Doula Hallie was in the news!! June 2008

http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=83272

Hallie and one of her moms, Sommer, were featured on News Channel 10, in an article/ News spot about doulas! Follow the link to the article and to the right there is a link to watch the video.

Read about it here:

Wesley Chapel, Florida - Summer Anderson is a busy mom to 2-year-old Lauren and 2-month-old Aaron. Both children were born in the hospital, but Summer's experience with Lauren wasn't everything she had dreamed about.

Summer explained, "I wanted to try to have a natural birth without Pitocin, without the epidural, and I just didn't really know how to manage the pain by myself."

Ultimately, she was in labor for 24 hours and did require both Pitocin and an epidural. So when she was pregnant with Aaron, she decided to hire a doula to help.

"She had a lot of great ideas for how to manage pain. Different positions to try for laboring, and she made it very clear what her role would be and wouldn't be."

Hallie Dedrick was Summer's doula. She explained to us that a doula isn't a doctor. She's trained to provide emotional support for the mother and her family during labor and delivery.

She also pays a lot of attention to dads, to show them how to help.

Hallie said, "We don't do anything medical. We don't do exams. We don't do heart checks, fetal heart tones, any of that. But we're there solely to make the experience the best it can be for her, and send her with positive memories and ideally, give her the birth that she is hoping for."

Summer says both her birth experiences were special and emotional. But she believes her doula gave her something more.

"A doula can help you do all of the support things, so your husband, your mother, your partner can relax and focus on you and helping you through the experience."

Jennifer Howe, Tampa Bay's 10 News