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Danbury Hospital Plans Program About Doulas

DANBURY -- Expectant women who are considering using a doula to assist them

during labor and delivery are invited to an informational meeting on Monday,

August 9, at 7 pm, at the John C. Creasy Center for Health Education

Auditorium at Danbury Hospital.

Participants will also have an opportunity to meet with doulas from the

Danbury Hospital Doula Program.

Doula is a Greek word meaning "woman's servant" which refers to a woman who

helps another woman during labor and delivery. The Family Birth Center at

Danbury Hospital started the Doula Program in late 1996 to offer continuous

physical and emotional support to expectant women and their partners during

childbirth.

The professional labor companion offers non-clinical support in addition to

the care of nurses and physicians at the hospital. Clinical trials involving

doulas for low-risk births have shown improvements in maternal and newborn

outcomes, decreased length of labor and a reduced need for pain medication.

In May, Danbury Hospital announced the introduction of Doulas-As-Cuddlers and

Doulas in the Home programs, enhancing the role of Danbury Hospital's doulas

to provide assistance to new mothers during and after childbirth.

The Doulas-As-Cuddlers program at the hospital's Level II Neonatal Intensive

Care Unit is a complement to the care that premature newborns receive from

their parents, doctors and nurses during their stay. Doulas enhance the

aspects of complex technological nursing care with human touch, and reassure

parents to help them ease their anxieties during this stressful time.

Danbury Hospital, together with Danbury Visiting Nurse Association (VNA),

launched Doulas in the Home to provide postpartum care and assistance to new

mothers such as light meal preparation, breast feeding support, sibling

support, light housekeeping and running errands. Doulas in the Home is also a

resource for new moms and dads who often panic when they are left to take care

of their infant on their own for the first time.

The Doula Program at Danbury Hospital is available on a 24-hour basis for a

fee of $50 to any expectant woman who plans to deliver a baby at the hospital.

For more information on the Danbury Hospital Doula Program and the

Doulas-As-Cuddlers program, contact Sandy McGuire, program coordinator,

Danbury Hospital Doula program, at 797-7466.

To arrange for a doula in the home or to find out more about the Doulas in the

Home program, call the Danbury Visiting Nurse Association at 792-4120.