The gentlebirth.org website is provided courtesy of
Ronnie Falcao, LM MS, a homebirth midwife in Mountain View, CA

How A Doula Got TV Coverage

The first thing that I did was e-mail the tv stations health reporter. I found her e-mail address by watching the news, and going to their main web page and looking around.

Here is the first letter that I wrote and her replies.

Subject: medical studies

My name is I am a doula, and a lamaze certified labor support specialist, you may have seen doulas on Good Morning America, or on CNN. A Doula is a woman who provides emotional and physical support before, during and after the birth of a baby. There have been several studies that have proven that having a doula with you at the time of birth can decrease your chances of having a c-section by 50%! and the chance of forceps and vacuum extraction are also decreased.

I would love to see a story on channel five on the benefits of having a doula at a birth. Atlanta hospitals have alarming cesarean rate.

I think that the women of Atlanta deserve to hear how they can improve their birth experience.

I can be reached by phone at [#] or e-mail [e-mail address].

She wrote back.......................................

Subject: Re: medical studies

Thanks for the tip. I've never heard of a Doula and would love to learn more. I'm sure our viewers, especially those who are pregnant, would be just as interested.

Would you be willing to talk to us oncam about what you do -- and let us shoot b-roll in a delivery room. That last one might be tough, but perhaps a couple you've been working with would be willing.

I'll call you soon to discuss this, or you can call me at [#].

Then I did not hear from her for a while, so I wrote this.........

Hi Ms ,

My name is , we had spoken back in November about you doing a story on doulas. I just wanted to let you know that I am still interested in following up with you. I just found out that Kaiser Permanente is doing a huge study on doulas right now!

I would love for channel five to be the first to share the news about doulas with Atlanta's women. In Atlanta one in every four women give birth via c-section. My goal for 1997 is to help lower Atlanta's alarming c-section rate by spreading the word about how doulas lower c-section rates by 50%!!!

Again, thank you for your interest in doulas. I hope that we can work together to benefit the women of Atlanta.