I am also a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator (LCCE) and really enjoy educating women and couples about all things birth and babies. I am DONA trained in Birth and Postnatal Support. Every year I invest in expanding my knowledge with reputable educators, this provides me the opportunity to share incredible wisdom and knowledge to the women I support. Eat Pray Doula is the highlight of my year (see Blog).
Lastly, I’ve volunteered for the last 5 years with a Melbourne based organization called Birth for Humankind providing free Doula support to Refugees, Asylum Seekers, underaged and disadvantaged women. This organisation aligns with my opinion that all women deserve the support of a qualified and experienced Doula.
My heartfelt belief is, that Women are incredibly resilient, strong, and powerful. They grow a new life within their own body, and when birth time arrives, they are so capable of enhancing the amazing, lifechanging and profound process of birth.
But first I want to know a little about you. Are you pregnant, or thinking about becoming pregnant, is this your first pregnancy or second or third? Do you already know about Doulas, or are you looking for one that you feel comfortable with? Awesome, it’s great that you have landed on my page and I can share with you a little about myself, and how I can support you through the amazing experience of childbirth.
I married very young, I was just 18, and 3 months later, I was pregnant. Fortunately, I was influenced by women who encouraged me to read positive books and this became the foundation for my beliefs about birth. How, where and who I chose to give birth with impacted my experience in such a significant way – it grounded my belief that Women – willing and well informed, supported by people they know and trust – are a superhuman force when it comes to birth. We have long forgotten this truth.
All my births were different. Each one with its own lessons, but they all taught me to respect, without judgment every woman’s experience. Childbirth is crazy, raw, messy, awesome, intense, mind-blowing, unpredictable, but also gentle, beautiful, tender, sensual, intimate, even extremely pleasurable, but sadly we mostly hear the horror stories that birth is scary, unsafe, so painful, frightening, and just the thought of it, horrifying to some women.
This motivates me to discover your beliefs, to see how we can work respectively together, to support you to find your innate ability that I believe all women have, to give birth to your babies on your terms, with you being well informed about your body, what is going to happen, how important it is for you to understand that this experience will change you – as a Woman, as a Partner, how you Mother your baby, and see yourself in the world.
Whenever and however you intend to give birth, your experience will impact your emotions, your mind, your body and your spirit for the rest of your life.”
Ina May Gaskin
A Special Delivery
I became a Doula in 2008 and feel so honoured to share such an intimate experience with so many women and families.
A Doula is usually a mother herself, with personal birth experiences. A Doula does not replace the medical care and experience of a Midwife or Obstetrician. The purpose of a Doula is to provide one-on-one continual physical and emotional support to the birthing mother and her partner, assisting them with evidence-based information and supporting their decisions.
A Doula believes that birth is a normal natural process, and although some women may have difficulties giving birth, mostly women who have continuous support during labour and birth find that they are:
*more likely to have a normal vaginal birth,
*less likely to have unnecessary medical intervention,
*less likely to need medical pain relief,
*more likely to achieve a VBAC, and are
*less likely to have a cesarean
*more likely to have a positive birth experience
As a bonus:
*labours are shorter
*considerable decrease in postnatal depression
*supports the “MotherBaby” unit in the first hours after birth
*helps a mother adapt if her birth does not go to plan
*babies are less likely to have complications with breastfeeding
*bonding process between Mother and her Baby is well established
A Doula also supports the mother to have a voice during her pregnancy, labour and birth. Supporting her to ask questions and to make informed decisions about her body and her baby.
Doulas can also enhance the relationship between you and your care providers.
Birth and Postnatal Doula’s are becoming more popular today, but they have been around since women have been giving birth, it may have been your mother, older sister, aunty or cousin, as well as a known midwife, we lived closer and in larger families then. It is very different now, but *evidence shows that continuous support for a woman during pregnancy, labour and birth has better outcomes for both the parents and ultimately the baby.
