Editor’s Note: Please welcome our newest contributor, Chambana mom and certified doula Trish Wilkinson.
Main Entry: dou·la
Pronunciation: \’dü-lə\ Function: noun Etymology: Mod Greek, female helper, maidservant, from Greek doulē female slave Date: 1981:
a woman experienced in childbirth who provides advice, information, emotional support, and physical comfort to a mother before, during, and just after childbirth. (Webster)
I love being a doula. When asked why I became a doula, people often assume it is because I love babies. Well, while I do hold babies in fairly high esteem (for which my two sons will someday realize they are eternally grateful!), the main reason I do what I do is because I love being with a woman and her support system during the awesome and life changing experience of birth.
When I gave birth to my wonderful sons, I had two completely different pregnancies, labors, deliveries, and postpartum. But the common thread through both experiences was the amazing pride I felt in myself as a woman.
Even though I had an unexpected cesarean with my first child, and delivered my second vaginally, I felt the same feelings of enpowerment, wonder, and awe after both.
As a doula, that is my professional goal – – for every woman to feel proud and empowered after they give birth, no matter what path the birth journey takes.
Now as I embark on this new branch on my tree of experiences, I hope that I can help address questions and issues in our birthing community here in the Champaign-Urbana area. I welcome suggestions, comments, and just plain chatting as I dip my writing pen (I think I just dated myself!) into the well of information we have available regarding pregnancy, labor, and birth. I don’t have all the answers, but I will do my best to find the resources to address them.
Thanks to all you moms out there!! We rock!
Trish Wilkinson has been married for 24 years and is the mother of two boys ages 18 and 14 (first born by unplanned cesarean; the second was a VBAC). A child and family therapist for 15 years before becoming a doula in 2001, she started Tree of Life Doula Services and Birth Resources in 2005 and has attended more than 250 births, including cesareans. She is a certified doula through Doulas of North America, as well as licensed clinical social worker for the state of Illinois.