Volunteer Doulas For U.S. Military Families
Free Labor Coaches Through CAPPA's Operation Special Delivery
Dec 1, 2008
The Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association (CAPPA) has been sponsoring Operation Special Delivery (OSD) since January 2005. It was founded by a birth doula in response to the tragic events of September 11, 2001 in the United States. Today the project has over 600 volunteer doulas around the globe.
Volunteer doulas for OSD report some deployed partners connecting via phone to participate in the birth of their son or daughter. The doulas have a strong sense of duty to these mothers that will not have a partner nearby – some driving 90 minutes or more to attend a birth with no financial reimbursement at all, including for gas or tolls.
What is a Birth Doula?
A birth doula is someone who offers his or her support to a woman and her family during childbirth. Some doulas learn their craft simply through hands-on experience or apprenticing with midwives or other doulas. There are multiple training organizations that provide classroom and correspondence study materials for the layperson to train as a doula. These trained doulas are eligible to apply to Operation Special Delivery, to work as a volunteer doula.
The job of a birth doula is to provide physical, emotional and informational support to the couple or family. These tasks might include:
- Providing a shoulder or back rub to the laboring mother
- Encouraging the mother and partner through labor
- Helping the couple find information to make informed decisions on the care and support of mother and baby
- Suggesting ways to help the mother cope with labor pains – such as changing positions or using the shower
What are the Benefits of Using a Doula?
One of the biggest benefits of hiring a birth doula is that the mother has access to a support person for the entire labor. In the United States nurses in the labor and delivery ward do not attend the mother constantly.
A study published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews [Hodnett ED, Gates S, Hofmeyr GJ, Sakala C. Continuous support for women during childbirth. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 3. Art. No.: CD003766. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD003766.pub2.] showed that women using doulas had:
- More satisfactory birth experiences
- An increased chance of spontaneous vaginal birth
- Slightly shorter labors
- Less need of using pain medications
How to Apply for a Volunteer Birth Doula
Women eligible for CAPPA’s Operation Special Delivery include those that have lost their spouse or partner due to the war, have a severely injured partner due to the war or if their partner will be deployed at war around the estimated due date and they cannot otherwise afford a doula.
The application form and instructions are included on the Operation Special Delivery website.
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