My hope as a birth & postpartum doula is to provide comfort, support, reassurance and information to women (and their partners) in order for them to feel empowered through their pregnancy, labor and birth. All parents should have the resources and opportunities to make informed decisions about what they envision for their birth experiences. I can be that calm, stable bridge you need to get as clos
e to that vision as possible. Spanish services also available. According to DONA International, a birth doula
-Recognizes birth as a key experiemce the mother will remember all her life
-Understands the physiology of birth and the emotional needs of a woman in labor
-Stays with the woman throughout the labor
-Assists the woman in preparing for and carrying out her plans for birth
-Provides emotional support, physical comfort measures and an objective viewpoint, as well as helping the woman get the information she needs to make informed decisions
-Facilitates communication between the laboring woman, her partner and her clinical care providers
A Postpartum Doula
-Offers education, companionship and nonjudgmental support during the postpartum fourth trimester
-Assists with newborn care, family adjustment, meal preparation and light household tidying
-Offers evidence-based information on infant feeding, emotional and physical recovery from birth, infant soothing and coping skills for new parents and makes appropriate referrals when necessary
For more information on DONA, please visit: http://www.dona.org/
For more information on Evidence-Based Birth, please visit: http://evidencebasedbirth.com/ or http://improvingbirth.org/
