AprilBolding.Com

April Bolding is intimately aware of the transformative changes that birthing brings.

She is deeply committed to helping women birth consciously and successfully, as they define it. She is also committed to helping their partners and families assist them meaningfully. April knows that it can be a difficult decision to invite someone they don't know yet into their sacred birthing space. She honors that and works together with both the mother and the partner to put them at ease and increase their confidence in utilizing a labor assistant so they may reap all the benefits this arrangement has to offer.

I am so grateful to have had April as our birth doula.  She was such an integral and dedicated part of the birth process that I have a hard time imagining the experience without her support.  April had been our birthing class teacher, and so when a previously contracted doula was no longer available to attend our birth, I knew that April was the person to call.  My planned home birth involved a transfer to the hospital, many hours of very close contractions and back labor, and...

Use your BRAIN, listen to your heart, speak your truth and act in your and your baby’s highest good.

Benefits. Consider the benefits of the proposed course of action.

Risks. Weigh the risks, side effects, how it is done & the chances it will work.

Alternatives. Are there less invasive alternatives to the proposed course of action?

Intuition. Only you can listen to your inner guidance. What is your "gut feeling"? Make it a part of every decision you make.

Nothing. Is the situation urgent or can you wait awhile? Is it possible to do nothing?

When we feel we are not a part of the decision-making process in birth, our regrets can last a lifetime.  We never forget our birth experience.  Fourteen studies* found that having an active say in decision making was a pre-eminent issue in childbirth satisfaction. Since the majority of people that are giving birth are not birth experts, you and your birth team need to empower yourselves with information, good questions and be the focal point of the dialogue in the birth room to work together with your caregiver for the best possible experience, how you define it.

Birth 411 is here to provide you with the information that will help you learn how to have your voice be heard so that you can make the informed decisions that are best for you and your family.

*Hodnett ED. Pain and women's satisfaction with the experience of childbirth: a systematic review.  Am J Obstet Gynecol 2002; 286(5)(suppl):S160-72.

April gives you permission to print these questions.

Will the doula replace the dad if she attends the birth? The short answer is "NO - she never could replace the father!" Read this important article called Dads and Doulas to reassure yourself that the doula's role is complementary to the father and any other support people the birthing mother has with her. This article is published by DONA - Doulas of North America.

Pain relief and coping measures that focus on preventing suffering rather than completely eliminating pain build a woman’s self-confidence, help her to maintain a sense of control and well-being, and improve her perceptions of her birth experience.¹

In fact, the element that best predicts a woman’s experience of labour pain is her level of self-confidence in her ability to cope with labour.² Satisfaction, fulfilment, and a sense of accomplishment are often high, and disappointment is avoided when the woman copes well, even when the pain she is experiencing is great.¹

1. Simkin P, Bolding A. Update on nonpharmacological approaches to relieve labor pain and prevent suffering. J Midwifery Womens Health 2004;49(6):489-504.

2. Lowe NK.The nature of labor pain. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2002;186(5)(suppl):S16-24.

Excerpt quoted from Non-Epidural Strategies for pain relief during Labor, an Informed Choice leaflet written by April Bolding, DPT and published by Midirs in the UK.