Services

I strive to empower families…

…during the first weeks after baby’s birth, into the end of the 4th trimester. This 12 week period is a time of wonder and beauty, and it can also be a time of exhaustion, self-doubt and worry. I primarily facilitate with: recovery after birth, nurture the birth parent, assist with baby care allowing parents to rest, and care for themselves. I offer suggestions as parents develop their own styles of nurturing and bonding with baby. I educate on soothing and coping techniques. My goal is to empower parents so they feel secure and confident in the choices they make embarking on this transformational journey.

This is the most vulnerable, intimate, and sacred time in a new parent’s life. Since doula means “to serve ” I am present and committed to serving the parents with respect, mindfulness and adaptability.

Services include the following:

• Provide the birthing parent & newborn care, education and reassurance

• Lactation, chest & bottle feeding support and counseling

• Facilitate rest & assist in recovery from the strain of labor and birth

• Belly Binding/wrapping

• Comforting Touch: shoulder, neck & hand Massage

• Listen & help process the birth story, free of judgment

• Provide physical, emotional, mental health & social support

• Help with other children adjusting to new baby

• Light household help to maximize mother/baby bonding (such as baby’s laundry, bottles & pump parts washing, nursery tidying up)

• Hydration support & assistance with food preparation of light meals

• Errands & grocery shopping (funds to be provided by client in advance)

• Escort to health care appointments, support groups, errands etc.

• Telephone access 24/7 for any questions or concerns

• Guidance and local referrals as needed

• Address other postpartum issues as they arise

HOW CAN A LACTATION COUNSELOR HELP?

During the initial consultation, I guide and observing a full feeding. Lactation counselor appointments include a dyad health history, an assessment of the chest/breasts and evaluation of the baby’s feeding. A personalized care plan is developed to support the breastfeeding goals. Care may be coordinated with health care providers (midwife/obstetrician and pediatrician). Follow up with a phone call within 24 hours of the consult is scheduled to ensure breast/chest feeding is improving.

When would an appointment with a lactation counselor prove especially useful?:

• Need for reassurance that feeding is going well

• Latch, suck or other issues that impact the feeding

• Baby who refuses to chest/breastfeed

• Low milk supply

• Supplementation for baby’s weight gain concerns

• Sore nipples and/or breasts

• Engorgement

• Chest/Breast pain

• Premature baby and milk expression assistance

• Education on pump, milk expression and storage

• Support for an adopted baby or multiples

• Sleep, growth or solid food concerns

Some parents and some babies need more time and help than others. With assistance, gentle support and patience, chest/breastfeeding can work for parent and baby.

Self-Directed Health Care

Our wellness depends on many factors including diet, physical activity, rest, stress management, exposure to toxins, and inherited genetic predisposition. The quality and choice of the foods we consume, proper rest and sleep hygiene, regular movement and exposure to sunlight have great impact on our wellbeing. Nature was humans’ first remedy, everything we need can be found in there. It provides natural solutions you can rely on to care for the whole family and enhance your physical, mental, and emotional health. Also essential oils have been used throughout history in many cultures to lift the mood, calm the senses, elicit powerful emotional responses and their health-promoting properties. Modern trends toward more holistic approaches to self care and growing scientifc validation of alternative health practices are driving a rediscovery of their profound health benefits.

Additonal Services

• Essential oils Aromatherapy, touch technique and oil use education

• Neck, Shoulder & Hand Massage

• Infant Massage

• Belly Binding/Mom Wrapping

• Babywearing Education

• Nutrition Counseling

• Baby Sign Language Education

• Belly cast

• Photography

• Mural painting

• Commission art work