So the Duchess of Cambridge’s estimated due date has passed.

Whoopie.

I don’t mean that in the sense that I am not watching for the Royal Birth Proclamation, because the truth is I am. However, the intense scrutiny she is under while she is (hopefully) peacefully gestating cannot be conducive at all to a relaxing start to labor.

They’ve estimated that this birth will generate 400 Million Pounds into the UK economy! From ONE baby! That’s pressure enough. The paparazzi have been camped out for weeks. People have been speculating over the baby’s sex, it’s name, when it will be born, & how the Duchess will birth her child. Most new families only have their own friends & family breathing down their necks waiting for the call that labor may be starting. Any inkling, any sign.

I have a friend who was a new doula a few years ago. She was so nervous about one of her first clients she wanted to check in with her every day & didn’t know what to do if she didn’t hear from the momma on a regular basis as the due date approached. You can chalk that up to a new doula & many of us go through this early in our careers to some degree. It’s not how we should wait for our clients to birth. We wait, patiently, not hovering. Imagine the entire country virtually the Entire WORLD with their eyes on you. A virtual bounty on the head of your child for the first glimpse of his or her face. Surreal to me, but reality for the Royal Family.

I know they are forced to live their life in the spotlight. It’s not a choice. But do I ever wish everyone would just leave them alone to birth their baby.

I hope that she is somewhere serene & quiet. Walking grounds in peace, caressing and talking to her wee bub in her belly, dreaming the dreams that all parents do while they wait for their child to arrive.

I would love to see her birth their child quietly at home & announce it a few days, even weeks later. Oh what a bubble burst. I doubt that would ever happen, but a doula can dream.

Good Luck Royal Family. Wishing you a most peaceful birth.