Doula Services

Childbirth is both ancient and new. As a woman preparing to give birth, you are connected to all those mothers who came before you, who created, carried, and birthed life. And yet it is entirely unique, every birth happening only once and in its own way.

Childbirth is a physical, emotional, and spiritual experience involving hopes and hormones, anxieties and desires, strength and vulnerability, instincts and intensity. It is the whole of a woman that gives birth.

Rite of Passage Doula Care offers support for women to experience childbirth in a way that honors the entirety of her experience. Fathers and Partners are honored as experiencing their own rites of passage, and bringing their own unique gifts and experiences.

Pregnancy

Interview: We can speak over the phone or email to set up a time to meet, free of charge. During this time you can ask me questions you may have about me or how I work. I will explain in greater details my services and we can see if we are a good match. Choosing a doula is a very personal decision. The doula you choose needs to be a person with whom you and your family feel comfortable and connected.

Once you have chosen me I will reserve your due date on my calendar and will be on call 24 hours a day for the two weeks prior. We will sign a Letter of Agreement outlining my services and a deposit will be required. We will then schedule two times to meet together during your pregnancy.

We will meet twice in person during your pregnancy and will spend time together exploring your personal needs and hopes, addressing your fears and concerns, and considering how I might best support you during your birth. We will also work together to develop a postpartum plan to help with the adjustment after the birth.

In addition to our scheduled appointments, I am also available by phone if you want to ask any questions, simply touch base and connect, or our having any concerns you want to address.

I offer referrals to community resources for pregnancy and family issues, if desired. Pregnancy and childbirth is a time of diverse needs. I am in contact with a wide range of care providers who specialize in the needs of pregnancy, birth and postpartum.

What you will want from our time together prenatally is personal and I encourage you to consider how I can best support you. While there is a basic structure to our time together, there is flexibility and openness to the varying needs you might have.

Labor and Birth

Once you are in labor I come to support you either at your home or place of birth, depending on personal preference and the speed of the labor. I am there to offer an uninterrupted presence, fostering a feeling of continuity of care.
I will support you physically, emotionally and relationally. I am not a medical care provider and as such do not make diagnoses or perform medical tasks. Rather I am attuned to your needs for comfort, assurance, validation, encouragement, and touch. I will be a calm presence to help you focus, and will always support your work at hand, and the unique ways you will discover within yourself to give birth. I provide physical comfort measures, a knowledge of birth and medical support, and care from someone who needs nothing from you, but seeks only to be present to you in the moment as it happens.
I help to protect the birth space, creating an environment where you might feel safe and nurtured, allowing you to birth unselfconsciously.
Though there is much I can do to support you, perhaps the greatest offering I bring is my ability to bear witness to your birth: its story, your dignity and power as you find your own way through labor’s labyrinth, your challenges and strengths, vulnerability and rite of passage. No one can give birth for you; neither must you be alone.
I do NOT replace your partner in any way. If anything, the partner is brought even more into the birthing process, offering his or her own support to you, knowing that they too are supported as they become parents.
I stay with you after the birth for one or two hours to ensure you are settled in and comfortable. I can answer any questions you may have, am able to support you in beginning to breastfeed, if desired, and to honor you in what you have just experienced. I then leave so you and your loved ones can bond together as a new family.

Postpartum

In the hours and days following the birth I am available for phone and email support. I can answer questions you may have about newborn care or breastfeeding, or simply offer support for the huge transition you are embarking upon.
I will come visit you one to three weeks after your birth. This is a time for you to share any part of your birth story you want, to be heard and seen and honored. I can answer any questions you may have in reviewing the birth, and offer postpartum comfort measures, explanations of newborn characteristics and care, and breastfeeding assistance. There is a great sacredness in the power of our birth stories. I bring awareness of this, and a profound respect for the role these stories play in our lives, the way giving birth and becoming parents influences us and shapes us.

Fees:

$650.00 includes two prenatal visits, continuous labor support, post-birth transitionI, telephone consults as needed, and postpartum visit one to two weeks after birth. Further postpartum visits as requested are $25.00 an hour.
A $250.00 retainer fee is due upon signing the Letter of Agreement. The remaining $400.00 is due at our post partum visit.

Class and Doula package: $800.00
Six week Childbirth Class: A feast for the senses and full doula support