As a first time dad apart from hearing different stories from my wife and reading the research she has been doing since day one I had no idea what to expect.
I remember how completely lost we were at our first meeting with Nadia, we didn’t even really have a clue on how pelvic floor exercises worked or even that we had so many options of places to birth at, all we knew was we were already 3 months pregnant and have not booked anywhere as my wife was scared any decision she made would be the wrong one.
Right at the end of the first meeting with Nadia we knew we needed a Doula and that Nadia would be such a great help. I mean, we just met her for the first time and we just clicked, in one meeting we went from clueless new parents to be to confident parents to be who now knew what they wanted and what their options are and what the following steps would be.
Through the next few months after appointing Nadia as our Doula, my wife had numerous questions and concerns as we started making decisions and she was always just a Whatsapp away and she never ignored us or said she didn’t know, she had a sensible and well researched answer to every question, even when she wasn’t well or something that seemed unusual happened she always had a solution or explanation for what was happening and that was very reassuring.
As the months went by I thought I had this all under control as during our consultations she helped Widaad & I with so much, I literally just had to assist with making sure we had everything on the hospital list for baby and labour time.
Then came labour and I felt clueless again, I had no idea that this is what it was going to be like. Seeing my wife in so much pain and not being able to help made me panic. When Nadia arrived I saw how calm she was , she was just sorting out her homeopathic remedies (which helped for everything even the blocked nose my wife had LOL) and reassuring us of normality. With every contraction Nadia was up pushing heat pads and pillows against her back as the pains grew more intense. She always involved me & showed me what to do to relieve the pain, my wife was so calm having Nadia around and that made me feel more at ease.
Nadia was a great and I dont know how we would have managed without her help, I was scared as labour and birth was nothing that I expected and really nothing like in the movies, I felt relaxed when we decided to go to the hospital and when it came time to leaving Nadia alone with Widaad as they went into the labour ward, it wasn’t a big deal as i knew she was in good hands. (Nadias note: Unfortunately , due to the nature & restrictions of this birth facility, partners are not allowed into the labour ward & are only allowed in to the delivery room during the pushing phase, my clients put in hard work & obtained special written permission from the head of the facility to allow me to be present with her in the labour ward)
Then came time for the actual birth Nadia made sure to call me in to be present form as early on in this phase as the midwife would allow & calmly told me what to do and how so that I could be the main hands on support person for my wife. I felt very involved once again , I actually felt like I had a purpose and was helping make it easier for her with Nadias gentle guidance and support as we welcomed our daughter into this world.
I feel without a doubt that we were treated much better by staff at the MOU only because Nadia was there and she made sure most of our birth plan was adhered to as far as possible. I dont know what it would’ve been like without her there and the pressure I would have had to deal with without her support. Having Nadia on board as our Doula took so many stones out of our path and really made the the pregnancy & labour process much easier.
S. Samodien