Birth Doula Services
Having a baby is not an event to be taken lightly. To see the impact this day has on families, just ask your grandma or neighbor or grocery clerk and listen to what she remembers about the act of becoming a mother. As your doula, I want to help create memories of this birth that you can look back on for decades and feel gratified, satisfied, and snuggly about -- the kind of memories that keep us warm when we get old. I listen to women, and I want to know how you envision your birth. I am not here to impose my ideas of what birth should be like. I will provide the evidence-based information, and as your individual choices unfold, you can make the decisions that are best for your family. I will bring my heart and hands to support the expectant family, and you and your partner can move through your own unique path toward parenthood. I will bring my knowledge of the emotional needs of a laboring woman, while you join your confident body with your amazing baby to coordinate efforts toward birth.
Optimally, meaning if there is enough time, I like to meet with a family two times before birth in order to sketch out the kind of experience they are hoping for. Once labor begins, I can meet with a family at their home to labor longer (in accordance with their healthcare practitioner’s advice), or I can meet with them at the hospital. I stay with the family, supporting both mother and partner, until the baby has been born. Generally I snap a few photos, help the new baby breastfeed, see that mom and partner get something to eat and drink, before I leave the new family safely tucked away in comfort and peace.
I believe the numerous published studies which state homebirth is just as safe (if not safer) than hospital birth for the low-risk woman, and I love to attend homebirths as a doula.
I believe every woman who wants a doula should be able to have one, regardless of her financial situation. Please contact me to discuss fees and options.
Optimally, meaning if there is enough time, I like to meet with a family two times before birth in order to sketch out the kind of experience they are hoping for. Once labor begins, I can meet with a family at their home to labor longer (in accordance with their healthcare practitioner’s advice), or I can meet with them at the hospital. I stay with the family, supporting both mother and partner, until the baby has been born. Generally I snap a few photos, help the new baby breastfeed, see that mom and partner get something to eat and drink, before I leave the new family safely tucked away in comfort and peace.
I believe the numerous published studies which state homebirth is just as safe (if not safer) than hospital birth for the low-risk woman, and I love to attend homebirths as a doula.
I believe every woman who wants a doula should be able to have one, regardless of her financial situation. Please contact me to discuss fees and options.
Classes
Childbirth eduction. What images come to your mind when you read those words? Couples practicing intricate breathing patterns in a comical fashion? Queasy birth videos older than the current parents in the class? Sitting, sitting, sitting while an instructor drones on and on and on in medical lingo that sounds like a foreign language?
If that is your expectation of a childbirth class, you are in for a surprise! What’s different in my classes? We move, we interact, we joke, we learn, and we don’t subscribe to the theory that effective childbirth classes have to be BORING. Why am I so against the basic classroom model of teacher-lecturing-up-front? As a childbirth educator, my goal is to facilitate learning by offering evidence-based information and experiential practice; I’ll bring the “food for thought,” and you bring the “plate.” You load up on the things that sound appealing, and maybe try a bite or two of something new. Through group discussions, interactions, activities, and sharing, we have fun, and guess what? We learn! And we aren’t bored to tears, looking at the clock, exploring the stages of numbness experienced by our fannies. Here are a few other reasons why I avoid the dull schoolmarm ways during our time together.
· In order to think, learn, or create, a person must have an emotional connection. Why am I here? How will this help me have my baby? How does this apply to me?
· Thinking and learning are solidified by movement. Doodling, eye movements, talking to yourself or your neighbor, and writing things down, are all movements that help us understand, retain, and utilize our new-found knowledge.
· Einstein said, "Learning is experience. Everything else is just information." In a time when we are already so information-overloaded, childbirth education shouldn't just be one more (boring) thing. Let's face it, the topics covered in class can easily be read about in a really good pregnancy book, so why attend at all? For the experience that anchors the thinking and learning part, and helps complete the circuit.
Class fees are $100. All of your support people are welcome to come. If you are a doula client, you qualify for a discounted rate. Contact me for current class schedules and enrollment.
