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A question for young (especially teenage) mothers relating to birth?

Hi all!

Thank you for reading this. I am a young woman who is aiming to become a doula. If you are not familiar with this term, a doula is a nonmedical person who acts as support for parents during labor. My ultimate goal is to become a midwife, but first I plan to get my doula certification and accumulate experience in the field until I feel comfortable enough. For a while, I will hopefully be shadowing professionals in my area. I will not be unsupervised. There will always be medical professionals attending the birth. I do not have my own children. I have some very basic medical background though I have no certifications or experience in the field.

Since I am young, I would like to work mostly with young parents - especially teenage parents. I wanted to see if this is something that you would have considered for your own birth. I have heard people say that it is appealing for young parents to have someone near their own age to act as support and who can understand what's happening medically and speaks medical jargon. So, would you have considered having another young woman there to support you during your birth? Would you be more or less comfortable with a young woman (as opposed to older) assisting you during birth? What doubts or concerns would you have? How could I make you feel more comfortable in this situation?

2 Answers

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  • Anonymous
    7 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    I had my whole family in the room, my grandma, aunt, uncle, mother, father, husband, and 4 medical people. Honestly I loved being able to share the birth of my first born with everyone, it was so joyous and hearing everyone gasp and cry and seeing all there smiles was wonderful when you are in a almost euphoric state basically. I am the type of person who would've loved to have a newly doula trying to get experience in with us. I had a med student in assisting actually as well. I honestly think there is more people who are reserved and more conservative with this. I am also 19 and my daughter is 6 months old. Our whole family is very close and our daughter is loved so much. I don't know how you should advertise yourself, a lot of women might be afraid to admit that they'd like you in the room because I'm sure a lot of younger girls that aren't as matured in some ways might not speak up because they don't want to be judged.

  • 7 years ago

    My own opinion? You could make me feel more comfortable just by getting out of the room. I do not want a midwife or a doula or any OTHER woman (except a trained, licensed OB nurse) mucking around with me if I am having a baby. No thank you! I prefer a male OB. (And I do have children).

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