YELLOWKNIFE - Little did Joanna Tiemessen realize that two years ago when giving birth to her son a job would spring from it.

"Along with my husband, a friend of mine was there to support me at the birth of my son," she says. "Just to have female understanding and guidance made it a wonderful birth."

Joanna Tiemessen is the only working doula in the NWT. A doula is a birthing coach who helps a woman through the sometimes precarious steps of giving birth. - Peter Crnogorac/NNSL photo

From this knowledge Tiemessen decided to become a doula. She is the only one in the NWT, and runs Bearfoot Services in Yellowknife

"A doula gives support to another woman while she is going through the birthing process," she explains.

A doula is not a midwife, Tiemessen says. The difference is a doula does not become involved in the medical side of birthing but is there for coaching and emotional support.

The word doula is Greek and means "a slave or servant to the woman." But, like the meaning of the word, the profession has changed since Socrates' time.

The knowledge of the profession skyrocketed with the coming of the Internet in the early 1990s.

In 1992, the Canadian Doula Association came to be. The group's website gives a list of certified doulas and information on the profession.

"I'm professionally trained," says Tiemessen. "I went to school in Edmonton."

When hired, Tiemessen will keep in contact with the pregnant woman. She consults her client before the labour on things to expect, and is there during labour as a guide for the woman. Tiemessen will then meet the mother and baby a few weeks after the birth to give information on the bonding experience.

Tiemessen says she encourages women to skip medication during the birth in order to have a closer mother-child bonding experience. However, she adds, that medication is needed in extreme cases, such as a c-section birth.

Although Tiemessen guides the woman through the birth, she is also there to help the male partner.

"When a man sees his wife in pain, and can't do anything about it, it can scare him," she says. "I'm there to reassure him it is a natural process. When the man is relaxed and calm, it's easier for the woman to be relaxed and calm."

Tiemessen says she has three mothers-to-be as clients in the city.