how to find a doula ?

[ffsgrelier]

good afternoon from sunny London

my little family is moving to singapore in 3 weeks time and i am due to give birth early june. I have read different postings regarding pregancy and birth on this forum and was wondering how do you go about finding a doula.
I believe this is the term equivalent to a midwife in the UK.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Frederique

[rodandhelen]

I was looking into doulas the other day and i just googled it and a few things came up....its different here to the uk..from what i have picked up so far people here tend to see doctors rather than the midwife for checks like we do at home

[Singapore Newbie]

I'm an expat and gave birth in Singapore in July. It was our first baby and we had just moved to Singapore, so we hired a Doula to guide us through the birth process. She also visited me at home after the delivery. We found her through Mother and Child Centre at Tanglin Mall and were very pleased.

Good luck!

[ssmng]

you may also try Birth & Beyond at Tanglin Shopping Centre. They also offer Doula Service by expat midwives. Try visiting their website www.birthandbeyond.com.sg.

Most important is that you and your birth partner must be comfortable with the doula.

Take Care and Good luck.

[ffsgrelier]

dear all, many thanks for your replies and help.
Will look into it as soon as we arrive in singapore, 10 days away now.
Just a quick question though, is finding a doula independant from ginding an obgyn or do they have to be agreed together ?
Thanks again for all your help
Frederique

[ssmng]

Hi, do you have any prefer obgyn in mind?
In birth&beyond, they do have a list of obgyn which their midwives work with. You may try checking with them.

[skye]

I haven't given birth to my children in Singapore, so if any of this is wrong, I hope someone will correct me. When you get here, you need to find an Obgyn you are happy with and who will deliver at the hospital you wish to choose. Not all Obgyns are registered at each hospital. You will see your Obgyn for ante-natal appointments and he or she will deliver your baby. In the earleir stages of labour and post birth, you will be looked after by obstetric nurses. Midwives as we know them in the UK are not the same as here and the obstetric nurses don't deliver or have much autonomy at all. Most care and procedures are done by your Obgyn. This is where a doula is great. All are trained to support you during your delivery and some are qualified midwives. They are employed by you personally to support you, explain things to you and to advocate for you if you want them to - they are not there to take part in any medical treatment you need and are not part of the hospital staff. You need to make sure that the Obgyn you choose and the hospital where you will give birth will allow you to bring a doula with you to the labour room. Both the Birthing centres mentioned above will be able to help you out with info on this. Best of luck with the move and hope you are settled here soon.

[skye]

Another birth centre to check out is www.parentlink.org . It also has ante-natal classes and arranges doulas - lots of info about how the whole birthing thing works here on the website.

[ffsgrelier]

dear skye
Many thanks for the links and details .
Very helpful. My mind is a bit more at rest now even though we are arriving in a week now and things are getting a tad hectic with the move and all.
Just thought i'd drop a line because all the replies on the forum are very much appreciated.

frederique