All Things Doula
5 Reasons Your Midwife Wants You to Hire a Doula
Not only does evidence tell us a doula can have measurable benefits for both mothers and their babies, but their intangible benefits are also felt every day by those who hire them for their expert support. Doulas are fast becoming standard-of-care, as they should. Women have always surrounded women in their childbearing year, from girlhood…
Read More100 Things I’ve Learned in 100 Births
So, my 100th birth happened last week, just before midnight on the 12th. 100 births since 2008. 44 doula births. The other 56 births were as a midwifery assistant and student. Those began January 29th, 2014–my late father’s birthday. The birth of a new life, and the birth of my midwifery journey. A significant day…
Read More5 Things Midwives, Doulas, and Postpartum Moms Love
As I was in the shower today, after two births in 24 hours–one in the hospital as a doula, the other at home as a student midwife–I was appreciating the perfect temperature of the water, the smell of my shampoo, and the utterly clean feeling I had when I stepped out onto the mat. I…
Read MoreA Doula For The Dying, Part 2: 5 More things I learned while doulaing my dying father.
When I set out to be by my father’s side in 2012, I had no idea what to expect. My sister and I both lived in Colorado Springs, so naturally we caravaned to Oregon together. We talked about it a lot. What would we have to do? How would we help our mom? This was…
Read MoreA Doula For The Dying: 5 Things I Learned at My Father’s Deathbed
Almost three years ago, I packed up my four children and drove to Oregon to help care for my father. His melanoma had metastasized to his spinal fluid, and everything that could be thrown at it to kill it, had been. There was nothing left, but to wait. Probably only weeks were left. His decline…
Read MoreDo’s and Don’ts in Labor & Delivery (a.k.a. Getting What You Want, Kindly)
Birth plans. Epidurals. Natural Childbirth. Doulas. Induction. Cesareans. And more… The list of decisions about birth goes on and on… More women are becoming dissatisfied with the status quo in American maternity care, and are asking for something outside the norm for the hospital where they plan give birth. Naturally, this might make for some…
Read MoreWhat to Expect When Your Baby Is Not Who You Expected Him to Be: 5 Strategies for Parenting a High Needs Baby
You can never be quite sure of who this tiny human is going to be after he or she emerges from your womb. We often expect an image like this one (Artist: Brenda Burke). Mom and baby awash in the sweetness of new motherhood. You picture the days snuggling away in quiet and coos, with only occasional crying.…
Read MoreAwe & Gratitude
I have been putting together a scrapbook of pictures, cards, letters, and memorabilia from the doula clients who have so graciously shared such items with me. As the 8×8 book comes together, I find myself full of memories of each story. I have not forgotten a single birth. Not one. Each one is a treasure…
Read MoreA Little Birth Poetry.
Birth is amazing. I attended three in the space of about 40 hours this weekend. Two butter births on a Saturday morning. Both filled with intense power and work, capped by peace when they were all over. The other a triumphant victory, and a step toward healing of a past rough experience. Women are incredible.…
Read MoreI Am A Doula
Doula. I am a doula. Those words, filled with so much meaning over the years, were my starting point in this birth journey I’m on. Doula is a weighty word. It’s a very different role than almost any other in birth. It encompasses so much that used to be taken for granted: that a sister,…
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