Male midwives and doulas

[Goddess]

Out of pure curiosity, since there are so many men on here interested in pregnancy and also wishing they could empathize more exactly, has anyone here ever thought of making a career or side career out of that?

Obstetricians are more often male than female, but a midwife is usually much more personal and emotionally intimate with the mother, and of course it's seen as a woman's role (also, your midwife isn't just not going to be on call when you go into labor like an OB might)

I have heard of maybe one male doula existing out there in the world, but it's basically non-existent.

(If you don't know, a doula is a childbirth support person who is there for physical and emotional encouragement and help, but is strictly non-medical. My aunt has been a doula for many years and I studied to be one. I could explain the details of the actual role in the birth and the reason doulas exist later if you want.)

It would probably be extremely hard to find clients and possibly even pointless to try lol, but I thought if there was any man interested in doing that, they'd probably be on this site LOL

[BigPregBelly]

Yeah, kinda the futility of finding clients. It does point one to being an OB not a midwife or doula.

FWIW, I consider personal experience necessary for midwives and doulas in a way it isn't necessary for an obstetrician. That said, were I female, I think I would prefer a female obstetrician. (That said, my ex does complain that her meanest gynecologists are female.)

[Kelekona]

When I had an IUD inserted, the lady who did it had a screaming temper tantrum and almost cancelled the procedure because I started to faint. This was after I told her I was a fainter, and just the start of my menses was enough to send me unconscious. She also yelled at me about the tension in my pelvic floor, but I was too busy hissing to explain how the stirrups were at the wrong angle, and was afraid to adjust my position by that point.

Should have went with the guy who first convinced me that I was after more birth control instead of getting an ablation. He claimed to be good at it.

Take note that my (male) dentist managed to give me a three-tooth root canal without Novocaine or the topical, just Vicodin or Valium and some sessions with nothing. Where I heard a root canal is worse than giving birth. Of course, this time the nerves had been dead for years and doing some damage to the gums. One of my previous root canals involved Novocaine directly into the nerve, and I stopped feeling pain because that area went BSOD.



And actually, earlier I was reading an article, it's just going to take some digging to find. Something about how the transgendered and non-binary community might accept male doulas and perhaps even prefer them. Try "reproductive health for genderqueer" if I don't find the article.