The Doula Book
One of the requirements for my certification to become a Labor Doula is to read five books from CAPPA’s required reading list. The first book that I read was The Doula Book – How a Trained Labor Companion Can Help You Have a Shorter, Easier, and Healthier Birth written by Marshall H. Klaus, M.D., John H. Kennell, M.D., and Phyllis H. Klaus, C.S.W., M.F.T. I read the book really fast and I know that that is in part due to my enormous excitement about becoming a Doula. I found that I couldn’t put the book down and if I did, I couldn’t wait to pick it back up again. I borrowed this book from the public library and had read it before even receiving my Certification Packet from CAPPA … if that tells you anything about how excited I am about this journey and how big my thirst is for new knowledge. I have since purchased the book for my own Lending Library. The statistics for having a Labor Doula versus not having a Labor Doula really makes me question why more of the medical profession and hospital protocols do not implement Doula Services. Anyhow, I just wanted to quickly summarize the books that I have already read along my journey, so I can begin to focus more on what is ahead of me. Part of this book that I will definitely be implementing into my own services were the Relaxation, Visualization, and Self-Hypnosis Exercises for Pregnancy, Labor, Birth, and Breast-Feeding found in Appendix B. Although, I have never really been one to use visualizations myself to help me through difficult situations, I found that while reading these exercises, I became extremely relaxed myself and am curious to see its effects on my future clients.
before. during. after. doula 
