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Mary Duke: It’s a Family Affair

by | Oct 2024

MARY DUKE is a dedicated, active doula who operates My Sunshine Birth Services. Doulas provide specialized care during childbirth, but to truly understand Duke’s role, it’s important to first clarify what a doula does not do. 

Doulas are different from midwives. A midwife will actually catch a baby. If anything goes wrong during the delivery, the midwife is there to offer medical support. This is not the role of a doula, nor is clinical care. A doula doesn’t administer a cervical exam or check blood pressure. Duke’s policy is not to attend any birth where she is the highest credentialed practitioner in the room. 

According to Duke, a doula provides physical and emotional support to a childbearing person and that person’s support team. The doula occupies the crucial role of advocate before and during the birth, helping the expectant parents gather evidence-based information and enabling them to make informed decisions along the pregnancy journey. A doula is a critical part of any pregnancy care team and is right there during the birth. 

Duke remembers her father repeating that looking for the need in one’s community was important. Taking that to heart, she saw that, in Bowling Green, everyone had to travel to Nashville to find a doula and get evidence-based care. And if they wanted any childbirth education that was outside what the hospital offered, they had to travel. Duke saw the need, which was her stepping stone. 

People can hire Duke via My Sunshine Birth Services. She works with expectant families in their homes, preparing them and traveling with them to hospital visits. As a doula, she will focus on the birth plan or any roadblocks, decipher test results, and carefully explain all the various options, making sure the expectant parents have all they need. She also works closely with the hospital, although she is not a hospital employee. 

Duke’s influence has expanded. Thanks to a grant, she has created the Bowling Green Doula Project, which provides doula and lactation services to families who don’t have the financial resources to pursue this. She is also able to train new doulas for the rural Kentucky population. 

When she began her practice over a decade ago, the welcome she received wasn’t warm. A doula can be an unfamiliar presence in the hospital system, making for a difficult beginning. Luckily, this has changed for the better. She now has a close relationship with the local hospital, which treats her as a bona fide member of the care team. 

The far-ranging acceptance has led to repeat clients and many health care providers and community members who send Duke referrals. 

Duke’s journey is part of a greater exploration of alternatives to standard hospital birthing practices. It encompasses the utilization of doulas and midwives and sometimes the eschewing of the hospital altogether and having one’s baby at home. 

“For a long time, there were no other options,” she explained. “You went to your local hospital, and you went in, and everybody did exactly the same thing.” 

Now, there are a myriad of options. Hospital or birthing center? Midwife or obstetrician? Hospitals sometimes offer the option of a standard room or birthing suite. Thanks to people like Duke, any hospital in Kentucky will have various things, like the birth ball and birth stool, that can provide physical comfort during pregnancy and the birthing process. All this raises an interesting paradox. These new, alternative birthing methods are, in fact, old and venerable customs. The Bible mentions midwives. In the United States, doulas began in the 1960s, but the role of a doula — one who aids in birthing — also has deep historical roots. Midwives have always known the importance of getting the expectant mother up and moving around, changing positions. They are now integrating this into the hospital system. 

It can be a little confusing with all the pregnancy care and delivery options. Luckily, there are people like Duke and other committed doulas who can make the road a little less bumpy and the journey a little less scary. GN 

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