lot of time to execute. My full-time job is being a mom of four, so I work when I can, and that makes my children’s nap times and bedtimes very busy.
Mary Welch is a freelance writer for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Dawson Times, Plan Your Meeting magazine, and Atlanta Business magazine. Previously, she held many positions with Leader Publishing, including editor-in-chief of Atlanta Woman, editor of Business to Business magazine, and editor of Catalyst magazine. As editor of Business to Business, she assigned, edited, and conceptualized a series that was awarded Silver in the 2005 GAMMA Awards for Best Series. Welch was a reporter for the Atlanta Business Chronicle for eight years and freelanced for publications including Glamour, Advertising Age, South, Georgia Trend, and Oz. From 2000 to 2003, she served as vice president of media relations for Bank of America, during which time she authored Forever Green: A History and Hope of the American Forest with Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell.
