Traci Doula, Maternal Instincts Doula

11/04/2024

11/03/2024

Those dad moments get me every time!! love yall!

11/02/2024

Dear anyone who works with pregnant women,

Please stop saying … “do your spinning babies” for an overall body preparation for birth.

There are hundreds of movements the body could be doing for an individual to body balance. Spinning Babies is NOT only about juggling, balances, inversions, side laying releases or baby station in labor.

Biomechanics and learning how the individual body needs to prepare and maintain for baby to settle into the space they need to navigate birth is a wide range of activities.

Instead, encourage self awareness and being more aware of what the body needs. Add prenatal yoga, walking and good posture to all daily routines.

Get out of a check list and get into the body.

Pregnant and preparing for birth? Need an individual assessment to understand what your growing body needs this pregnancy? Message me.

Each pregnancy is different. The more babies you grow the more important body awareness and balancing becomes.

Hint: it’s more than the “balances” 😉

Sincerely,

TraciDoula, SpBCPE

10/16/2024

Posted • This past weekend I spent all of my time with this amazing group of doulas. We connected, traded stories, got vulnerable, shared biases, and really dug deep about who we are not just as doulas but as people.

One of the top 3 reasons why I became a doula was because I had such an urge to be an advocate for families in the birth space but when I took my DONA doula training they told us that advocating and/or speaking for your families wasn’t allowed!!🚫🚫🚫 I am not exaggerating when I say that this news crushed me to my very core. I truly thought to myself “what am I going to do now? How do I just ignore this calling? I didn’t know what to do. I will be honest that I chose to advocate for my families anyways (and didn’t certify with DONA btw, best choice I’ve ever made) but it was scary and really hard and I often left the birth space feeling small, scared and extremely overwhelmed because I had no idea what I was really allowed to be doing in there.

But all of that changed this weekend. Through Keeping Your Power workshop for doulas I learned that not only do I have a voice in the birth space but that my voice actually matters and belongs there. I will forever be grateful to Traci for showing me the importance of self worth and the impact that it can have on my families. I can now go into the birth space with confidence and pride knowing I belong there and hopefully help my families to do the same.

With love,

Doula Jenna Lynn🩷

10/13/2024

Posted • Advocate Doulas: “Upholding the belief that everyone is worthy to be trusted to make the decisions that are right for their body, birth, and baby by purposefully taking the focus off of self and the system and refocusing the decision making process on the person giving birth.”

I had the best weekend with some passionate doulas talking and learning from about the heart of our work and learning to be better for ourselves and our clients. 🤍

09/30/2024

The Keeping Your Power® for doulas advocacy and action workshop is causing waves!! I have been asked if this workshop will ever be virtual again and I am pondering these thoughts deeply. At this time I am focused on the in person aspect given the content and power the in person workshops bring.
The feedback about how motivating engaging, challenging, and impactful this workshop is to doulas seeking advocacy clarity and further identity is heart filling and makes me cry every single time I read these testimonies. So thankful for the stories of changing minds while changing lives and keeping parents in the decision making process!!
Doula, Are you struggling with knowing when to advocate or how?
Join me at a KYP for doulas workshop!
Remember that continuing education is a tax deduction.

09/27/2024

09/17/2024

Doula, Are you all in to support your client and confident that you can advocate with them in tough situations? This answer begins with you and not trying to figure out a broken system.

Join me at a Keeping Your Power® for Doulas workshop!!

09/15/2024

Doula, Is advocacy a heavy word
to you? Are you wavering in your idea of advocacy or self awareness around advocating with your clients?

Join us at a Keeping Your Power® for Doulas. Dates/locations pinned on profile up top.

09/09/2024

Look out Boston. These doulas advocate and advocate with commitment to uphold your agency and autonomy. They are sharp and ready to advocate with you.
Thank you Megan.. for hosting.
Are you searching for an advocate doula? These are the questions to ask.
What is your advocacy philosophy?
How are we working together to advocate together?
What advocacy training have you had?

Be on the lookout on TraciDoula.com for a list of doulas and cities where my Keeping Your Power for Doulas training had been.

Doula, looking for a deep dive in personal growth and advocacy in action training? KYP for doulas is for you!

Coming up Oct San Diego get ready!

# pregnant

08/03/2024

👏👏👏👏

Doulas have different perspectives on what advocacy means in our job. Here at TRV we believe doulas DO advocate. Which is why we're so excited to co-host this workshop with Birth Doula Brittany!

We'll be bringing in guest speaker Traci Doula, Maternal Instincts Doula to facilitate a weekend full of conversations and activities to help doulas learn how they feel about advocacy, and gain skills to help uphold their client's agency and autonomy.

The Keeping Your Power workshop includes topics such as:

• Why should doulas advocate?
• Understanding our personal triggers that can hinder advocacy
• Biases and why they can cause birth trauma
• True responsibilities
• Sustainable business practices and avoiding burnout
• Keeping Your Power®
• Perspective, conversations w/ empathy and compassion
• Advocacy scenarios in the birth room and practice
• ...and more!

