Recently, I attended my friend's labor and delivery as her doula. It was the first birth I had ever attended other than my own. Most people would say that to watch the birth of a child is miraculous and it certainly is, but what is just as beautiful is watching a woman become a mother and a husband become a father in seconds. The sheer joy that exuded my friend's face as her baby boy entered the world was beautiful.
I arrived to help her after she was already admitted to the hospital. Being one week passed her due date, she decided to be induced with pitocin. Later, an epidural was used to help with the pain and to offer rest. Both were successful and after laboring only a few hours, a precious new boy entered the world. I was reminded of the ultimate vulnerability of a laboring women and yet the powerful strength needed simultaneously in order to birth a child. It is the combination of release and power that makes laboring and delivery so hard yet so beautiful. It is those attributes that also beautify motherhood.
I was honored to breath through contractions, hold hands during the epidural, and count through the pushing in order to serve my friend. The definition of "doula" is a "woman's servant." The joy of serving a woman at this time is just that - a joy.
