For those of you umming and ahing about whether to fork out for a doula (couldn't get any rebate from health care), I cannot recommend it highly enough. She will be worth every penny. My labour (August 2005) was 41 hours. The doula came over at 3am on the second night and stayed by my side until 6pm the next day when he was born. I don't recall her even going to the toilet. She allowed my husband the space to do that and go out for a cigarette etc. Other poeple got her cups of tea and sandwiches. She was an angel. She mothered me but also stopped me from being a whimpering child by reminding me to "breathe all the way down to your little baby" (now I think about it that was just full yogic breaths she got me to do!). She reminded me to relax my shoudlers between every single contraction. She put the water bottle in my mouth constantly. She marched me round the corridors, kept me upright, moved me to the toilet seat (better than a birthing stool) for transition etc etc.

What I am saying is that her years of experience at hundreds of births meant that she did what no husband/best friend/rushed midwife can do. And I had no drugs whatsoever - not to be a hero, but for my baby's sake. I wanted him to be unmedicated.

Everyone at the hosptial (labour ward of Royal Womens in Sydney) said it was a textbook first labour and how great I was etc etc. But it was the doula - without her I reckon anyone with such a long labour would have said Give me Drugs.

The only thing I will do differently this time is:

(1) make sure cord is not cut until it has stopped pulsating completely (has turned white and flaccid), as this is linked to both PPH and retained placenta, which I had.

After such a long labour my uterus refused to produce ONE more contraction so I had to have a 20-min general anaesthetic and get it manually removed - doc just tugged gently once at cord and out it came, apparently.

(2) accept the sintocin shot immediatley.

My birth plan said "no sintocin" which was dumb as everyone who has a very long labour should have it to help your poor uterus along. By the time I did have it, 45mins post-birth, and after much squatting and creative visualising, it was too late - was dangerous, I had post-partukm haemorrage (actually was fine, just menat I was on a drip first night). So bub had to stay on Daddy's chest for 20 mins but he was totally peaceful I am told.

A