What kind of births do doulas support?
2023 in Numbers!
This year has been an amazing, heart-warming, friendship-building, tear-filled, and exhausting year! Let’s just say… the doula life is very paradoxical. The highs are high, and the lows are even lower.
2023 has led me to so many close relationships with families I’ve supported, as well as a lot of long and hard labors. It’s made me grow my team, rethink my model of care, and deep dive into how I can serve families better while building a sustainable doula model that can keep experienced doulas in the birth room.
When putting together my doula statistics for the year, I felt justified in how this year felt. Lots of inductions and epidurals (which typically signal long labors), driving around to hospitals across every area of the city, and so many first-time parents… which is different than other years and makes my heart so happy!
On my highest note, I was able to support my sister through my nephew’s birth (thumbnail photo from her birth)! On my lowest, I welcomed my first angel baby this year; which taught me so much about doula work and what it means to stand with families through all different types of birth experiences (check out the blog on that here.)
Overall, these statistics show what doula care can look like when doulas make themselves an excited participant in hospital birth. There is so much space for doulas to fill across all different types of birth experiences, as we guide families through the journey of pregnancy, birth and postpartum.
Check out my 2023 doula statistics:
This year I had the honor of attending 23 births!
Of those births…
3 were c-sections (1 planned and 2 emergent)
14 were inductions
14 utilized an epidural for pain relief (I only counted those who got an epidural before the medical team called for a c-section)
2 used Nitrous Oxide for pain control
2 had successful VBACs (vaginal birth after c-section)
and 16 were first-time parents!
I attended births across 9 different hospitals.
For my Kansas City locals:
2 at Liberty Hospital
2 at KU Med
1 at Truman
4 at Overland Park Regional
2 Menorah Medical Center
3 at St. Luke’s on the Plaza
1 at Olathe Medical
5 at Advent Health Shawnee Mission
3 at Research Medical Center
(2 births were planned to be at New Birth Company (Birth Center), but both had a hospital transfer before labor began)
And drumroll please for my favorite statistic…
We were able to donate $2150 to clients this year through our “Choose What You Pay” Scholarship Program!
Thank you so much to the Kansas City birth community, the families we have worked with, as well as my online community; for the support, referrals, and encouragement as I supported families this year.
I am so excited to be launching our new team model of care for all 2024 due dates (find out more about that here) and get to support more families at affordable pricing with my coworkers and friends, Morgan and Elly!
