ABOVE: Four of the five women who have gone through the training to become birth doulas. The training was sponsored by Fairmont Women of Today. Clockwise from bottom left: Elvira Houska, Larissa Ward, Katie Steuber and Brookelyn Kloander. Not pictured: Amber Schueler. Submitted photo.

FAIRMONT– Several women in the community have recently gone through the training process to become doulas. The course was sponsored by Fairmont Women of Today with help from a grant from The Schmeeckle Foundation.

Kylie Saari, a member of Fairmont Women of Today and a public health nurse, explained that a birth doula is not a midwife, but rather provides support in different forms.

“Some people think doulas just do home births but they’re welcome at the hospital. They do childbirth education beforehand and provide support after. No matter what a person’s birth plan is, a doula is able to support them through it,” Saari said.

She knew of just two doulas in Martin County and said she knew of women here who were working with doulas in Mankato. The information and idea was put to Fairmont Women of Today, which was able to secure a grant for it.

“One of the things about Fairmont Women of Today is that we all support each other on the projects we care about,” Saari said.

Several months ago, Fairmont Women of Today put the call out that it was looking for five interested people in the community to go through the process of becoming doulas. Saari said they had 12 people reach out and apply.

“I had interviews with them to make sure they knew what they were doing. I had another person at Baby Cafe look at them and we evaluated the applications with what we were trying to do and were able to narrow it down,” Saari explained.

All five have gone through their initial training and are fine-tuning their skills. They’re currently going through the certification process through DONA (Doulas of North America). They are Katie Steuber, Brookelyn Kolander, Elvira Houska, Larissa Ward and Amber Schueler.

Houska, who lives in Fairmont, is also a member of Fairmont Women of Today and upon hearing about the project, knew she wanted to be a part of it.

“When my last baby, my third baby was born, I thought it might be my last baby but I knew I wanted to keep seeing newborns,” Houska said.

She said she’s passionate about pregnancy and while she enjoyed being pregnant herself, acknowledged that it can be scary for people at times.

“I wanted to be that support for pregnant women,” Houska said.

While four of the women will be certified birth doulas, Schueler is going through the process of becoming a postpartum doula.

Schueler said she has gone through three home births herself and for the first two, her mother-in-law was there to help her but wasn’t able to help as much with the third.

“I remember sitting on my couch a couple of weeks after thinking, ‘I really wish I would have had a doula to be here and help me,'” Schueler.

She started doing research on her own and felt like she wanted to be that support person for other mothers. That was six years ago.

“Then there was an article in the newspaper about Fairmont Women of Today and I called my husband and said, ‘you’ll never guess, this is available,’ and he said, ‘Amber, you’re been wanting to do this forever, you should apply,'” Schueler recalled.

The role of a postpartum doula is similar to a birth doula is it’s a support person. However Schueler said they’re sometimes referred to as a nanny for the mom. Along with providing breastfeeding tips, they can help with light cleaning, laundry, running errands, caring for older siblings and light meal prep.

A postpartum doula is typically used for about 12 hours, which can be spanned over the course of two weeks or concentrated in the first few days. Schueler said they call it the fourth trimester.

She pointed out that postpartum doulas can also assist hospital staff because if women have help going home after giving birth, the chances of being readmitted into the hospital for whatever issue will decrease even further.

“I’m looking forward to helping moms who otherwise may not have the help they need when they get home after having a baby. A lot of times, you get home from the hospital and you’re kind of on your own. There’s no one to help you with day-today things,” Schueler said.

Saari is excited that the number of doulas in the county have gone up through this project, which means that more women and families can reap the benefits of having a doula.

“It’s a big increase and I know they’re already getting clients. It was a need,” Saari said.

She said Fairmont Women of Today will continue to do some mentoring activities with the doulas where they talk about how to solve problems, how to get clients and best provide support.