FAQs

At this time I have only supported in hospital births. That being said, with my nursing background, I have seen and supported practically every type of hospital birth you can imagine. From the completely natural “en caul” term birth to the unfortunate previable emergency procedure for maternal well being, and almost every situation in between. As a doula I am able to help provide that calm that is often needed, when things may become a little chaotic. I can help reground you when you feel you may be losing control. Help recenter your focus when you have lost sight of your end goal.

I truly believe that birth and parenthood takes a village! Who you decide to include in that village is extremely important! I will be absolutely honored to be a part of your birth village. That being said, I am not there to replace any member of your village but instead to give them the extra encouragement and support that they too may need to help better support you through this process. I may know birth but they know and (likely) really love you! That’s important, and likely the reason you included them in this experience in the first place. Ultimately, I am here to support you in all of the ways that I can, whether that is helping you directly or helping them help you!

I am currently in the process of establishing a partnership with a backup doula. I do still currently work part time as a RN in an OBGYN office, however, I am fully committed to my birth doula clients and providing any and all services that I am hired for. We will work closely together throughout your pregnancy to ensure that you are comfortable with the plan we come up with!

Although, I try to be very flexible and tailor my services to meet the needs of each client, you could expect our typical relationship to go something like this:

(prior to hire)

• A phone consultation to answer any quick questions.

• A virtual interview (if desired but not 100% necessary) if you and/or your support person has additional questions that are not answered here or during phone consultation; or if you would just feel more comfortable with a “face-to-face” meeting prior to contract signing

• Once you decide to proceed with my services and I confirm that your due date is available, I will email/mail you a customized contract built around what we have discussed about your desired birth experience. You will then sign and return the contract and a non-refundable $250 deposit, to secure my services for your due date! This deposit will be applied to the total amount charged for services. Therefore, will be deducted from the remaining balance that you would owe.

(after hired)

• Then we will schedule our prenatal meetups! These will take place at an agreed upon calm/relaxing mutual location. I usually prefer a nice quiet coffee shop, where its easy for us to get to know one another! I am also open to joining you for one of your routine OB appointments with your provider, if that is something you would like, but this is not mandatory. We will do between 1-3 of these meetups, to discuss your birth preferences, breathing/coping/distraction/relaxation techniques, what to expect when labor starts, updates regarding your pregnancy and any concerns and recommendations your provider has mentioned to you, etc.

• I will check in with you throughout pregnancy to provide educational material and support, especially in those last few weeks of pregnancy!

• After our prenatals, I will continue communication with you right up until the big day when you call me to tell me it’s go time! At which point we will determine the best time for me to meet you. I will then meet you at the hospital you will be giving birth at! (If an induction or scheduled c/section become necessary, that is something we will discuss when the time comes!)

• I will then remain with you throughout your labor and the birth of your baby!

• Once you have given birth, I will remain with you for approximately an hour or so to help with breastfeeding or any other initial support you may require.

• I will check in with you during your initial postpartum period to ensure you are adjusting well! We will have our postpartum meetings, I like to do 1-2, depending on how you are feeling. Usually around 2 and 6 weeks! These can be virtual or in person meet-ups! We will determine this later on!

• After all is said and done and you are rocking your new role, I will continue to be a part of your village!

Yes! Not only do I have many years of professional experience with birth but I am also a mom and have had 3 very different personal birth experiences. My first child was born on her due date, approximately 11 hours after my water broke with thick green amniotic fluid. I barely had any contractions prior to arriving at the hospital 2 hours later, where I was placed on pitocin and then requested an epidural, because “why not?”. I was young and knew I wasn’t going anywhere without a baby. At first progress was slow, until I went from 2 cm to 8 cm to completely dilated within 2 hours. They had me do 1 “practice” push and then instructed me to stop while we waited an hour for my provider to arrive. Then a little drama from my daughter because apparently breathing can seem overrated when you’ve never been required to do it before. All-in-all the birth itself was what most dream of and definitely a rarity for a first time mom. My second decided to make me work for it. Irregular contractions on and off for about 8 hours before I finally decided maybe we should head to the hospital, at 38 weeks 5 days, in a blizzard. Waited for my husband to park the car and then go back to it because he forgot the camera. Then walked the long walk through the hospital to L & D, to take the last labor room, at shift change, on the unit I worked on at the time. All to discover I was 9 cm dilated with “bulging membranes” (picture a big water balloon), but no baby head in sight. He decided last minute apparently that he had changed his mind and was rethinking this whole “birth” thing that day. So he was sitting sideways with his head just under my left ribs and his back upwards. This meant “emergency c-section” for his mama. He decided to pull some other theatrics that day as well but came out screaming and stealing that hearts of everyone in the OR, as well as many that were not. Last but not least, due to her brother’s less than desirable decisions a few years earlier, the safest option for myself and baby number 3 was a scheduled repeat c/section at 37 weeks. It was definitely a different experience to just show up at the day and time that they set for you and know that you will be having a baby, rather than the unknown spontaneity of waiting for labor to start. However, it was actually as great of an experience as it could have been. I advocated (with the help of some friends) for the birth experience I wanted, since so much was already decided for me ahead of time. I was able to have a clear drape to watch her be born and for my husband to announce the sex, as at the time we didn’t know what we were having. I was able to have some of the support staff I requested. I was able, and even encouraged, to do skin to skin, in the OR with her and then put her to breast immediately once arriving to recovery. I was able to request to leave after just 48 hours in the hospital. All of these little things really added up to making my experience better than I ever thought possible.

As you can see, I have experienced a little bit of it all. I tend to sometimes make light of my birth experiences. I believe I do this as a way to kind of cope with the loss of control I experienced in these situations. I know first hand how it feels to be in a situation that you have no control over. As a doula I try to provide my clients with the knowledge and support to understand what may be happening when situations do not go as planned; and also the space to know its ok to mourn the loss of those planned and/or anticipated/desired outcomes. I did not personally have that for my experiences and I want to be able to provide that for others.

I have also personally experienced 3 first trimesters miscarriages and am therefore all too familiar with the vast array of feelings that accompany pregnancy loss. Each of my miscarriages were very different experiences, including natural and surgical aspects. The last miscarriage I experienced was that of my youngest’s twin, which came/comes with even more emotions.

For some reason there is still such a stigma when it comes to pregnancy/fetal loss and what people are supposed to and/or expected to feel when it happens. There is no right or wrong answer to this. You just feel what you feel and you deserve for those feelings to be validated.

As a doula (and a person in general) I want you to know that you matter, your baby matters, your birth matters and you and your feelings about all of the above deserve to be validated!!!