Roz Karson Tol likes to stay on the cutting edge. After spending 20 years following the latest news as an associate producer and writer for the CBS show “60 Minutes,” she and her husband Bill Tol launched and ran Malibu’s successful Internet service provider, Malibu Online. Now, Karson Tol’s career has veered off in another new direction, that of postpartum doula.
Doula is a Greek word that means “women’s helper.” Post-partum doulas provide nonmedical, physical and emotional support, and assistance for families after the birth of a child.
“New families need gentle, caring support,” Karson Tol says. “As a doula, my goal is to relieve the new mother of her day-to-day responsibilities so she is rested and better able to nurture and care for her new baby.”
The doula’s help may take the form of cooking, shopping, tidying the house and running errands. Karson Tol says a career like this has always been in the back of her mind.
“I had baby nurses with my children. I loved having those people help me and I always thought that would be something I would like to do,” she says.
A doula differs from a baby nurse in that she focuses on the mother rather than on the baby and a doula usually goes home at night.
“I didn’t want a baby nurse who would be there all night because I was nursing and had to get up to feed the baby anyway,” says Leigh Leveen, one of Karson Tol’s clients. “Roz was very supportive and she is a good cook, which was important to me because my milk was still coming in.”
“Each situation and family has different needs,” she says. “One mother may be completely exhausted. Another might be concerned about her baby getting enough milk. Some mothers get post-partum depression and they need to be helped through that,” she says.
Fathers are given help and assistance, too.
“I show them how to hold the baby and how to diaper and burp them. I’ll show them how to feed breast milk from a bottle so the mom can rest. They’re eager to learn,” Karson Tol says.
Karson Tol says many of her clients are busy executives who sometimes need help switching gears.
“These are people who have everything figured out and are so in control of their lives. Now, this baby comes home and is the new head of the household. Everything revolves around what that baby wants and needs.”
Karson Tol says new parents need to learn to relax and let the phone machine answer the calls. And she insists her new moms take a nap each day.
“I got a nap each day, which doesn’t sound like much but it was my whole life,” Leveen says. “I had a C-section after a very long labor and my husband went right back to work so having support in the house was very important.”
Being a doula is a relatively new profession in this country. About 12 years ago, birthing doulas started gaining popularity. About five or six years ago, post-partum doulas came on the scene to meet the needs of our changing society. “A lot of these women live far from their own mothers or, for some reason, their mother isn’t able to help,” Karson Tol says.
I learn so much from each family,” Karson Tol says of her work. “They teach me and I teach them. I respect their wishes and traditions and don’t push any of my own theories. I just offer research and resources.”
“There were a lot of things that I was incredibly anxious about before my baby was born,” Leveen says. “She was extremely patient. She knew I would find an easier way to do things but she let me go through my own process to get there.”
Karson Tol belongs to an organization called Doulas of North America (DONA). DONA provides training in the areas of breastfeeding and infant care, and DONA doulas are also certified in adult and infant CPR and First Aid. Karson Tol says most doulas are mothers. Some are even grandmothers.
“This career choice is a happy one because everybody’s happy when a new baby comes home,” she says. “It’s very life-affirming because it is the beginning of life.”