Birth and Postpartum Support and Advocacy for Everybody!
My work as a doula is guided by a strong conviction that every person—every soulful being—deserves dignity, compassion, factual information, and deep care during their pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. I work with you and anyone accompanying you along the journey—spouses, chosen family, parents, siblings, or friends—to help you prepare for the incredible transition of birthing.
I can join you anytime in your journey, during your pregnancy, for your birth, or even postpartum.
Everyone deserves dignity, advocacy and support in birth!
A doula can be an essential part of supporting you during pregnancy, giving birth, and in the postpartum period. In many cultures around the world, pregnant and birthing mothers are supported by the women in their communities in the time before, during and after birth. To be a doula simply means to be with someone, providing emotional, physical and educational support.
Doulas do not offer medical or clinical care. We also do not replace other people you want in your birth experience. Rather, a doula is an additional support person with specialized training and education that can provide insight, advocacy, information, and physical/emotional care as you transition through the birth process.
Research shows that doula care improves both maternal and fetal health outcomes, including lowering C-section risk, encouraging breastfeeding, and greater birth satisfaction.
To see more about why you should have a doula, click here.
Below are some ways I can help you in your birth journey:
What Does a Doula Do?
Birth Planning
I can work with you one-on-one to design a birth plan that highlights your hopes, values, and preferences, from birthing positions and preferred support, to medical interventions and immediate postpartum care. I will customize your birth plan in an easy-to-read format for you to distribute to your medical providers.
Postpartum Planning
Many families make a birth plan, and then are left feeling overwhelmed when the baby comes home! We can apply the same evidence-based practices and intention to the postpartum period by working together to create a plan for how you and your family will adjust to this new life-phase.
Breastfeeding Support
I am actively seeking certification as a lactation counselor, but I also breastfed my own two children and have attended numerous workshops, master classes, and seminars in lactation. I can help you as you establish breastfeeding in the immediate postpartum period, and if you experience challenges beyond my expertise, I will provide personal referrals to excellent IBCLCs in the area that can give more comprehensive care.
Birth Preparation and Education
I can help you and your support person (or team) prepare for birth! We can discuss everything from best local hospitals and ways to get labor started, to strategies and positions that will help you cope with the intensity of labor. Part of being able to advocate for yourself is being informed. I provide research-based evidence to assist you in making decisions that are best for you and your baby.
Birth Support
I am available and on call for your birth starting at 37 weeks (earlier in some cases). When you go into early labor, I will be available by phone and text with comfort measures, suggestions for keeping labor going, and to answer your questions.
Once you enter active labor, I will join you (at your house or at the hospital) until your baby is born, providing consistent physical and emotional support, ensuring that your desires are heard by your medical team, and helping you move through the intensity of labor. I can attend unmedicated hospital and home births with midwives, medicated hospital births with OB/GYNs, and even non-emergent C-sections based on hospital policy.
After birth, I will stay long enough to help you initiate breastfeeding or bottle feeding, make sure you are comfortable, and make sure you understand important postpartum care options.
Postpartum Support
Over 20% of postpartum birth parents experience a mental health condition that significantly interferes with their ability to care for themselves or their new baby, but nearly every new birth parent experiences feelings of sadness, overwhelm, or disappointment. As a postpartum doula, I can help support you in this major transition by nurturing you while you nurture your baby.
The fourth trimester, the 12 weeks after birth, are some of the most precious and intense weeks of the birth experience. I come to your home for 3 or 4 hour shifts to prepare meals, help with the mountains of baby laundry, take care of your baby while you shower or nap, discuss your birth story, provide you with referrals, and be a companion as you make this major transition. While the fourth trimester is 12 weeks long, I have followed families up to a year on a case-by-case basis, especially for marginalized communities and birth parents at higher risk of postpartum complications.
Childbirth Education Classes
Starting in January 2027, I will offer childbirth education courses for pregnant people and a support person. I am currently seeking my Lamaze certification and have attended a Lamaze Childbirth Education seminar.