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Doula dilemma at Mary Birch
I am appalled at the amount of incorrect information in this article. This is completely one-sided and would have been more balanced if the writer had done some fact checking and strayed away from passing opinions as facts. I've worked at Mary Birch for over 5 years now and have held three different positions. I can tell you now that the claim of having to choose between the mother's partner and the doula is misleading. That only occurs in triage where the nurses are assessing if the patient is in active labor. Once the mother goes up to L&D then she may have as many people in the room as she wants. The triage area is a small space, and at Mary Birch there is an average of 30 babies born a day, imagine trying to fit the mom and dad, their doula, and their family in the small space when she's being assessed in triage. It doesn't work. It's not a non-doula policy, it's a safety/fire code issue. For Messer to say that an opinion texted to her from the doula in the Mary Birch training program is a "summary" of the program is ridiculous. To say that RNs force the epidural is just plain wrong, and there is no evidence to support their claim. I can tell you that I code of epidurals in my job and I have seen many patients who choose to go without an epidural. Although, I also see many women who end up having a 3rd/4th perineal degree tear (tearing through the vagina to the anus), and I highly doubt that they regretted getting an epidural. I find it interesting that Messer claims that as a Mary Birch doula she would get fired if her patient decides to forgo the epidural (which is again her opinion, **not** fact). My question to her would be, who do you think is ultimately responsible if that same mother was unable to progress during labor and the baby ends up in NICU....or worse, as a fetal demise? Or what about all the mothers who are sent to Mary Birch from Best Start and other natural birthing centers when complications occur? This makes me angry because these two woman and the author are distracting from the amazing work the Mary Birch doctors and nurses do everyday. This unbalanced article is slander in my opinion. San Diego is extremely fortunate to have a women's hospital that specializes in high-risk pregnancies.— August 9, 2015 8:55 a.m.