Register by 8/31 to lock in early bird pricing!

https://www.thereclaimedvillage.com/event-details-registration/keeping-your-power-r-advocacy-in-action-workshop

08/03/2024

Needing a childbirth class?? Ask me about my one time 3 hour labor rehearsal. Perfect for repeat offenders and those who just want to focus on what happens in labor.

Including: emotional, physical, and timing considerations.
When do you want to go to the hospital? Tips and tricks to ride the waves and getting partners involved.

Not everyone needs a doula. 😳 yep I said it.

Sometimes all you need is education.

Being induced? Or…

Don’t necessarily want a “unmedicated” birth, but still need a comprehensive childbirth class?

I teach 3 classes in 1!!

“I highly recommend this class!!! Traci is amazing to work with. This class gave my husband and I all the tools we needed to have the birth we wanted. We also felt prepared if things didn’t go as planned. I felt so much peace going into labor because of the
preparation I received from Traci. She is a joy to work with and the best at what she does.”

This class is packed full of tips and tricks from an experienced seasoned doula, without you needing one at your birth!

Partners, you are not off the hook. Overwhelmed? This class is great for you to know exactly how and when to help during labor!
Mom, need dad to have a clue in labor? Let’s chat.

Along with my Keeping Your Power® concepts, with this class you will feel more than prepared to advocate for yourself and make the right decisions right for you!

Best started at 25-28 weeks, but it’s never too late.

Have a pregnant friend you’d like to take the class with? It’s so much fun.

Remember the Spinning Babies® Birth Preparation Class is included!!!!!

For any birth plan in any setting with any provider. ☺️

Message me!!

08/02/2024

Happy Breastfeeding Week. ❤️

Your worth is inherent, it comes from within. Your worth as a parent does not diminish based on the feeding choices you make for your family.

For the theme is "support for all" and that is what I strive to provide! Please reach out if you're having concerns, doubts, or questions about your breastfeeding journey

07/16/2024

"What Moms Want" Listening Sessions

The Alabama Maternal Health Task Force invites you to participate in one of our “What Moms Want” Listening Sessions! We are conducting these facilitated discussions to capture the experiences and needs of mothers and families before, during, and after pregnancy. While focusing on "What Moms Want," we welcome input from all family members and supporters who have experienced this vulnerable time. Your experiences and insights are invaluable as we strive to understand and address the needs of moms and families in our community.

Why attend?
✅Share experiences and needs before, during and after pregnancy.
✅Contribute to a meaningful discussion that aims to improve services for moms and families.
✅Connect with other community members and health advocates.
✅A complimentary hot meal will be served.
✅Childcare services will be available at most listening sessions.

Registration link in the comments.

07/14/2024

🌟 Doulas DO advocate! Another Keeping Your Power® workshop for doulas is on the books! What sets this training apart is its strong focus on understand self while committing to upholding client’s agency and autonomy. Understanding advocacy is fundamental in doula work, and I’m deeply grateful to and for prioritizing advocacy not just for their students but for Spokane, WA families too.

Keeping Your Power® for doulas:
- We trust birthing people to make decisions aligned with their body, birth, and baby.
- We put client’s agency and autonomy first.

As doulas, we can inadvertently hinder families if we fail to recognize our own growth areas in advocacy. This workshop is for you if:
- You’re unsure about advocating for your clients.
- You need practice in communicating with birth teams.
- You seek support in the advocacy doula lonely journey.
- Your training conflicts with your belief in advocating.

Join me at a Keeping Your Power® for doulas: Advocacy in Action workshop. It will empower you to advocate effectively and transform your practice because families will be empowered by your ability to uphold them when they ask for it the most.

06/07/2024

This is awesome!! Grab a shirt today!

MERCH STORE NOW OPEN!

Several designs, sizes, and colors for the whole family!

Pictured are just a few of what I have to offer. Visit my store to see them all!

Use coupon code FIRST10 for 10% off your order! Only valid for the first 10 days of my shop being open! Order now until June 17th.

Link in bio or:
www.bonfire.com/store/the-shoals-doula-store

06/06/2024

Although I disagree with the assumption that doulas always have to be body guards… I completely agree that if a doula supports families at any birth in any setting, they should discover who they are in their advocacy identity.
Advocacy is not for the faint of heart, but it should not be shied away from. Have I been a body guard? Yes. But do I have to be all the time… no.

In the Keeping Your Power for Doulas we talk about the levels of advocacy and if done well… no one has to be a body guard.

Posted • Did your doula have to play bodyguard during your hospital birth?

Or are you a doula who’s had to do this one too many times?

Please share in the comments.

And don’t forget to comment CRASH COURSE so you can get a reminder when my Birth Planning Crash Course launches next week 🎉 In it we walk together through every. single. item on my birth plan - all in 2 hours for you busy mamas 👏✨ Plus loads of bonuses!

06/02/2024

🤣☺️