Contact:
Maureen Curran Kleinman
Marketing and Communications
(201) 291-6310
Ridgewood, NJ – April 26, 2010 – Five years ago, when The Valley Hospital launched northern New Jersey’s first hospital-based doula program, many physicians and nurses were unsure that having another person in the delivery room during childbirth was a wise idea.
“We overcame skepticism by showing how a birth doula can enhance a woman’s childbirth experience and help to create a positive atmosphere within the delivery room,” says Cindy Ferestien, RNC, supervisor of Valley’s Center for Women, Children, and Family Education. “Every labor is different, but everyone wins when a mother is educated, prepared, and empowered to be part of the health care team. A doula balances the natural and technical.”
Caption: Expectant couple Trina and Bob Bucaro, of Wallingon, NJ, are shown surrounded by Valley Hospital doulas ( from left to right): Christine Fitzgerald; Sharon Gray; Cindy Ferestien, RNC, supervisor of Valley’s Center for Women, Children, and Family Education; Marie Muller-Noonan; and Roseanne Ebert.
Birth doulas are trained and experienced to provide continuous physical, emotional, and educational support to a woman and her partner during labor, delivery, and the immediate period following the birth of the baby. A doula does not deliver the baby, provide nursing care, or replace a husband or birth partner. Even if a woman is scheduled for a cesarean section, a doula provides support before, during, and after the surgery.
“This is an age-old concept; in essence we are taking the place of the village women who tend to laboring mothers,” says doula Roseanne Ebert of Ridgewood, who was the first certified doula in Valley’s program. “We mother the mother and support her partner.”
Client Catherine Trent of Chester, N.Y., says she views a doula as a “bridge from the non-medical village environment to the highly technical medical environment that sometimes views childbirth as a condition rather than a normal life process. Our doula Roseanne was a gentle, yet strong guide for me and my husband, Kevin.”
Having a doula in attendance does not mean that a laboring mother must forego pain relief medications or interventions, such as medication to induce labor or fetal monitoring technology.
“The choice of whether or not to ask for pain medication or an epidural is the mother’s,” says doula Marie Muller-Noonan of Montvale. “In order for a woman to have a positive birth experience, her opinions and options must be respected.”
Cammy (who requested that only her first name be used) of Morris County says the delivery of her second and third babies with Roseanne as her doula were vastly different from that of her first baby. With her first she requested epidural pain medication. With her second and third, she delivered naturally without the epidural.
“Roseanne was able to ‘read’ my situation and anticipate what we needed,” she says. “As a result, the delivery experiences we had were exactly what my husband and I wanted.”
Requesting a doula for a subsequent birth is common, says Ferestien, who pairs clients with doulas whom she thinks will make a “good match.”
Wendy Walker of Upper Saddle River says her doula, Sharon Gray, “made the deliveries of my first two babies comfortable, calm, and healthy for me and the babies, so we will welcome her yet again when I deliver my third baby this summer.”
For more information about The Valley Hospital Doula Program, call 201-291-6152 or visit www.valleyhealth.com/familyeducation. Gift certificates are available.
