Mother Birth Doula Services

01/01/2024

Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy New Year. If you are expecting and looking for a birth doula I would love to meet with you and see if we are a fit 💓

06/12/2023

🤣

19/11/2023

Elective induction around a holiday is for convenience, but not yours.

With Thanksgiving & Christmas coming up, loads of unnecessary inductions and c-sections are about to happen.

Every year there is a HUGE decrease in births on (and around)...

🔆 Christmas
🔆 New Year’s Eve/Day
🔆 Easter (changes yearly - first Sunday after the full moon in April)
🔆 Memorial Day (changes yearly - last Monday in May in the US)
🔆 Independence Day (4th of July in the US)
🔆 Thanksgiving (changes yearly - last Thursday in November)

And it’s not just the United States - it's everywhere.

How could it be that all of these holidays have lower birth rates year after year?

It’s not a coincidence - it’s about convenience.

And not YOUR convenience. The convenience of providers.

No one wants to work on holidays, and hospital birth providers have a way to make sure (for the most part) that they don’t have to.

Inductions & c-sections are rarely scheduled ON holidays, but they ARE frequently scheduled in the days leading up to, or just after, a holiday.

If you are due around a holiday, and your provider suggests an induction or c-section, it’s a good idea to question why (remember that you always have the right to decline). If there is NOT a legitimate medical reason, they may be more concerned with being home in time for a holiday dinner than your well being.

For more info and references on this topic, check out my FREE holiday births handout on my website (birthuprising.com/resources).

17/03/2023

05/08/2022

Repost from Professor Amy Brown - Breastfeeding Uncovered
•
It's World Breastfeeding Week again. This week was designed to protect and support breastfeeding. To highlight why we need to invest in mothers, families, babies and the future. Yet for many, this week sends a chill straight through their core. It makes them want to shout and throw things because breastfeeding certainly isn’t something to celebrate for them.

For far too many women, any mention of breastfeeding reminds them of pain, anxiety and a lack of support. It reminds them of their determination to do what had been promised to them as simple, enjoyable and the right way to feed their baby. Determination which slowly turned to desperation when it didn’t work for them.

It reminds mothers of the heartbreak they felt as they stopped breastfeeding before they were anywhere near ready – it wasn’t just about the promised health benefits but the feeling that their body wasn’t doing what it was meant to do, and the fact they just really wanted to do it.

But all this pain is actually the reason we continue. This week is not about telling everyone they should breastfeed... but more about insisting that those with power step up and actually do something about investing in making a better future for the next generation of women.

At the moment, rather than protecting breastfeeding, the government doesn’t invest properly in the services, support and expertise that would actually enable mothers to breastfeed – despite reports finding it could actually save the NHS money.

Instead, cuts to services take away essential volunteer groups and funding of breastfeeding specialists. What should be an easily fixable issue can turn turned into months of physical pain - and often a lifetime of continued emotional pain.

The simple truth is that we set women up to fail. Most breastfeeding problems are created by a society that is not breastfeeding friendly: the actions of others are responsible for poor breastfeeding rates and the trauma of mothers.

This week is about recognising that hurt and calling for change. I really wish we didn't have to have it. I certainly wish that not so many women and families were hurt by it.

04/08/2022

Hold the mother, not the baby.⁣
⁣
Because the baby’s being taken care of—⁣
fed, snuggled, and given all the love in the world—⁣
by not only the mother,⁣
but her partner, grandparents, siblings, cousins, and friends.⁣
⁣
But the mother,⁣
may have gaps in her mind from lack of sleep,⁣
may be mechanical in her motions as she’s healing,⁣
may feel more like a mess than a mother,⁣
may be sitting in bed, crying, feeling overwhelmed in her body and life,⁣
may be full of mom guilt because in her mind, "she's not good enough,"⁣
and she’s bleeding, wincing in pain, swollen and emotional.⁣
⁣
And the mother’s that baby's whole world and needs to be seen, so she doesn't disappear into that postpartum fog.⁣
⁣
So, hold the mother, not the baby.⁣
⁣
A mother agrees that her baby matters more.⁣
But she’s hurting, while she’s the person behind the baby,⁣
in the background, making it all happen:⁣
feeding her baby at all hours,⁣
snuggling her baby close to comfort newborn cries,⁣
and being that baby’s everything.⁣
⁣
So, it’s the mother who needs your love.⁣
⁣
And a mother will remember who held her up.⁣
⁣
So instead of “I’m coming to see the baby,”⁣
try saying, “I’m coming to see you 𝘢𝘯𝘥 meet the baby, too.”⁣
⁣
Because the mother needs to be held more.⁣

📸: This Mama Doodles
....................................................⁣⁣
My Children’s Book 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺: 𝘈𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘛𝘰𝘰 is out everywhere: https://amzn.to/317TvVc

02/08/2022

On day 2 of world breastfeeding week I just want to tell you how amazing you all are. Keep calm and latch on!

Join my group https://www.facebook.com/groups/441495507527707/?ref=share_group_link to meet other moms and have some doula led breastfeeding classes and tips!

24/07/2022

Our bodies are powerful and sacred

♥️ “What if we told women the truth about birth
We’d have to tell them that contractions will probably be more than “surges” or “sensations.”

That they’ll probably rock your f✨cking world and leave you begging for salvation as you clutch the edge of the tub or the hospital linens

That your gentle breathing exercises and your Spotify soundtrack will be left in the dust as you sweat and pant and sway and swear your way through it

That you’ll trip harder than any mushroom you ever did in college and vomit with the same ferocity and travel to places deep within yourself that you didn’t know existed. That you’ll float above your body and simultaneously be trapped in it with an intensity you’ve never tasted

And in that intensity, in the sweating and the swearing and the swaying and the vomiting and the endless hours of contractions crashing down upon you
You’ll find your strength
You’ll find a resilience you’ve never known
You’ll find the power you need for the journey of motherhood ahead

In the messy humanity of it all
You’ll find that you are holy
A portal to the divine
Capable of indescribable miracles
A vessel of sacred life

What if we told women the truth about birth?
We’d have to tell them they are capable of anything
Worthy of being treated like goddesses
Made to walk through the flames
Surf the tidal waves
Dive into the underworld
And come out alive

Not unscathed
Not unchanged
But whole
And healed
And ready to take on the world

If we told women the truth about birth
We’d have to admit that we’ve lied about everything else
And that they are more powerful
More fierce
More capable
More beautiful
Than we’ve ever let on.

If we told the truth about birth?
We’d shatter the world.”

Spirit Y Sol