Doulas and Flu Season

Here in DC a local hospital group had declared that only one person may be in the room with a laboring woman at a time. This left many local doulas out in the cold as they were considered "visitor" rather than part of the birth team. Many women (and doulas) were upset about this because they were counting on continuous labor support.

The hospitals logic was that it was too much a risk during this particular flu season because of the added risk of Swine Flu. The CDC and other medical groups consider pregnant women and children under 6 months of age to be especially vulnerable to the Swine Flu, so it understandable that they would want to take some extra precuations for preventing the flu.

But would not allowing doulas into the labor rooms (or even the hospital) violate the rights of the laboring women? Number 15 in the brochure "The Rights of Childbearing Women" put out by Childbirth Connection states

Every woman has the right to receive continuous social, emotional and physical support during labor and birth from a caregiver who has been trained in labor support.

Luckily the hospital group has since, after pressure from consumers and doulas, reversed this policy and added the doula to the list of "birth team" so that they may be allowed into the room with the laboring mother and the father. This is a win for responsible maternity care in the DC Metro area. I can only hope other hospitals will realize the vital role doulas play in labor and birth during this flu season.