MISSION STATEMENT
To support a pregnant person through their birthing and postpartum experience and safeguard their desired outcomes through a multi-faceted approach of advocacy, calmness, comfort, and focused energy.
GUIDING FORCES
The things that guide me and my work as a doula and yoga instructor:
Building community | Knowledge is POWER | The "Aha!" Moments of Self-Exploration and Body Literacy | Affirmations and Validation
Wait... what exactly is a DOULA?
A doula is a person who helps an individual through a transitional period in their life, specifically in this context, birth! The doula is hired to work for the birthing person to support them, help meet their needs, help the partner, if applicable, to support the birthing person, guide the birthing person through contractions, and ensure that the birthing person’s voice and requests are heard and honored.
A doula is not a medical professional and does not give medical advice nor prescribe treatment, though they can provide research and evidence-based information on various aspects of labor, birth, and the postpartum period.
Okay... so, who can benefit from a doula?
Doulas are recommended for everyone going through the birth experience!
Doulas are statistically proven to lower the possibility of a cesarean section, lower the amount of laboring time, and lower the amount of unnecessary interventions.
Doulas may be especially great for:
first time parents
those who are far away from family or whose partner is deployed
those considering a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean)
those who are nervous in hospital settings
those who are holding onto fear about their upcoming birth
those who want a person in their corner (doulas work FOR the birthing person ONLY...not the hospital, not the doctor, not the midwife)
What Comes Next?
So you've decided that having a doula on your birth team would be great! Now what...?
Now, you shop around. You find someone who will be on your team completely and someone who you get along with well. Someone you can trust. You reach out to a number of doulas, meet with a few, and then decide who you want on your birthing team. Click here to set up a "meet and greet" consultation with me. (It's free because this is the shopping around process.) Or you can click here to scroll through the various support options that I offer.
From there you add a piggy bank/cash option to your Baby Registry and give friends and family the opportunity to help support you cover the cost of a doula! This is the best gift friends and family can offer and we often forget that this is an option!! (Though, I would like to note: this shouldn't be the barrier stopping you from getting a doula on your birth team. If it is too great a barrier, ASK for help, ask for discounts, ask for a payment plan - whatever you need to get the birth experience that you desire and that you deserve.)
And the rest will follow! You will meet with your doula a few times, possibly more, before the birth of your child, and you will likely have a follow up afterwards to debrief the birth experience.
Thinking about Prenatal Yoga...?
There are so many reasons why prenatal yoga can help support a pregnant person, their baby, and the community at large. We'll go through them in order of who benefits!
Benefits that prenatal yoga can offer to the pregnant person:
balanced muscles, tendons, and fascia in the hips and pelvic floor | building stamina in the quads for birthing position options | learning to release the pelvic floor | learning coping techniques for labor | lowered blood pressure | building a sense of calm during discomfort | understanding one's own body and what is normal v not normal
Benefits that prenatal yoga can offer to the baby:
less stress on pregnant person means less stress on baby | helps baby move towards optimal fetal positioning for better labor | bonding between baby and parent early on
Benefits for the community:
pregnant people feel more satisfied with pregnancy | fewer feelings of isolation, which are connected to perinatal mood disorders | bonding with others | as a very wise prenatal yoga instructor once said "pregnant people need other pregnant people"!
If you are interested in booking a private session and want to see more packages and options, click here.
If you are an organization (hospital, yoga studio, etc) wanting to partner and host a prenatal yoga series, reach out to me here!
