Birth Doula Services
As your birth doula my goal is simple, to serve you and you partner as you travel on your unique path through birth. I truly believe that God put me on this earth to be an encourager of people. Being a doula has been the perfect opportunity for me to live out that role and it would be my honor to be able to support you in every way I can.
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A Doula Gives…
Informational Support
As your birth doula I will keep you and your partner informed through each milestone of your pregnancy and postpartum journey. I will help you find evidence based information about different options in pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum. I will equip you with the knowledge you need to make informed decisions with confidence and without fear.
A Doula Gives…
Emotional Support
As your birth doula I will give you my continuous comforting presence, offering reassurance and encouragement, showing care and empathy, and helping you and your partner work through possible fears and self-doubt throughout your pregnancy and birth.
A Doula Gives…
Physical Support
As your birth doula I will assist you during labor through massage/counter pressure, position changes, and give you suggestions for optimal labor progression. I will help prepare a calm environment for birth, assist with water therapy in a shower or bath, keep you hydrated and fed, as well as give hands-on infant feeding support.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What exactly is a Doula?
In the Greek, the word doula means “woman who serves”. Today, we often see the word Doula used to descrive a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to a mother (and her partner) before, during, and just after birth.
What services do you provide?
As your Colorado birth doula, from the moment that you have hired me, I will be here to support you in all the ways I have mentioned above.
Starting at 32 weeks, we will have our first prenatal appointment where we will discuss your desires and dreams for birth, we’ll curate a birth plan, and begin to better understand what your big day may look like.
At 36 weeks, we will meet again to do some more hands on practice for different comfort measures to be used during delivery. Helping both you and your partner to grow confident in your ability to tackle birth.
I will remain on-call for your birth and you will have 24/7 access to me from the time your start contractions until a little while after your sweet bundle arrives!
We will meet one final time after birth to discuss how you and your family are settling into your new roles, how you feel about your birth and all that you experienced, and finally bring a close to this chapter, together.
My partner will be there, do I really need a Doula?
Besides your partner, your Doula may be the only person at the labor who is there solely for your emotional well-being. The Doctors, Nurses, and Midwives have many other clinical responsibilities and priorities, your Doula has no other priorities. Your Doula will have special experience and education to provide during labor for both you and your partner. In fact, most birth partners will say that their Doula helped them become more involved in the birth experience by encouraging them to do things they wouldn’t have thought of.
Does hiring a Doula really make a difference?
Evidence of the Doula Difference:
- 28% decrease in the risk of Cesarean.
- 31% decrease in the use of pitocin to speed up labor.
- 8% increase in the likelihood of a spontaneous vaginal birth.
- 10% decrease in the use of any medications for pain relief.
- Shorter labors by 41 minutes on average.
- 38% decrease in baby’s risk of a low five minute Apgar score.
- 34% decrease in the risk of being dissatisfied with the birth experience.
What does a Doula NOT do?
As a Doula, I do not:
1. Perform clinical tasks, such as blood pressure, fetal heart checks, vaginal exams, and others. I am there to provide only physical, informatinal, and emotional support.
2. Make decisions for you. I will help you get the information necessary to make an informed decision. I will also remind you if there is a departure from your birth plan.
3. Speak to the staff on your behalf. I will discuss your concerns with you and suggest options, but you or your partner will speak directly to the clincal staff.
4. Deliver your baby. I will be there to support you through labor and into those first precious moments after your baby is earthside, but I am not qualified to deliver a baby and am not a replacement for a doctor, nurse, or midwife.
What happens if you're unable to attend my birth?
It is incredibly important to me, if an emergency arises and I am unable to attend your birth, that you still have support from someone you have met and are comfortable with. I will ALWAYS have a back-up Doula on call for the births I attend and all of my clients are encouraged to meet with this backup prior to their birth!
Here are a few of the Doulas I partner with: