A local woman missing- Mary Kubica

“She had a baby recently. It was awful,” I say. “The labor was long.
The nursing staff went through three shift changes while she was in
labor. She saw three different doctors from her medical practice in
that time. It was impersonal, not at all what she imagined about
giving birth to her first child. In retrospect, she wishes she had hired
a doula. Someone who was there only for her. If she had it to do all
over again, she would have hired one, she said. What are your
thoughts,” I come out and ask, “on doulas?”
Dr. Feingold steps back to the wall. There he reaches inside a box
for a pair of latex gloves. He returns, standing before me, sliding the
gloves onto his hands.
I don’t see a doctor with gloves. I see a murderer hiding
fingerprints.
My heart beats hard. Dr. Feingold says, “Unlike your friend’s
obstetric practice, I’m the only doctor here. If you’re pregnant, I will
be the one delivering your baby. You can count on that. In my
experience, with the right doctor,” he says, “a doula is unnecessary.”
“Oh,” I say, trying to mask my shaky voice. I could be done there. I
could let it go.
But there’s more to say.
“That surprises me,” I tell him, “because I’ve been doing research
into doulas, just in case, you know. Just in case I am pregnant. I’ve
been reading blog posts and stuff. Reviews. Some women really
rave about the support and assistance hiring a doula can provide.”
He says, “Doulas can be very expensive.”
I say, “I’ve done the math. I think I can afford a doula.” Dr. Feingold
smiles but he says nothing. I ask Bea to pass me my bag and
reluctantly she does. She doesn’t know what I’ve done.
I reach a hand inside my bag. I draw out a slip of paper where I’ve
written names down. I hold the list out to Dr. Feingold. He takes it
from me and has a look.
“These were a few local doulas whose names I kept coming
across in my research,” I say. There are three names on the list.
Chloe Nord. Christine Frank. And Meredith Dickey. All three are local
doulas. All three are spoken of highly on local moms’ Facebook
groups, and would be the kind of women I’d look for if I was pregnant
and seeking a doula.