Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.life From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Doulas: A service a mother could love Date: Wed, 4 Nov 92 16:16:30 EST Message-ID: \SE D;LIFE;WAY OF LIFE \SS (WS) \HD Doulas: A service a mother could love \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS The first few weeks after Rhoda Bodzin and Gil Gross welcomed their son, Spencer, into the world, they were able to sit back and enjoy every coo and movement their newborn made. So did Abby Hauser and husband, Pierre, after their infant daughter, Olivia, was born. The Hausers are also the parents of 15-month-old Charlotte. Unencumbered by the usual chores of shopping for diapers and groceries and phoning the pediatrician, these two families enjoyed delicious, healthful meals and were able to focus on each other and the baby. These couples hired Christine Kealy, president and founder of In a Family Way, a "doula" service based in New York City. Doula, from the Greek meaning "mother to mother," is an old concept. But it is relatively new in the United States. "I'm not the kind to have someone else run my household," Mrs. Bodzin said in a telephone interview. "But after you have a baby, you experience total sensory overload. Christine knew just what to do so that Gil and I had total freedom to admire and enjoy our new baby." Adds Abby Hauser, "Pierre and I actually had time for ourselves, a rarity for new parents. Christine seemed to be everywhere at once without being in the way. Christine had all the right touches to make us feel pampered and cared for." For $15 to $25 an hour, a doula will come to the family's home, care for the other children, shop, cook, do light housekeeping and discuss such subjects as breast-feeding and choosing a post-pregnancy wardrobe. While no formal training is necessary, "being a mother is an essential criterion," Ms. Kealy says. Most doulas know basic first aid and Lamaze, a training program for natural childbirth. Many have a nursing background. Ms. Kealy, the mother of three children and a former elementary schoolteacher, says a good doula should be able to disappear into the background: "We don't give advice, we share experiences with families." She has taken clients to speciality stores and helped choose maternity wardrobes. She has performed hand-and-foot massages on new mothers, cleaned floors and bathrooms - and cooked up a storm. Before she departs, she often paints a watercolor of the new baby, frames it and presents it to the parents. MotherLove is a New Jersey-based doula service that also offers lactation consultation and labor support, as well as household services. "We stress that we are nonmedical support," says Debra Pascali, who founded MotherLove in 1987. "Although, there have been a couple of occasions when our doulas have identified a baby that isn't well and needs hospitalization." Ms. Pascali is a former childbirth educator and vice president of the National Association of Postpartum Care Services. She employs 40 doulas and has five branches in the New York-New Jersey region. "In our society, a woman has a baby and is expected to go right back to work," Ms. Pascali says. "But if a mother isn't nurtured, she can't possibly take care of her baby." This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM