Congratulations on your pregnancy! Pregnancy and childbirth can be so full… full of excitement, challenges, beauty, amazement, nervousness, joy, and personal growth.
If you are looking for a doula, I would be pleased to meet with you, to discuss your general goals for labor & childbirth, and to go over the types of service you could expect from me. There is no fee for an exploratory meeting of this kind. Please see my website for full details on who I am, what I offer to parents., and how I ‘do’ my ‘doula-ing’. In the meantime, here’s a bit about me: I’ve always felt a deep reverence for living things. My own pregnancies and births stimulated my interest in supporting other birthing women, and this interest stayed with me until my youngest was nearly grown and I could take the training. Doula work turned out to be a good fit for me, and -- oh my! Who knew it would bring so much joy?! My first child entered the world via a gloriously normal and empowering vaginal birth. This was followed by a miscarriage, and then an unexpected caesarean birth. All together, the 3 different experiences gave me insight into the emotional and physical complexities of birth – something that has helped me to help parents. Since 2009, I’ve had the opportunity to assist parents with a wide variety of births, including: home & hospital births; vaginal, VBAC and caesarean births; simple & complex births; medicated & non-medicated births; single babies & twins. The parents I supported came from different backgrounds, perspectives and experiences. Some mothers were accompanied by their partners, some chose to birth alone. Some mothers entered their birthing time with confidence, some with anxiety, and some came with a history of trauma. Part of my job – for both mothers and their partners – was (and is) to build their confidence; ease their fears; respect their persons, privacy & autonomy; and honor their decisions. Another part of my job is to assist parents in having the best birth experience possible, given their personal preferences and their own unique circumstances. And another part of my job is to continually add to my knowledge & skills. With that in mind, I studied the use of acupressure and Spinning Babies techniques in order to assist with initiating labor, turning babies and increasing comfort for mothers. I also took a workshop on trauma-informed care. And I became a childbirth educator, teaching both Lamaze-style and Hypnobabies classes. This last bit (the educator part) means that I have LOTS of books and articles to share with parents. I offer services privately, and also through the Community Doula Program. All are welcome. If any of this interests you, please check out my website, and give me a call or email. I’ll be delighted to meet you! Warm best wishes, Hanne Smith CD(DONA) since 2009 LCCE and HCCE (Lamaze & Hypnobabies) www.riverofbirth.com smithhanne@gmail.com (541) 360-3195 |