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LIFE on Capitol Hill, February 1995 Mothering the Mother MotherCare Brings Old World Help To Modern Parents By Rolf Schwartz Kotar Doula, from Greek tradition, means "she who mothers the mother." There are 43 doula organizations nationwide, but MotherCare is the first such service in Denver. According to Joan Goode, director of MotherCare, "having my first child was overwhelming, taking care of such a demanding little person. (Previously) I had worked 50 hours per week outside of my home and thought, mistakenly, that having a baby would be a piece of cake." Goode noted that though many couples are lucky enough to have a mother, in-laws or a sibling nearby, often in today's transient and mobile culture these relatives live too far away to give the hands-on help new parents need. In most European countries a postpartum caregiver comes to the home for a week and gives every new family the necessary support. MotherCare now brings that Old World convenience to Capitol Hill. MotherCare doulas offer several kinds of support to new mothers and fathers, thus making the postpartum experience less traumatic. The doula functions as the mother's temporary help, doing the hard work of household chores while giving the new mother 'hands on" care and guidance. MotherCare also supports new parents with services which had been delegated to hospitals in the past. Today, primarily due to 24 hour early discharge policies for well babies, hospitals offer only abbreviated care. A doula's skills and services are supplementary to those of a hospital or doctor, but the caregivers are trained to help with breastfeeding postpartum depression, and bathing the newborn, if desired, as well as the normal housekeeping work. "There's nothing like having laundry piled up, dirty dishes in the sink and your baby is screaming" said Goode. A mother exhausted from the birth process needs help with everyday work "not offered by highly educated nurses." Typically, a doula will do whatever heavy chores need to be done in order to support the family, not forsaking small touches like making sure that there's "a glass of water by the mother's bed and fresh flowers," said Goode. In addition, she will "feed other children and the father, chauffeur children to school and do the laundry, so if the mother has been awake all night, she and her baby can sleep without the other mothering responsibilities. Goode notes that in the 1990s the father is often a marvelous caregiver, but if he is new to fatherhood, he needs support too. New fathers (and many mothers in today's culture) are doubly stressed with having to return to work soon after the baby is born. For more information on MotherCare, call Joan Goode at 321-3287. |
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Huggins, Kathleen. The Nursing Mother's Companion. Boston: Harvard Common Press, 1990. Jimenez, Sherry L.M., RN. The Pregnant Woman's Comfort Guide: Safe, Quick, and easy Relief from the Discomforts of Pregnancy & Postpartum. Garden City Park, NY: Avery Publishing Group, Inc., 1992. Leach, Penelope. Your Baby & Child from Birth to Age Five. New York: Knopf, 1989. Lim, Robin. After the Baby's Birth... A Woman's Way to Wellness: A Complete Guide for Post Partum Women. Berkeley: Celestial Arts, 1991. Also Recommended: Dix, Carol. The New Mother Syndrome: Coping with Post-partum Stress & Depression. 1985. Faber, Adele & Elaine Mazlich. Liberated Parents, Liberated Children. 1995. La Leches League International. The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. Franklin Park, IL: 1987. Renfrew, Mary and Chloe Fisher and Suzanne Arms. Breastfeeding: Getting Breastfeeding Right for You. Berkeley: Celestial Arts, 1990. |