Do You Need a Doula?

A 'Lifesaver'

When she was pregnant with her first child, Rebecca Hart, a 29-year-old public-relations consultant in Jacksonville, Florida, needed a birthing coach. "My husband didn't want the pressure of being in charge," she says. So on the recommendation of several friends, Hart hired Brenda Csonka to be her doula.

Csonka proved to be a "lifesaver" during Hart's 42-hour labor. She went to Hart's home to help the mom-to-be breathe through her first contractions. When Hart's back labor became especially challenging, Hart, her husband, Todd, and Csonka all headed out, by arrangement, to a neighbor's swimming pool -- being in the water eased the pressure on Hart's back. Later, at the hospital, when Hart's labor stalled, her doctor said, "I can do a C-section, or you can keep trying." She elected to stay the course. "I felt so confident with Brenda there," Hart recalls. Soon after, she delivered a nine-pound boy -- with the benefit of very little pain medication. "I couldn't have done it without Brenda," she says.