I am expecting our baby any day. Now what?”

Operation Special Delivery doulas offer a hand to hold until fathers come home. CAPPA’s Operation Special Delivery Labor Doula Program provides volunteer doulas to women who are giving birth while their partners are on military deployment.

CAPPA/OSD is a non-profit international organization serving military installations worldwide; it fully supports all branches of the United States Armed Forces, reservists, and National Guard, and their operations throughout the world.

A Doula is woman experienced in childbirth that provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support, from massage to aromatherapy, without taking the place of a doctor or midwife.

Operation Special Delivery was started by Patricia Newton after the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001 to help those expectant mothers who were left alone, either by the loss or deployment of her partner. Newton sent out e-mails, asking nearby doulas if they would be willing to donate their services to any pregnant woman who either lost her partner on 9-11, or would be giving birth without the presence of her partner due to present or future deployment.

The response was overwhelming. Within one week, doulas from twenty states found ways to offer their services. The program then grew so large that Patricia offered the program to CAPPA, the Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association.

Cindy Whittaker of Gentle Birth Doula Services of Western New York teamed up with Operation Special Delivery in 2002, wanting to support these moms in labor.

“I was so excited when I got my first call, yet my heart was heavy for the mom who had to go to the hospital without dad,” Whittaker remembered. “Debbie was here, raising her first son, and trying to find someone to take care of him. Who should she ask to take her to the hospital? Would her mom or a friend be comfortable with labor? Many of these questions and more ran through Debbie’s mind; then she heard about OSD and Gentle Birth Doula Services. The call came and I was there to help Debbie during her labor and birth process.”

Whittaker explained that a doula will not take place of any family member; they are there to support the family and medical teams, helping them become more involved in the process.

“I met Debbie and her mom at the hospital and stayed the full 15 hours, while she labored and birthed her second son,” Whittaker remembered. “I also stayed with her to help with breastfeeding. After sharing my story with a close friend, Polly Thoman she immediately asked if there was any way she could help. Polly, being a board certified lactation consultant of Baby’s Sweet Beginnings in Lancaster, wanted to offer her services free of charge to help with breastfeeding support. Debbie did need help, and Polly was there to offer a free consultation and a free successful pumping class.”

Gentle Birth Doula Services/Baby’s Sweet Beginnings have had the privilege of supporting a number of moms in the Buffalo area.

There are currently more than 400 volunteer doulas in the Operation Special Delivery program, three of which live in the Buffalo, New York area.

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