You are a mother. You are pregnant with your child.
You are deciding between an adoption plan, or a parenting plan, for your child.
You may feel overwhelmed, intimidated, and alone.
And, at some point, you are going to experience labor and childbirth, regardless of what your parenting or adoption plan is.
Doulas are rapidly becoming known for their clinically proven ability to provide comprehensive emotional and physical support to the laboring mother and lower unnecessary interventions and increase overall maternal satisfaction in the birth experience. Here is a link to see some of these sources.
Pregnant mothers who have “happy” living situations and who unwaveringly start from the beginning of their pregnancy with a parenting plan utilize the benefits of doulas in growing numbers.
As a mother considering adoption for your child, you deserve the same positive benefits of having a doula as any other mother.
Every adoption decision is unique, and has its own unique aspects. Doulas who see that their services would benefit you do not seek to make the decision of adoption for you, and the service of any doula listed at this website is not conditional upon your decision to parent or to adopt.
We are simply here for you.
As you plan to interview the doulas on this website, look for a doula in this website who has an asterisk (*) next to her name. This doula has purchased the Adoption Doula Handbook, which gives her a strong foundation of how to best serve you in your unique experience. She can meet with you, evaluate your needs, and help you look at resources that can help meet those needs. Do you feel safe? Do you have shelter, food, transportation, employment? Working thorugh these needs first helps you see your parenting options in a clearer way. This opens the door for you to have more freedom to really explore your parenting options, it relieves pressure off of you, it makes you more confident in your decision, whether that be to turn to a parenting plan or to continue with an adoption plan, but more importantly, it serves to help you in a tangible, practical way.
Your doula will give you private birth education, so that you won’t need to attend a public, group birthing class filled with other people of differing circumstances who don’t know your feelings and your experience.
She will work with you on building a customized birth plan, one that includes all of the medical options for birth, but also includes all of your own unique personal wishes for this birth. The Adoption Doula Handbook has a template for her to use, which includes dozens and dozens of options for you. This serves to reinforce the truth that this is your pregnancy ~ this will be your labor and childbirth~ this really is your choice to make.
During birth, your doula stays with you throughout the entire experience. She provides personalized support just for you. She doesn’t leave your side. She provides comfort techniques, takes pictures for you if you wish, and works with you through the duration of your labor.
If you decide on a parenting plan, the doula is prepared to help you navigate early parenting with one postpartum visit, which will include giving you additional resources for support.
If you decide on an adoption plan, your doula is prepared to stay with you for a time after the birth, to leave the hospital with you, and to provide you with one postpartum visit, which will include giving you additional resources for support.
To find the doula for you, click on the link for your state. There, you will find the listing of doulas who serve near you. Their names are also links, which take you to pages to learn more about each of them. Make sure to look for the asterisk (*) next to the name, and take time in considering the right doula for you.