I am not taking new clients at this moment because I am on maternity leave =) My due date is 02/05/24 and I am pregnant with my first baby. I had a long 5 years of IVF journey and I being pregnant is a dream come true to me. I am learning much in the process so I can better serve you in the near future.
I plan to return doing birth work towards the end of 2024.
I wish you many blessings on your pregnancy, birth and postpartum.
I am available to answer any questions via phone or email. Please contact me if you need support or references.
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Birth Doula
Call me for a Free Consultation
619.920.7573
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The “Birth Doula” package includes support and guidance before, during and after birth, at the hospital (vaginal and cesarean), birth center or at home.
It includes:
I will meet you for a free consultation, to discuss how I can best support you, answer any questions and to see if we are a good match. If you decide that I am the right doula for you, here is what is included in my services:
Access via unlimited phone, text and email support from the point of hire through birth.
24-hour on-call labor support for 2 weeks before and after your estimated due date.
Continuous doula support during birth, from whenever you feel the need, until after your baby is born.
A back-up doula.
Two in-person prenatal visits in your home to get to know you and discuss your birth desires, expectations, preferences and feelings. We’ll clarify our roles, prepare you with questions for your care providers, and cover relaxation and comfort techniques like pain-coping practices, massage techniques and positions. Talk about the normal physiology of labor; and preparing the mind and body for birth and postpartum.
Continuous physical, emotional, and informational support for you during labor and birth. Some of the tools I use are suggesting positions, massage, counter pressure, hot and cold packs, hydrotherapy, aromatherapy, breathing techniques, visualization, movements, guidance as well as giving you plenty of praise and encouragement. I deeply wish that my presence contributes to a relaxed atmosphere which allows the mother to let go and trust the birth process. I will come from a place of compassion, non-judgment and empathy and will 100% support you in whatever way you choose to birth your own way.
After the birth, I will remain up to 2 hours postpartum until your family is ready to bond privately.
Pictures/video of your birth and new family postpartum (if desired)
One in-person postpartum visit. Helping you to process the birth, receive feedback, and support you in any way you may need. My postpartum visit includes a breastfeeding evaluation and basic breastfeeding support.
Community referrals for belly, birth and baby related needs
I aim to stay in close touch with my clients and always be a source of support, from mother to mother.
*I am a Dona International certified Birth Doula
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Birth Doula Support - $1,600
Birth Doula + Placenta Encapsulation - $1,900
Birth Doula + 90 Minutes Pre Natal Massage $1,750
Birth Doula + 90 Minutes Pre Massage + Placenta Encapsulation $2,000
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About Birth Doula
So what is a doula? And why are doulas so beneficial?
The word "doula" comes from the ancient Greek meaning "a woman who serves" and is now used to refer to a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother and her partner before, during and just after birth; or who provides emotional and practical support during the postpartum period.
She will unconditionally support a mother and nurture her, provide information when necessary, advocate for her and her partner's birth wishes via-a-vis a medical staff and simply be there for a mother continuously during labor and birth, unlike a doctor and nurses who come and go. A Doula believes in Mothering the Mother enabling a woman to have the most satisfying and empowered time she can through this important journey. This type of support also helps the whole family to relax and enjoy the beautiful experience.
Studies of over 5,000 women involving comparisons of outcomes with and without labor support found*:
50% drop in cesarean sections
25% reduction in length of labor
40% less need for labor augmentation with synthetic oxytocin (Syntocinon or Pitocin)
30% drop in need for pain medication
40% less use of forceps
60% fewer requests for epidurals
*Mothering the Mother: How a Doula Can Help You Have a Shorter Easier and Healthier Birth, by Klaus, Kennell, and Klaus (1993)
What a doula does for you…
• Recognize birth as a key experience the parents will remember all their life.
• Understand the physiology of birth and the emotional needs of a woman in labor.
• Assist the woman in preparing for and carrying out her plans for birth.
• Stay with the woman throughout the labor.
• Provide emotional support, physical comfort measures and an objective viewpoint, as well as helping her get the information she needs to make informed decision.
• Facilitate communication between the laboring woman, her partner and their clinical care providers.
• Allow the woman's partner to participate at their comfort level.
