LMC's Doulas Celebrate 10 Years of Mothering Mothers

It started 10 years ago, when a task force was created to increase Lexington Medical Center's services to women.  It has become an internationally known program that gets families off to the best start possible.  It is LMC's doula program, the first program of its kind in South Carolina.

Just what is a doula?  In ancient Greece, pregnant women relied on their most trusted servant for physical and emotional support during labor and delivery.  Those women were called doulas.  Today's professionally trained doulas serve in much the same capacity, providing comfort, reassurance and pain management assistance to women in labor.  They are with their patients from the moment labor begins until the baby is born.  Many doulas also bring much-needed confidence to new moms by offering postpartum care such as breastfeeding support and advice, newborn care and assistance with household duties.

Cindy Kerbs, an RN who runs the doula program says they had the trust and support of the LMC staff from day one.  "The doctors and nurses saw us as an addition to the birth team that allowed them more time with patients who needed care only they could give.  They embraced us and let us do what we are trained to do."

The doulas are skilled not only in the physiology of birth and the emotional needs of women in labor, but also in facilitating communication between parents-to-be, preparing birth plans and information about the options for birth and delivery.  Postpartum doulas help the new family at home.

Interested in becoming a doula?
Please call 791-2631.