If that is your expectation of a childbirth class, you are in for a surprise! What’s different in my classes? We move, we interact, we joke, we learn, and we don’t subscribe to the theory that effective childbirth classes have to be BORING. Why am I so against the basic classroom model of teacher-lecturing-up-front? As a childbirth educator, my goal is to facilitate learning by offering evidence-based information and experiential practice; I’ll bring the “food for thought,” and you bring the “plate.” You load up on the things that sound appealing, and maybe try a bite or two of something new. Through group discussions, interactions, activities, and sharing, we have fun, and guess what? We learn! And we aren’t bored to tears, looking at the clock, exploring the stages of numbness experienced by our fannies. Here are a few other reasons why I avoid the dull schoolmarm ways during our time together.
· In order to think, learn, or create, a person must have an emotional connection. Why am I here? How will this help me have my baby? How does this apply to me?
· Thinking and learning are solidified by movement. Doodling, eye movements, talking to yourself or your neighbor, and writing things down, are all movements that help us understand, retain, and utilize our new-found knowledge.
· Einstein said, "Learning is experience. Everything else is just information." In a time when we are already so information-overloaded, childbirth education shouldn't just be one more (boring) thing. Let's face it, the topics covered in class can easily be read about in a really good pregnancy book, so why attend at all? For the experience that anchors the thinking and learning part, and helps complete the circuit.
Class fees are $100. All of your support people are welcome to come. If you are a doula client, you qualify for a discounted rate. Contact me for current class schedules and enrollment.
Belly Casting
Bellycasting is a way to remember your beautiful baby belly! Often families hang them in the baby's nursery, and they enjoy taking pictures of their new baby laying inside the cast -- to see their little one's first home. I come to your house with all the supplies needed to cast your breasts and belly. I can offer suggestions on how to further preserve and hang your cast. This can be fun for the whole family, and it is also a great baby shower activity (modest means can be taken if mom wishes others to help in this project). Mom, or any resident artist, can decorate the cast, or it can be left as it is.
Casting fees are $75 per session. A session lasts about 60 minutes. The only thing you provide is an impressive belly, and perhaps a few helping hands, if you wish (although not necessary). Belly casts are best done close to the due date, between 8 and 9 months.
Casting fees are $75 per session. A session lasts about 60 minutes. The only thing you provide is an impressive belly, and perhaps a few helping hands, if you wish (although not necessary). Belly casts are best done close to the due date, between 8 and 9 months.
Getting Started with Breastfeeding
Do you feel like you need a little more breastfeeding informaton? I also offer breastfeeding classes, 2.5 hours in length, for moms and their partners (if they wish). What this class includes:
How milk is made
How to nurse comfortably
Positioning baby at the breast, including laid-back breastfeeding
Learning what’s normal and what needs attention
Breastfeeding resources and referrals
How partners can help
Taking care of yourself and your baby
Pumping and returning to work
Resources
The cost of this class is $65, and many handouts are included. Doula clients receive this information as part of our prenatal visits.
How milk is made
How to nurse comfortably
Positioning baby at the breast, including laid-back breastfeeding
Learning what’s normal and what needs attention
Breastfeeding resources and referrals
How partners can help
Taking care of yourself and your baby
Pumping and returning to work
Resources
The cost of this class is $65, and many handouts are included. Doula clients receive this information as part of our prenatal visits.
Postpartum Doula Services
Sometimes parents need additional support after a baby's born. As a postpartum doula, I can help with breastfeeding, baby-soothing, and building parents' confidence in their ability to be effective, loving, connected caretakers of their new baby. Other things I do are light laundry, light kitchen help, tending the baby while mom addresses her needs, and attending medical appointments with families. My fee for this service is $23 per hour, with a minimum of 4 scheduled hours (either in a row or altogether). In the event that a mother is sick or hospitalized, I have had experience caring for newborn babies while their mothers healed.
It is important to note, a postpartum doula's job is to mother the mother so she can mother her baby; postpartum doulas are different than baby-sitters.
I am available for postpartum work on a selective basis, depending on my schedule.
It is important to note, a postpartum doula's job is to mother the mother so she can mother her baby; postpartum doulas are different than baby-sitters.
I am available for postpartum work on a selective basis, depending on my schedule.
