Providing doula support during pregnancy
and birth to women in New Westminster, Burnaby, Vancouver and other
areas of the Lower Mainland of BC
For
centuries, women have laboured in the presence of female companions.
Providing for their emotional and physical needs, these partners in
birth brought comfort and reassurance to their daughters, sisters,
neighbours and friends by attending the mother continuously in a caring
and supportive way.
The
recent past has seen the return of this female support and it comes
in the form of a doula.
A
doula supports women and their families and gives them the tools
to empower themselves in defining and achieving their perfect
birth. Doulas work in hospitals and at home with the patients
of midwives, family practitioners and obstetricians. While
your care provider will take care of your medical needs,
your doula will be available to look after you emotionally and
help you experience the wonderful birth you desire.
My
name is Carly Rigby and I have been working
with birthing families since 1997.
As a teenager,
I developed a passionate interest in pregnancy and birth and quickly
devoured any piece of information I could get my hands on. Acknowledging
that I had no interest in the medical care of birthing women, I chose
not to pursue a career as a midwife, doctor or nurse and resigned
myself to indulge in birth reading and research merely as a hobby.
When
I was twenty two, I had the honour of being asked to "coach"
a single girlfriend through the labour and birth of her first child.
It was through our prenatal classes that I was introduced to the
work of doulas. There, I had the pleasure of meeting two doulas
who were a part of the creation of BC's Doula Services Association
(DSA). They
encouraged me to join the group and to get to know more about local
doulas and explore the possibility of becoming one.
After attending
my girlfriend's very happy and beautiful birth on June 25, 1997,
I was convinced that professional labour support was a role that
I definitely wanted to fill.
A few months later,
I took the doula training course offered at Douglas College in New
Westminster and have been attending births ever since then. I have
worked with a wide range of women and families in most hospitals
around the Lower Mainland. I like to focus
most of my attention on enabling a couple to define the best birth
experience on their own terms and giving them the support they need
to make those wishes a reality.
In all my years as
a doula, I have considered continuing education a high priority and frequently
attend workshops, seminars and lectures on various relevant topics.
I am a member of the association of Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators
(ALACE), the DSA, and the Doulas of North America (DONA).
