I provide birth services to pregnant people & their families in the Salt Lake City, UT area.
I am always so honored when families hire me to be present and help them at a birth. I know what a special, sacred moment the birth of a child is and I will hold the space and allow you to experience your journey, offering open minded educational, physical and emotional support along the way. I trust birth. I trust that pregnant people can and do make educated and instinctive decisions that are right for them. I believe one of the most important prenatal planning is choosing your support people you invite into your home and into the birth of your child.
My services include birth and postpartum doula services and placenta encapsulation.
Birth Doula Services
These services may include:
- a free 30 minutes consultation. This is the time to get a sense of who I am, and ask me questions you may have regarding my birth philosophies and how I can support your birthing desires. This is when we will decide if we work well together.
- 2 prenatal visits where I follow your lead through prenatal education, creating a birth plan, practical labor positions, and how we intend to spend your labor.
- Use of my extensive lending library, including all the best birth books and DVDs containing many beautiful natural births.
- Continuous labor support, from the time you call me in early active labor until up to two hours postpartum
- Practical breastfeeding help in the early hours and days following your birth.
- 2 postpartum visits, one a week after the birth to discuss your birth and journey into motherhood together and another a month later to check in
- Discounted placental encapsulation
Please inquire regarding services that may not be listed.
I am "on call" within two weeks of your guess date, and once you call to tell me you are in labor, I will be with you throughout labor and delivery and the first two hours postpartum.
During your birthing process, I will provide emotional and physical support, using a variety of comfort techniques from massage, position support and suggestion, tools such as a birth ball to breathing techniques and ways your partner and others who attend your birth can make you comfortable and reduce pain.
The point is, I am there for you and your partner. Fathers/partners often have their own significant fears and anxieties surrounding birth. My calming influence can have as large an effect on your partner as on you. I can help show your partner effective ways to touch and comfort you, which often leads to increased participation on the part of the partner, since they often feel more comfortable following directions on how to help.
A doula is a trained labor assistant who helps pregnant people (and their families) during labor and birth.
After the birth, I will help you learn to breastfeed your new child, and I will write up your birth story. I have a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing, so you are guaranteed a beautiful keepsake to remember this special time. (It is often hard for parents to remember all the details, so it helps to have an outside perspective!)
I will also meet with you twice during the postpartum period to help in any way I can, go over your birth story and discuss your feelings about the birth and any questions you might have about caring for your newborn.
My specific duties will vary with each client, as each woman is different. Whether you choose a natural birth at home or a hospital birth with an epidural and a cesarean, I am ready, willing and able to help make your experience wonderful!
Postpartum Doula Services
I believe that the work of a doula in supporting a family doesn't end at delivery, which is why I offer what I call "Fourth Trimester Care." So often a doula/client relationship ends once the baby is born, but there is so much to do and so much a body experiences after pregnancy and birth, I believe continuity of care is important, which is why I continue helping my clients during this stage.
In traditional societies, people grow up around birth, breastfeeding, infants and children. After giving birth, parents are surrounded by caring family members who have a great deal of experience and wisdom to offer. This kind of help is rarely available to new parents internationally. The doula’s support is intended to fill the gaps left by our customary postpartum practices, which usually include only medical procedures, occasional checkups and the purchase of baby-related paraphernalia. The doula’s education, quiet support and guidance are a manifestation of the traditional postpartum support that our society is missing.
I am trained in postpartum adjustment, newborn characteristics, care, feeding and development, and the promotion of parent-infant bonding. I am experienced in supporting families through their postpartum experience. Coming into the home during the fourth trimester following birth, my role is to provide education, non-judgmental support and companionship, and to assist with newborn care and family adjustment, meal preparation and light household tasks. Postpartum doulas offer evidence-based information on infant feeding, emotional and physical recovery from birth, infant soothing and coping skills for new parents and can make appropriate referrals when necessary.
Placenta Encapsulation Services
There are many benefits one can get from ingesting the placenta.
- Increase general energy
- Allow a quicker return to health after birth
- Increase production of breast milk
- Decrease likelihood of baby blues and postpartum depression
- Decrease likelihood of iron deficiency
- Decrease likelihood of insomnia or sleep disorders
- Helpful during menopause
For more detailed information on research findings, you can read a number of articles at this great website.
