BMH Birthing Center to Provide Doula Training

The Birthing Center at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital announces that they are accepting applications for the training of a new group of volunteers for the BMH Volunteer Doula Network. The training consists of two classes scheduled for Saturday, October 23rd and Wednesday, October 27th.

What is a doula? Doula is a Greek word meaning, “a woman who helps other women” – in this case, a trained caregiver who provides emotional and physical support to women during labor and birth. Research studies show that women who have doulas with them for birth have shorter, easier labors, and the chance of a cesarean was decreased in some studies by as much as 50%. Combined with our Birthing Center’s one-on-one nursing during labor, the doula program increases mothers’ satisfaction with their childbirth experiences and helps both mom and dad to approach their baby’s birth with confidence.

The movement toward doulas in birth began about 20 years ago with Penny Simkin, a well-known Seattle childbirth educator and author whose studies of women’s memories of birth stunned the birthing community. We shouldn’t have been surprised: ask any grandmother about birth and she’ll tell you all about her own labor and birth experiences!

BMH doulas provide support to laboring women at no cost to the family. They work as volunteers and are a part of the extensive volunteer program at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. If you are interested in joining the next cohort of doula training, please send a letter of interest to Dawn Kersula via e-mail (DKersula@bmhvt.org ) or mail to Dawn Kersula, RN, The Birthing Center at BMH, 17 Belmont Ave, Brattleboro, VT 05301.