'Douglas' give support in labor

Inside the Penn Women Center's sitting room, Nursing freshman Donna Hogan lay with her belly on a big blue rubber ball while Christy Santoro -- one of the organizers of the Philadelphia Alliance for Labor Support -- demonstrated a massage therapy technique practiced on pregnant women. Santoro placed one hand over the other and pressed them into the small of Hogan's back. The embarrassed Hogan laughed, blushed furiously and swept an escaped strand of hair back into her blonde ponytail, while other members of the Alliance visibly relaxed. The ice was certainly broken at the opening meeting of the Philadelphia Alliance for Labor Support last week, where potential new members from area schools and clinics mixed with the group's organizers to inquire about the club's activities. The group's mission, as a member of Doulas of North America, or DONA, is to improve the physical and mental health of childbearing women and families. Doulas aid women in labor through a series of emotional support techniques and massage therapy. At the opening meeting, the mix of approximately 18 students and community members either interested in the group or already involved in it -- including only one male medical student -- were cajoled into ice-breaker activities before the informal information session began in earnest. They were instructed to form groups of two, and each pair had to physically demonstrate the concept of "support." After the activities, organizers directed the group's attention to an information board where the question "What is a doula?" was written in red ink. "The main qualifications for being a doula are compassion, support and [the ability] to be a good listener and help women through birth," explained Santoro, who will enter Penn's Nursing and Midwifery program next fall. According to Santoro, doulas use "low-technology but highly effective techniques" to aid women during the birthing process. Such practices involve allowing the woman to have her own blankets and pillows, candles and use of aromatherapy to aid in relaxation. Doulas receive training in childbirth education or midwifery and must attend three births where they provide continuous labor support before they can be nationally certified. The Philadelphia Alliance for Labor Support was initially formed as part of a senior project for students in the Nursing and Midwifery program. But when the seniors graduated, the program fell apart. This year the group applied for and received Student Activities Council funding and is hoping to be a stable and continuous force at the University and in the community beyond. The Alliance is currently in the process of establishing ties with several clinics and hospitals, including the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Mercy Hospital and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. "We're trying to find ways to link up with women who don't have a partner," Santoro said. She said she wants to see the group extend its services to those who might otherwise not have had access to it, either for financial or personal reasons. Organizers explained that participation in the Alliance includes doula training, and that such training can be quite expensive. "The training I went through was almost $400," said group organizer Lori Sherman, a first-year student in Penn's Nursing and Midwifery program. With the funding from SAC, each Alliance member will have to pay between $50 and $100 -- a price which includes the costs of both training and activities. Andy Runkle, a medical student in his last year at Hanneman Medical College of Pennsylvania -- and the only male in attendance at last week's meeting -- heard about the Alliance through his friendship with Santoro. "I certainly understand that there are spaces where women need to feel safe, places where women feel safe with only other women," Runkle said. He added, however, that "a lot of [the support doulas give] could transcend sex or gender." Runkle plans to go into family practice and views the Alliance as providing valuable training. "I'm going to be doing family practice starting in the summer time, which means I'll be working with pregnant moms and babies," he said. Runkle's experiences in the medical field have led him to believe that while medical technology obviously has its benefits, the array of monitors and machines used in the labor room can cause a sense of distance between the patients and the medical staff. "Doulas help bridge the distance that sort of technology can set up," said Runkle.

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