My Hypno-Doula Statistics

I love numbers.  So I keep statistics of my student’s births and my doula clients births.  (All of my doula clients have been my students)  I love being a doula and going to births, sharing this amazing moment with these families!

Here is a run down of 3 years of doulaing.  I have had 19 doula clients.

Cesarean rate 21% (1 emergency cesarean at 34 weeks, 1 emergency during birth and possibly due to interventions, 1 planned due to breech baby, 1 maternal exhaustion after “failed” induction)

WAY better than the national of 30%.  The power of education!  I am glad that I was able to be these mom’s doulas.  Cesarean moms need doulas too!

The rest of the statistics don’t include the cesarean moms.

So of the moms who had vaginal births looking at epidural/un-medicated:

87%	un-medicated	1 was an induction, the other had SPD
13%	medicated

Stats of vaginal birth moms regarding comfort:

40%	comfortable
33%	Comfortable with manageable discomfort during transformation
23%	discomfort during active birthing time

Just because I was curios I did stats of vaginal birth moms who had NO pitocin

45%	comfortable
36%	comfortable with manageable discomfort during transformation
18%	discomfort during active birthing time

What can you learn from this?

Hypnobabies works!  73% comfortable births and 81% of moms with no pitocin were comfortable.  The moms who had discomfort had a reason; posterior baby, SPD, really fast birth or pitocin.  The education moms get about normal birth and the pros and cons of intervention helps them to make positive choices.  The relaxation and hypnosis tools helps them to stay comfortable.  These things together help moms avoid cesareans, unless they are truly medically needed!

44% of my Hypnobabies Students hire me as their doula.  Actually if I didn’t travel so much 58% would have hired me.  (I refer a lot of my students out, because their births conflict with my vacations.)  So if you are a doula, become an Independent Childbirth Instructor!  It is a great way to find doula clients.  You build a wonderful relationship during the classes and it is just a wonderful way to help families!  It is also easier that being a doula, because you can schedule it!

Strangely it appears that my doula clients are more likely to have a cesarean than if they just take my class.  I certainly didn’t do anything to cause their cesareans.  They all would have had one anyway, even if I wasn’t their doula.  All I can think of is that these moms needed a doula and it worked out that I was there for them.

Also, let your birthing time begin on its own.  If you choose to be induced, know you can still do it un-medicated!  I have seen it done!  J  4 moms who had comfortable births did have pitocin.  They really were active in monitoring how quickly the nurse turned the pitocin up.  Slower is better.