Helping the environment to be one in which the woman feels secure and confident.
Quotes
“There is power that comes to women when they give birth. They don’t ask for it, it simply invades them. Accumulates like clouds on the horizon and passes through, carrying the child with it.” – Sheryl Feldman
“If a doula were a drug, it would be unethical not to use it.” – John H. Kennell, MD
“Being aware of our different states of consciousness gives us a useful tool when supporting birthing women. The states of consciousness are known individually as Beta (β) Alpha (α) Theta (θ) and Delta (Δ). It is often said that you cannot birth from your mind, that is because you must drift from active Beta into the gentle place of Alpha.” – Hazel Tree
“The major role that the body’s natural oxytocin plays in birth encourages the idea that birth is an experience of love… Birth is a spiritual experience simply because it is largely an act of love on the part of the body physiology and the indwelling spirit.” – Cathy Daub
“Experiences have clearly shown that an approach which ‘de-medicalizes’ birth, restores dignity and humanity to the process of childbirth, and returns control to the mother is also the safest approach.” Michel Odent, MD
“We have a secret in our culture, and it’s not that birth is painful. It’s that women are strong.” – Laura Stavoe Harm
“When I say painless, please understand, I don’t mean you will not feel anything. What you will feel is a lot of pressure; you will feel the might of creation move through you. Pain, however, is associated with something gone wrong. Childbirth is a lot of hard work, and the sensations that accompany it are very strong, but there is nothing wrong with labor.” – Giuditta Tornetta
“Asking your husband to be your sole guide through labor is like asking him to lead the way on a climb of Mt Everest. He may be smart and trustworthy, you may love him, but in the Himalayas you’d both be a lot better off with a Sherpa!” – Pam England
“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.” – Rajneesh
“When enough women realize that birth is a time of great opportunity to get in touch with their true power, and when they are willing to assume responsibility for this, we will reclaim the power of birth and help move technology where it belongs–in the service of birthing women, not their master.” – Christiane Northrup
“I think one of the best things we could do would be to help women/parents/families discover their own birth power, from within themselves. And to let them know it’s always been there, they just needed to tap into it.” – John H. Kennell, MD
“Birth is an opportunity to transcend. To rise above what we are accustomed to, reach deeper inside ourselves than we are familiar with, and to see not only what we are truly made of, but the strength we can access in and through birth.” – Marcie Macari
“So the question remains. Is childbirth painful? Yes. It can be, along with a thousand amazing sensations for which we have yet to find adequate language. Every birth is different, and every woman’s experience and telling of her story will be unique.” –Marcie Macari
“The knowledge about how to give birth is born within every woman: women do not need to be taught how to give birth but rather to have more trust and faith in their own body knowledge.” – BirthWorks
“Birth matters. It brings us into being, on many levels.” – Ananda Lowe
“Giving birth is a transformation and it doesn’t matter whether you’ve had eight babies before. It’s still a transformation the next time you have another baby, because you are no longer the same woman you were before you had that baby.” – Penny Handford
“We must attempt to tell the whole truth about birth, the truth that includes the transformation, mastery, satisfaction, personal power and the difference between pain and suffering.” – Cheri van Hoover
“However much we know about birth in general, we know nothing about a particular birth. We must let it unfold with its own uniqueness.” – Elizabeth Noble
“…Respecting the woman as an important and valuable human being and making certain that the woman’s experience while giving birth is fulfilling and empowering is not just a nice extra, it is absolutely essential as it makes the woman strong and therefore makes society strong. ” – Marsden Wagner
“Although the popularly desired outcome is ‘healthy mother, healthy baby,’ I think there is room in that equation for ‘happy, non-traumatized, empowered and elated mother and baby.’” – Midwifery Today
“The wisdom and compassion a woman can intuitively experience in childbirth can make her a source of healing and understanding for other women.” – Stephen Gaskin
“Mothers need to know that their care and their choices won’t be compromised by birth politics.” – Jennifer Rosenberg
“Only with trust, faith, and support can the woman allow the birth experience to enlighten and empower her.” – Annie Kennedy and Penny Simkin
“300,000 women will be giving birth with you today. Relax and breathe and do nothing else.” – Unknown