▪ The word "doula" comes from the ancient Greek word meaning "a woman who serves" and is now used to refer to a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth. ▪ Studies have shown that when doulas attend a birth, labors are shorter, there are fewer complications, babies are healthier, and they breastfeed more easily. ▪ Your OMG doula is there to support your ideal birth; she will not bring her own agenda to your birth. It is her job to honor your wishes and be objective throughout your labor and delivery. ▪ Some believe that you should only hire a doula if you are planning a unmedicated birth, however, as doulas, we have been to many births where a laboring woman has chosen some form of pain relief and there are still plenty of things that we can do.

▪ Light massage, counter-pressure and hip squeezes. ▪ Facilitate comfort measures such as breathing, relaxation, movement, and positioning ▪ Fetch water, ice, warm blankets, ice packs, birthing tools and so much more! As hospital employees, we know where to find all the things you may need. ▪ Reassurance and encouragement when things get hard. ▪ Remind you and your partner to take care of your needs like eating and staying hydrated. ▪ Setting your room up with LED candles, aromatherapy, and music to help you feel safe and relaxed. ▪ Accept your birthing preferences and understand that may change throughout labor. ▪ Informational support so you and your partner always understand what’s going on through each phase of labor, delivery, and postpartum. ▪ Pictures of the birth and immediately afterwards. You can tell us what you want pictures of! ▪ Breastfeeding support.

▪ Yes! Each person has very different roles and responsibilities and your doula only has one focus - you! ▪ Your support people from home (you can bring 2) know you best and will be a great source of comfort and emotional support. ▪ Your nurse will come check on you and your baby periodically but she will not be able to stay with you continuously. ▪ Your midwife is a great source for informational, physical and emotional support but she will not be able to provide continuous support. It’s likely she will have other patients in labor and other responsibilities while being on-call. ▪ Your doula has no other responsibilities or patients so she will be a great source of continuous support for you.

Our goal is to support you and your partner, not replace or take over. Depending on their comfort level with birth, we may be more hands-on or hands-off. ▪ Many partners are unsure how to support their loved one through such a physically and emotionally demanding experience. They feel a tremendous amount of pressure to remember everything they have read or learned in a childbirth class. Hiring a doula means you have a fountain of knowledge in the room with you which can reduce stress for the partner allowing them to stay calm and be the best support for their loved one. ▪ The doula and partner team creates a very powerful support system. A study done over a 20 year period showed that the laboring woman had a more favorable memory of the role her partner played at her birth when there was a doula present versus when one wasn’t. Doulas make partners look good!

▪ Doulas are not just for unmedicated births! We have supported many women who have chosen some form of pain relief and there are still plenty of things for us to do. We will help get you into different positions using the peanut ball to keep your labor moving forward, we will help get you into different positions for pushing, we will take pictures, and assist with breastfeeding. ▪ Epidurals don’t always take away all the discomfort so your doula can be there to help with comfort measures for any breakthrough pain you may be experiencing.

▪ There are 4 doulas on the team and you cannot pick your doula. ▪ We work on a call schedule from 7am to 7am. Whichever doula is on-call when you request support will be the doula that attends your birth. ▪ If we have more than one patient in labor, we have a backup plan in place so that the next doula on-call will go in for the next patient.

▪ You will call or text us at 630-823-0650 when you go into labor. If it’s during the overnight hours (10pm to 7am), we ask that you call instead of sending a text. ▪ It can take your doula up to 90 minutes to join you at the hospital once requested so keep that in mind when deciding when you need her support. Since each person is different, we will go over when to head to the hospital during the birth plan phone call and have more specific instructions for you.

▪ As hospital based doulas, we are unable to provide support in your home. We can provide virtual support until we meet you at the hospital. ▪ Once your doula has joined you at the hospital, she will stay until after the birth plus 1 to 3 hours of postpartum support. If it has been an unusually long birth, she may switch out with another doula so that you are getting the best support possible from a doula that is rested. ▪ We do not have a time limit for support hours. If we need to switch out with another doula on the team, that will be at no additional cost to you.

▪ If it’s been determined that a c-section is the safest method of delivery for you and your baby, you can send the doula home or you can have her stay and provide postpartum support in the recovery room after delivery. Breastfeeding can be more challenging and we can help with different positions that put less pressure on your incision. ▪ We can also support your partner before surgery so they know what to expect and we can help them do skin-to-skin with your newborn afterwards.

There is no deadline to signup but we encourage you to sign up well before your due date to secure your spot! It's never too early to secure doula support for your birth.

▪ The cost of the doula program is $575. ▪ To sign up, return the completed and signed agreement via email so that we can process the fees on your hospital account. You can pay through the MyChart app with either a credit card or an HSA card. We ask that payments are made in full before 34 weeks. The fees are not refundable unless you need a planned c-section. ▪ You cannot apply for financial aid with the hospital system or with any other financial aid institution for the doula fees as this is an optional service. ▪ Once we have your signed agreement, you will receive a sample birth plan that you can edit to fit your needs. You will have access to your doulas via email, phone, and text for any questions or concerns. As we get closer to your due date, we will reach out to you to schedule your one-on-one birth plan phone or zoom call. We encourage partners to join in on the phone call so that the doulas can get a good understanding of their comfort level with birth and answer any questions they may have.