A Natural Birth Experience

  • Fall 2019

OB Patient and baby

Brookings Health System’s volunteer doula program provides a pool of doulas to assist parents who have their baby at New Beginnings Birth Center at no cost to the parents. For first-time mom Tiffany Niemann of Clear Lake, her volunteer doula helped her and her husband, Collin, have the unmedicated, natural birth they wanted.

“Doula” is Greek term that means, “to mother the mother.” A labor doula is a woman who provides continuous labor support during childbirth, assisting parents with emotional and physical needs such as pressure point relief, positioning, relaxation and visualization. 

Tiffany first learned about doulas from a fellow SDSU co-worker who hired a doula to help her give birth without pain medication. When Tiffany learned she was pregnant with her first child, Savannah, she investigated doulas. She was pleased to discover Brookings Health offered a free, volunteer doula program and talked the option over with Collin.

“Both him and I weren’t really sure what to expect,” said Tiffany regarding labor and delivery for their first child. “We both talked and agreed that we would like to have somebody there to just kind of coach us and be there for us. I also wanted somebody there to help with some massage techniques and breathing techniques so I could keep this as an unmedicated delivery.”

When it was time for Savannah’s birth, Tiffany was induced in the evening by her OB-GYN, Dr. Larissa Bennis. The next morning Tiffany and Collin met Alissa, the volunteer doula on shift for the day. Alissa asked the couple what their goals were and what they expected from their birth experience. 

“That was really helpful because I didn’t have to worry about her overstepping her boundaries at all,” said Tiffany. “We expressed to her we wanted my husband to be involved as well. That was really important for myself. I didn’t want him to sit on the sidelines and just watch everything going on.”

Alissa showed Tiffany and her husband massage and breathing techniques. She coached Collin when to hold Tiffany’s hand and how to talk her through pain. She also educated them on how contractions work and helped Tiffany recognize when she was in a contraction and how to breathe through it.

The doula services Alissa offered the Niemann’s complemented the care the couple received from Dr. Bennis and the obstetrics nurses. Thanks to the care from the entire labor and delivery team, Tiffany and Collin welcomed their baby girl only eight hours after induction. Choosing a volunteer doula as part of their care team helped Tiffany and Collin have the smooth, natural birth without pain medication they wanted.

Visit brookingshealth.org/TiffanyN to learn more about the volunteer doula program and hear the rest of Tiffany’s story.