According to studies that have looked at the mother's experience of her labor and birth with a doula, mothers who have had the experience of having a doula assist them with their birth reported their birth experience as more positive than those who did not and would choose to have a doula present for a subsequent birth!
Doulas make a Difference!
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Dar la Luz
Assisting as a doula at birth is a very rewarding experience for women wishing to serve in this way. Nothing compares with the joy of seeing a newborn baby the first time and the doula can participate in this wonderful experience by serving the women in her care. Dar la Luz literally means bringing to the light and is a beautiful picture of the baby's journey from the womb to life in this world. It is also a beautiful way to describe the Christian journey.
These doula workshops are under the umbrella of Dar la Luz Midwifery Studies and is a prerequisite to beginning that program. Others wishing to learn doula skills are invited to join into the workshops as well. Dar la Luz is a Christian childbirth education organization that prepares women to serve as a doula and / or midwife. Doulas may use their training to serve in ministry or to provide doula services in their own business to provide income to their families.
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| 2011 Labor Doula Training Workshops -- summer and fall workshops!
August 2 - 30, Tuesday evenings 6:00-9:30 An evening class for those who prefer to divide the class into smaller class times.
5 evenings
Carolina Water Birth in Simpsonville is our host for this evening training.
September 23- 24, Friday, 8:30-5:30 and Saturday 8:30-5:30
Labors of Love, a beautiful birthing center in Spartanburg will be our setting for this training.
October, Friday and Saturday 8:30-5:30
Covenant Birth Center, Columbia's lovely birthing center will host this training. Come join us in the midlands for this fall training.
November 4 - 5, Friday and Saturday 8:30-5:30
Carolina Waterbirth is a longtime favorite for hosting doula trainings. Convenient to I-385, Carolina Waterbirth in Simpsonville draws students from Greenville to Columbia.
The cost of these workshops is $350 which includes all materials and costs. Most private doulas charge $450-$500 for assisting a family at birth. Your workshop cost will be reimbursed by your first birth. Spaces are limited, so send in your registrations early.
To register, mail a Check or money order to
Susan Smart, LM
950 Jolley Road
Chesnee, SC 29323
Include your name, address, phone number, email address, and the date of the workshop for which you are registering or
Pay by Credit Card Here!
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The Doula's Role
Doulas experience the wonderful satisfaction of helping a couple become a family. They encourage the newly expectant couple giving them information on birth plans and providing them with information to make informed and wise decisions. Doulas attend the woman in labor providing those experienced hands to help her through this transition into parenthood. They work alongside the parents encouraging them, supporting them, providing much needed comfort measures, providing education in choices, and being a constant advocate for the mother.
Doulas do not provide medical treatment. Their role is to provide parents with information from reputable sources, guide them in preparing a birth plan, and assisting them at the time of their birth with the choices the couple has selected. While helping women achieve a natural birth can exercise the doula's repertoire of skills, it is helping the woman achieve her birth wishes that is the doula's role whether that be an epidural / medicated birth or a natural birth
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The Labor Doula Workshop
This workshop is a prerequisite to those wishing to enroll for midwifery studies and is a wonderful first step for those women wishing to serve at birth. The workshop provides a comprehensive study of the ways the doula can assist women in the pregnancy experience through providing information to assist women to make informed choices from the first moments of pregnancy through birth, providing hands on labor support measures as needed, and supporting the mother's breastfeeding efforts after delivery.
You will learn about labor and birth, how it usually progresses, common variations, what to expect at each stage, and what you can do to assist the woman at the various stages with measures to encourage her comfort and to encourage her labor to progress.
You will learn about common medical procedures at birth, their uses and benefits, and their risks. Doulas have been shown through medical studies to significantly reduce the need for operative interventions at birth such as forceps, vacuum extraction, and Cesarean delivery (an all-time high of 1/3 of women delivering in the US.)
You will learn how to assist women in formulating their birth plans and supporting them in the choices they have made. The doula is supportive of the mother's choices and is her advocate with positive communications of the mother's choices to others involved in the birth process. She remains with the mother throughout the labor despite shift changes unless another doula support person is agreed to beforehand.
You will learn how to provide comfort measures in the forms of warm and cool compresses, massage, position changes to enhance comfort and progress, hydrotherapy, aromatherapy, and relaxation skills.
You will learn what positions are helpful for helping the baby to make his way through the pelvis to birth and ways to
encourage the mother in those position changes.
You will learn how to safely and effectively encourage the mother in her pushing efforts.
You will learn the commonly accepted signs of a healthy progressing labor as well the danger signs of pregnancy.
You will learn how to assist the mother with her initial breastfeeding efforts and how to advise her with the more common breastfeeding problems.
You will have opportunity to see the best of the labor and birth videos.
You will learn ways to promote your business if that is your desire.
Dar la Luz is a Chrisitan childbirth education for those women who wish to serve as doulas. With the midwifery studies portion, it also prepares women to serve in that function. See "How to Become a Midwife" to see further information about how to pursue a midwifery career.
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