Placenta encapsulation basically involves dehydrating the placenta, grinding it up, and placing it in capsules so they can be taken as needed, like vitamins or supplements. Many clients refer to them as their "happy pills" because of the effects of combating postpartum depression. Postpartum clients will take 1-3 capsules a day until they are gone, or as long as they desire to take them. Many people save some for their menopausal period. I can also make a tincture or essence that will last long after the pills are gone.
Ingesting the placenta is a complimentary therapy, and can and should be used in conjunction with Western Medicine in the case of postpartum depression. Placenta Encapsulation is ideal for warding off depression, but if you find yourself experiencing depression, please also consult your care provider.
My fee for placenta encapsulation is: $200. If you are a doula client, the fee is $150.
1. A doula can spell you.
I really thought I’d be able to stay awake for a big event like childbirth. Who didn’t pull an all nighter in college? Bathroom breaks? Ha! I mean, if I could ride my bike for hours, drinking lots of water and not needing a bathroom break, surely I could wait a few hours while my wife was in labor, right? Wrong.
Thirty hours into my wife’s first labor and I was toast. I’d been up walking with her for what seemed like days as labor began. We’d come to the hospital and there wasn’t any sleeping for me. I was physically tired and mentally shot. The doula really helped me out. With my wife’s blessing, that 30 minute nap I caught helped me to refocus and be back on my game for the big event. And we won’t even talk about how much fun my wife made of me for my small bladder. Needless to say, having the knowledge that my wife had someone else with her while I scarfed down food, went to the bathroom and grabbed a few winks kept me sane.
2. A doula remembers what she learned in childbirth class.
I paid attention in childbirth class. I’d hear enough horror stories to realize that there was a huge, comprehensive final exam for this course – childbirth. But when push came to shove, no pun intended, the knowledge went out of my brain. Those early hours of labor I couldn’t remember if we were supposed to eat or sleep, which positions were good or not so good. Thankfully, when the doula arrived, she saved my skin and made me look like the good guy. My wife never really realized that it wasn’t my idea that she try certain positions, but that I’d been privately coached by our doula.
3. A doula knows the questions to ask.
When we arrived at the hospital, everyone was bombarding us. Questions were flying from all directions. I was busy trying to help soothe my wife, who was not happy with the bumpy car ride to the hospital. Our doula stepped in and gave them all the information that they needed. Magically doors opened and we were offered a prime birthing room.
Our doula also was very helpful in getting information. A nurse or a tech would come in and ask us if we wanted something, like a procedure or a medication. I had no clue. (See above where I forgot my childbirth class information!) Our doula would very calmly ask questions of them and of us until we had enough information to make the decision that matched what we wanted. It was never pushy or mean, just questions. She even reminded us that we could take some time alone to make a decision. That turned out to be a real blessing.
4. A doula speaks the language of labor.
Our doula was an amazing translator. I’d ask a simple question like, “How’s the baby?” And the nurse would respond with something like, “The EFM indicates that there are no decels during periods of stimulation.” I’d give her my biggest smile and nod, like I knew what she was saying. Once she left the room, I’d ask our doula, who would carefully explain each part of what had been said. She also helped us decipher what AROM was as well as second stage.
5. A doula keeps you calm.
Hard. Labor was so hard. And that’s just how it felt to me. Thankfully, when the going got tough and my wife was in hard labor, it was difficult for me to keep anything in my brain. I forgot everything from childbirth class and all I could think of was “Surely this isn’t normal!” Our doula would smile at me from across my wife on the birth ball and as if she had read my mind, would mouth the words “This is normal.” Her calm smile helped me focus again on loving on my wife and keeping her calm. She showed me how and where to touch, she modeled how to behave quietly and efficiently and she made me the star in my wife’s eyes.
When I first heard about doulas, I thought of them as birth interlopers. Now I don’t know how anyone could manage to give birth without one. Our doula really helped bring me together with my wife as she gave birth. My wife remembers my constant support and never failing love or knowledge. She remembers the doula as a nice person who did some stuff in the background. We won’t give birth without a doula.