What is most important to me during this pregnancy?
What do I expect from my healthcare provider?
Who and what will best support me during this pregnancy, the birth of my child, and in the early days of motherhood?
Am I prepared to be a mother?
What is my perfected vision of the birth I truly desire?
Do I have all the information I need to have an empowered birth experience?
What values are most important to me as I prepare for my birth? Do my actions reflect these values?
What values do my partner and I share as we embark on our new journey of parenthood, and how will this shape our way of parenting?
As a Birth Doula and Empowerment Coach, I help women explore these questions and define the answers that will help them feel supported and empowered during this wonderful and emotional life transition.
I believe that a woman's body was made to birth her baby. I help each of my clients tune in to her body's wisdom and trust her body's innate knowing and the messages she receives from the child growing within her. From this basis of trust, she can identify her deepest values and visualize the birth she wishes to have. I also work with my clients to develop a support system which will help them during their transition into either motherhood or the expansion of their families.
Evidence that continuous support during labor and birth benefits women
In 2004, a systematic review was published that summarized the experiences of close to 13,000 women who participated in 15 randomized controlled trials. Comparing women who received continuous labor support with women who did not, studies have shown that women who received continuous support during labor and childbirth were:
less likely to use pain medication
less likely to have an epidural
less likely to give birth by cesarean section
less likely to give birth with forceps or vacuum extraction
less likely to be dissatisfied with their birth experience
Hodnett ED, Gates S, Hofmeyr G J, Sakala C. Continuous support for women during childbirth. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2003, Issue 3. Art. No.: CD003766. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD003766.
Learn more about my approach and my services
My Approach - How I feel about birth and my role as a doula