Doula
There’s almost nothing more personal, intimate or memorable than your baby’s birth.
Whether your baby’s birth takes place in a hospital or at home, it is so much more than a medical event.
It’s impossible to control exactly how (and when) labor will unfold, but you have more choices and influence than you know. This fact can be empowering and unnerving because you want to get this right, for your baby and yourself.
Today, many expectant parents have little exposure to what birth is really like. Yet, we are bombarded by comic depictions of crazy car rides and who’s the daddy moments in movies and scary stories that get passed around like hors d’oeuvres at parties.
A skillful guide who knows the terrain inside out can make a world of difference in co-creating a safe and satisfying experience that reflects your values and desires.
Who gets to be at your birth matters.
The people around you can deeply impact how calm, confident and comfortable you feel. In turn, that affects how you advocate for what you need, your ability to cope and self-trust.
A positive birth experience often hinges on a sense of respect, acceptance and support, regardless of interventions and outcomes. It can affect a person’s self-esteem, future births, and parenting for the rest of their life. Not to mention impacting their other relationships.
Despite being meant to make people feel safer, the abundance of medical options and high tech advances can leave pregnant people and their partners more unsure of themselves, fearful and confused.
Until the last century, experienced women have had a unique and important role in supporting others in childbirth. Modern parents now recognize doula support as a way to fulfill that essential ingredient.
The presence of a birth doula bridges the gap in care experienced by many families and strengthens the relationship between everyone involved while enhancing the perception, satisfaction and outcome of the birth.
According to a Harvard Health Study, doula-attended births result in fewer medical interventions, fewer complications, and shorter hospital stays. Numerous other studies have found an increase in positive outcomes for birthing people who work with doulas that extend beyond their births.
Even in ideal circumstances, a doula can enhance the experience of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum for all involved through emotional support, physical comfort measures, supplemental education, perspective, listening skills and continuity of care.
Doula Services can meet you where you are starting.
As your birth doula, I provide honest, practical, compassionate and nonjudgmental support that meets you wherever you are starting from and stays the course however things evolve.
Informed by almost two decades attending hundreds of births, midwifery studies, a yoga and mindfulness background, Master’s degree in psychology and spiritual traditions, plus massage training, I bring an embodied wisdom, developed intuition and warm presence to our relationship and your birth journey.
There are many ways to approach birth and I help you find your way (not the way). Instead of advice and telling you what to do (haven’t you had enough of that?), you’ll receive personalized guidance and perspective based on who you are and what matters to you.
I don’t replace your medical provider or displace your partner. In fact, most people find doula support increases intimacy, connection and collaboration with their team.
Since the very nature of birth and parenting is mysterious and beyond our control, I hold a safe space for vulnerability, getting cozy with discomfort and making friends with fear. Birth emerges as a rite of passage and opportunity for profound transformation.
The outcome is an atmosphere that is welcoming to babies and bonding for new families.
Here’s more of what you can expect from working together:
- Clear communication and healthy boundaries
- Respect for your desires and decisions. Reverence for the process of birth
- Deep questions and inquiry. A solution-focus and growth mindset
- Adherence to confidentiality and informed consent
- Translation of medical terminology and attention to the physiological aspect of labor
- Practical tools for coping with labor and helping with progress
- Calm atmosphere, mindful presence
- Cultural-sensitivity and collaborative orientation
- Trauma-informed, queer-friendly, unbiased, conscious awareness
- A little humor (when appropriate)
Specialties include supporting VBAC, homebirth, repeat clients or those having their second (or third…) babies, people who have experienced loss, had a long fertility journey, previous birth that was difficult or who struggle with anxiety. Having lived abroad and traveled extensively, I love working with folks from different cultures and countries.
I tend to get on very well with:
- caregivers & service providers (i.e. doctors, nurses, acupuncturists, therapists of all kinds, social workers, teachers, rabbis…)
- creatives (writers, filmmakers, designers, artists…)
- solopreneurs/small business owners/freelancers
- nature-lovers, yoga practitioners, meditators, foodies, dog companions & cat people
- folks with a cause or passion, activists, do-gooders
- researchers, perpetual students, nerds and compulsive list-makers
If you think we might work well together and want to see if it’s a match:
Please contact me with your estimated due date and location so we can schedule a 15-minute preliminary phone chat about what you are looking for. From there, we can set up a free 30-45 minute consultation via Zoom or in your home for you (and your partner, if applicable).
If you decide that you would like to hire me, we sign a contract and I ask you to fill out a questionnaire designed to help me get to know you and your goals (that will also help you to clarify them for yourself). Then, we schedule the prenatal visits.
Doula Services $3000 include:
- Two 2-hour prenatal visits
- One postpartum home visit
- Continuous Labor Support
- On Call for the month surrounding your estimated due date
- Unlimited access to me via phone call/text/email during pregnancy and the first month postpartum to answer questions, listen, provide resources and referrals, help you to be more comfortable and prepared.
- Back up doula support
- Option for additional hours and discounted add-ons
- In-person or phone presence and support for unexpected issues and procedures such as an external version for baby in breech position, labor induction, or bed rest
Currently serving clients in the East Bay and San Francisco. Preference is given to the Berkeley and Oakland areas.
Please note: At this time I am taking on a reduced number of doula clients. When distance, scheduling or other preferences prevent in-person support, I offer virtual doula support at a reduced fee, childbirth planning consultations and private bespoke childbirth preparation classes.
