What is a Birth Doula?
A birth doula is a trained professional who provides information as well as emotional and physical support during pregnancy, labour, birth and the early postpartum period. Your coach, cheerleader, confidante and guide as you navigate each step of the way.
Here’s what you can expect from a birth doula:
Complimentary Consultation
Meet for a casual chat, get to know each other, and discuss your birth. You can share your unique ideas, plans, needs and requests. We’ll tell you how we can support you and answer your questions about our services.
Prenatal Visits
We’ll meet in your home to discuss your pregnancy and birth. What we discuss in our meetings is tailored to your preferences: we’ll focus on what’s most important to you. You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions (there are no bad questions!) and air out any fears or concerns.
We can review your options, consider your birthing preferences, and prepare a birth plan/strategy (if you wish). We can also talk about what to expect in early labour, practice comfort measures for labour, and discuss what to expect throughout the postpartum period (baby care and mother care).
Ongoing Support Throughout Your Pregnancy
As soon as you sign on, support is available to you by phone, email or text. You can ask your doula questions, talk about options, or check in with updates as you wish.
Labour Support
Your doula is on-call 24/7 and ready to join you in your birthing space. When it’s time, they can join you at home or meet you at the hospital.
During your birth, your doula will support you continuously. They’ll use techniques to make you feel more comfortable, talk you through challenging moments or birth-related decisions. We offer COMPLETELY UNBIASED support; that’s a promise. We’ll never judge you or pressure you to birth a certain way. We will stand behind whatever choices you make and support you at every turn. Your partner will feel supported too; with a doula on your team they’ll feel confident, cared for, and connected to you.
After your birth your doula will help to get you settled in with your baby and help with initiation of feeding.
If you wish, they can take photos for you during your labour and birth and/or after your baby arrives.
Follow Up Visit
In the weeks following your birth, we’ll have a postpartum visit. We can discuss your birth, you can ask questions about caring for your baby and for yourself, or we can just make you some tea and a bite to eat while you enjoy your newborn. If you’re breastfeeding, your doula can support you by answering questions and providing tips for positioning and latching.
At your request, we can also provide referrals to many other professionals and community supports.
As a birth doula client, you are welcome to take our prenatal infant feeding class at no added cost!
If you’re interested in adding postpartum doula support we can create a customized package suited to your needs.
Find out more, schedule a consultation or reserve your due date:
Oakville Family Birth 