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Do You Doula?
Postpartum Doulas Support Breastfeeding Moms
By Kim Seidel
"A doula will help moms find out what works best for them and their baby," Thompson says. Every new breastfeeding mom has different needs, and doulas tailor their work to meet those needs.
Tracy Hanson, a labor, delivery and postpartum doula in Oceanside, Calif., performs a wide array of services for breastfeeding mothers and their families. Hanson helps to ensure the baby has a good latch onto the mother's breast and ensures the feeding is done in a comfortable environment and that the mom gets plenty of fluids, which is important for breastfeeding.
Doulas also help with light household chores, make meals, run errands, suggest the importance of naps and good sleep and provide overall encouragement for the mother to remain calm and relaxed. "I help to build a new mom's confidence in her abilities to parent her new baby," Hanson says. "Breastfeeding is part of parenting."
Through her experiences as a doula, Thompson has seen many moms give up breastfeeding too soon. "Breastfeeding can be really challenging the first six weeks, but after that point, it really does become easy and wonderful," she says. "If you just say to yourself, 'I'm going to do this for at least six weeks,' you will almost always find yourself well beyond that point."
A doula helps breastfeeding mothers through these first monthswith Baby. "I cannot emphasize how important it is for a new breastfeeding mom to be calm, relaxed and enjoy her new role as Mom," Hanson says. "The early days of parenting are scary, overwhelming, exhausting and sometimes never-ending, but they are so important to the long-term relationship Mom and Baby will have."
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