Birth, Breastfeeding & Before

• Breast/Nipple Assessment
• Infant Assessment
• Dyad Assessment
• Low Milk Production
• Observing and assesing  a feeding session.
• Pre and Post feed weights if needed
• Assessing and Tweeking latch and postitioning to insure mom's comfort and baby's ability to transfer milk
• Assessing and treating sucking probelms
• Anatomy and physiology of infant feeding
• Breast Surgery
• Assessing and treating tongue-tie
• Galactagogues
• Herbs and Breastfeeding
• Complementary & Alternative Health Practices
• Relactation
• Supplementation
• Returning to Work
• All with compassion and a Sense of Humor

• Breastfeeding Basics
• Milk Production; How it all works   
• Getting off to a Good Start
• Latching & Positioning 
• Laid Back Nursing  
• Breastfeeding the Biological Norm: Everything else is sub par. The detriments of artificial breastmilk feeding  (Maternal, Child, Family, and Environment)                                                                                                
• How to tell if baby is getting enough?
  
• Nutrition:  yours and the baby's
• Importance of Support; Who can you rely on and what could they do?
  
• Pumping and Milk Storage
  
• Returning to Workplace

• What is a doula?

  The word "doula" comes from the ancient Greek meaning "woman slave" and is now used to refer to a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth; or who provides emotional and practical support during the postpartum period.

  Studies have shown that when doulas attend birth, labors are shorter with fewer complications, babies are healthier and they breastfeed more easily.

  A Birth Doula

  • Recognizes birth as a key experience the mother will remember all her life
  • Understands the physiology of birth and the emotional needs of a woman in labor
  • Assists the woman in preparing for and carrying out her plans for birth
  • Stays with the woman throughout the labor
  • Provides emotional support, physical comfort measures and an objective viewpoint, as well as helping the woman get the information she needs to make informed decision
  • Facilitates communication between the laboring woman, her partner and her clinical care providers
  • Perceives her role as nurturing and protecting the woman's memory of the birth experience
  • Allows the woman's partner to participate at his/her comfort level
• Home Birth
• Hospital Births
• Teens
• Over 40
• Families conceiving with ART and IVF
• VBAC
• Multiples
• Clients on bed rest
• Special needs babies
• Prematurity
• Twins
• High risk
• Expected stillbirth
• Single parents
• Cesarean birth
• Waterbirth

Special services available:

• Pregnancy, birth and/or newborn photography

A Postpartum Doula

• Offers education, companionship and nonjudgmental support during the postpartum period or what some refer to as the fourth trimester
• Assists with newborn care, family adjustment, meal preparation and light household chores
• Offers evidence-based information on infant feeding, emotional and physical recovery from birth, infant soothing and coping skills for new parents and makes appropriate referrals when necessary