A doula...

• is aware of birth as a key life experience that the person will remember all her life.
• understands the bodily processes of birth and the emotional needs of a person throughout labor.
• supports the person and her co-parent in preparing for and carrying out their plans for the birth, as well as being prepared to be "un-prepared".
• stays by the side of the laboring person from the moment she is called in and throughout the entire labor.
• provides emotional support, physical comfort measures, an objective viewpoint and assistance to the person in getting the information she/her/they/them needs to make good decisions.
• facilitates communication between the laboring person, the co-parent and clinical care providers.
• perceives her role as one who nurtures and protects the person's memory of her/she/they/them birth experience.
• maintains all information received from her clients as Confidential.

Services and People I Recommend
www.mommyfeelgood.com  Placenta Encapsulation
www.imagineyourbirth.com Kathy Killebrew, Pasadena area birthing teacher
www.spinningbabies.com  Easier Childbirth with Fetal Positioning.
www.tclwomanscenter.com  Davi Khalsa CNM (home birth midwife)
www.shootsandgiggles.com Birth and Newborn Photography
www.bestdoulas.com My backup group of awesome doulas
www.michelehakakhamd.com/ Wonderful MD who works out of Cedars
Jessica Schneider, MD  Cedars
www.birthingrhythm.com Beth Cannon (home birth midwife)
www.birthinginstincts.com/ Stuart Fischbein MD (home birth, breech and twin provider)
www.purebirths.com Santa Clarita Birth Center


Companies I Use
Neal's Yard Remedies offers skin care, essential oils, supplements, super foods, cosmetics. Products are natural and Organic. No nasty chemicals added. Products you can feel good about using for your whole family. The BABY products are amazing! 

​Jade Bloom provides essential oils that I love! There are many options you can't find elsewhere. Plus there is a great guide available to help you decide which oils are right for you.

Baby Time
Many persons think that their labor will begin with their water breaking and then the contractions. Contrary to popular belief, this is not always the case. Only 15% of pregnant persons have the experience of their water breaking unexpectedly. Most labors begin with contractions and then their water breaks (fast gush or slow trickle) or the doctor may break it for them.

Epidural or Doula? Or both?
8 reasons to hire a Doula even if you plan to have an epidural:

1. Most of the time the person is required to do some laboring before an epidural can be administered.
2. Occasionally the anesthesiologist is unavailable for a period of time.
3. Sometimes a person labors so quickly there is not time for an epidural.
4. Though the person does not feel her contractions as intensely, she still has all the same emotions of a laboring person. 
5. Epidurals do not hold your hand, play soft music, rub your shoulders or explain what is happening. Your Doula is available to offer emotional support throughout your entire labor.
6. Doulas know many techniques that may lessen the adverse side effects of an epidural.
7. A Doula can be useful in the pushing stage, as the woman has decreased feeling and may need intense coaching and assistance with positioning.
8. Epidurals don't always provide 100% pain relief

Helping to cope with pain is only one small part of the doulas role. She can provide prenatal education, physical comfort, emotional reassurance, assistance with breastfeeding and take pictures!

Homebirth Facts
The largest study of homebirths attended by Certified Professional Midwives, as published in the British Medical Journal, has found that homebirth is safe for low risk women and involves far fewer interventions than similar births in hospitals.

Safe and healthy outcomes
Results of this study are consistent with most studies of planned homebirths attended by Certified Professional Midwives and low risk hospital births.

• Zero maternal deaths
• Intrapartum and neonatal mortality: 2.0 per 1000 intended homebirths (only 1.7 per 1000 intended homebirths when planned; breech and twins are excluded)
• Immediate neonatal concerns resulted in just 2.4% of newborns being placed in neonatal intensive care
•  At six weeks, well over 90% of mothers were still breastfeeding their babies
• Low rates of medical intervention
• Much lower rates of interventions for intended homebirths compared to low risk hospital births.

Satisfied mothers
Only 1.7% of the mothers who had a homebirth said they would choose a different type of caregiver for a future pregnancy.
Few transfers to hospital care

• Only 12.1% transferred to hospital intrapartum or postpartum
• Five out of six transfers were before delivery, most for failure to progress, pain relief or exhaustion
• Midwife considered transfer urgent in only 3.4% of intended home births
• High credibility
• This study included all home births involving Certified Professional Midwives in the year 2000
• 5,418 women in the U.S. and Canada who intended to give birth at home as of the start of labor
•  Prospective. Every planned home birth was registered in the study prior to labor and delivery

Outcomes of planned home birth with certified professional midwives: large prospective study in North America. "Kenneth C Johnson and Betty-Anne Daviss. BMJ 2005;330;1416 (18 June). This article and related letters to the editor are available online, free, at www.bmj.com.

Recommended Reading

• Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn, Revised and Updated: The Complete Guide by Simkin, Whalley, Keppler
• The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer
• Birthing from Within: An Extra-Ordinary Guide to Childbirth Preparation by Pam England
• Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League
• Breastfeeding Made Simple by Nancy Mohrbacher, IBCLC
• Hey, Who's Having this Baby Anyway? by: Breck Hawk, RN Midwife 
• Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin

  *** Most important thing to remember when reading information about childbirth, read empowering books!

Let's get started!