One notion that I learned by observation was to identify the rhythms established by women. Detecting them and making sure they aren't disturbed seems easy to do but sometimes I need to sit on my hands.

What do I mean by " rythme "? Here are some examples:

You sit between contractions and you seem peaceful, you resume your breath while staying in your bubble. When the contraction comes, you get up. Your partner supports you by the waist, you put your arms around his neck.

Your doula is behind you and puts pressure on the sides of your pelvis and together you swing from side to side, moaning with the breath. After the contraction you sit down and everyone drinks water.

The sway becomes a real trance. We add essential oils to the air and no outside movement, it can be done for hours. The thing to watch out for? The team risks getting tired before the woman.

We don't have the contractions that always push us to go further. The importance of the doula then takes on its full meaning because it and the partner can change places, take turns and take care of each other.

You are on a ball and your partner is sitting in front of you. During the contraction, you lean towards each other and he hugs you. Your head resting on his shoulder, your eyes are open and you watch the waves your breathing makes on his t-shirt. For 20 contractions, you watched the same piece of t-shirt come towards you on the inhale and stick to it on the exhale.

Sometimes the woman is focusing on something that is unknown to her team. Theobservation remains, in these cases, the best tool. Because sometimes the rhythm can get lost at not much (like changing shoulders or partners).

One of the roles of the birth team is tobe the keeper of the rhythm. To respect it, to understand its importance and to offer the space and time necessary for its installation.

The trance, the bubble, the vortex, the waves ... all its metaphors come back to the same unifying point: The constancy. Minute after minute, hour after hour, birth continues. This consistency will allow the woman to forget the notion of time (if the clocks are hidden *) and to take each second as it comes. Rhythm serves as a vessel for the woman during childbirth.

A childbirth contains phases, and in each of its phases, rhythms will be established organically. Realizing this and moving in that direction is in my opinion the best way to help someone.

* Bring a towel to the hospital to hide the giant clock on the wall, it's allowed.