New moms need some mothering.

Byline: GUEST VIEWPOINT By Vicky York For The Register-Guard

Living as we do in a culture where grandmothers, sisters and aunties live far away and have busy schedules, new moms often are alone and afraid.

Faced with a crying baby while recovering from an often-unnecessary Caesarean section and trying to learn breastfeeding, too many first-time moms stumble through with postpartum depression, little practical information and even less help.

One might think nursing and taking care of a new baby would come naturally, but the learning curve is challenging. Doulas can help.

The word doula is Greek, meaning `in service of the new mother.' Postpartum doulas (not to be confused with labor doulas, who coach women in labor) can be there from one nursing session to the next and can work with the mom holistically, taking into account the new mother's personal and family situation.

The C-section rate has been between 30 percent and 40 percent nationwide, yet Sacred Heart Medical Center is now building six new C-section recovery rooms in anticipation of a 60 percent C-section rate. Doctors, for reasons of convenience and liability, are encouraging the procedure even in the absence of an emergency. Because the medical system is going in this direction, new mothers need extra support at home.

A doula mothers the mother so she can mother her infant. She begins by carefully listening, with heart and mind, to her client's birth experience, her fears and her needs. She gives practical and emotional support, beginning with the day the new mom comes home from the hospital.

Typically, doulas come for two to four hours a day about three times a week, or until the new mom feels confident and rested. Even a one-day session with a postpartum doula can be helpful and enlightening.

First and foremost, a doula helps with breastfeeding, which includes education about pumping and storing breast milk when mom goes back to work. She performs other tasks such as cooking, light cleaning and laundry. She gives baby care tips, demonstrates baby baths and swaddling techniques, and offers advice on sleeping and crying issues.

She goes with mom on her first car trip to the store alone with the baby. She provides special help with perinatal mood disorders or multiple births. She helps set up the nursery or diaper changing station, and much more.

Doulas don't provide medical treatment or diagnoses, but often work with an obstetrician, pediatrician or lactation consultant. Such teamwork is common when an infant is failing to thrive, or when the mom's breast milk has been compromised and needs to be increased while protecting her baby's weight gain. Moms often need emotional support in such cases.

A new mom never forgets her birth experience. Including a postpartum doula in her care plan can make her recovery a positive and healthy experience and leave her confident in her own abilities as a mother.

Yet few expectant mothers are familiar with postpartum doulas. Women in Lane County with perinatal mood disorders can now get a list of doulas and other professionals from the Lane County Parent Helpline at 485-5211 or through doctors, midwives, childbirth educators and elsewhere.

Insurance companies usually don't cover the services of a doula. If they did, the companies would save a lot of money on unnecessary visits to the pediatrician. A doula's help with breastfeeding would help our culture achieve the World Health Organization's and the American Academy of Pediatrics' goals of nursing infants exclusively for six months and continuing at least one year. Meeting these goals would save billions of dollars spent treating pediatric health problems, which occur less often among breastfed children.

A doula's presence can allow the mother's partner to return to work

sooner without anxiety about support at home. A doula helps new mothers gain greater understanding of a newborn's emotional and physical needs and behavior. In general, engaging a doula's services means less fear and more joy during those early weeks.

May is Interntional Doula Month. It's a good time to make these helpful professionals a more common part of the American experience with childbirth.

Vicky York of Eugene is an author, an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and certified postpartum doula. Information on doulas can be obtained from the Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association, www.cappa.net; Doulas of North America, www.DONA.org; and www .LaneCountyBirthNetwork.org.