MEMBERS

My passion for birth began while working for an ob-gyn, where I observed that women were not being heard, and that what was important to them was not being prioritized. This served as the fuel for my desire to affect positive change in our birthing culture. I am a professional Birth and Postpartum Doula, ALACE and CAPPA Canada trained. I am experienced in attending births in a variety of settings, including hospital and home/water.

I respect a woman's right to choose how she wants her birth to evolve; our histories are unique. My vision is to help women awaken the ancient art of birthing within themselves and to weave their stories to share with future generations. I choose to ensure equal access to professional birth and postpartum support. I often offer my services on a volunteer or sliding scale fee and love to consider the old fashioned method of barter.

“No language can express the power and beauty and heroism
of a mother's love.”
~ Edwin H. Chapin

This is one of my favourite quotations because it captures so well what is plainly apparent to anyone who has witnessed a labouring woman as she works to bring her child into the world. I am a certified DONA birth doula and I have been attending births since 2007. Helping to make childbirth a satisfying and empowering experience for women has become something I am very passionate about. The rates of medical interventions and c-sections are soaring in Ontario hospitals but as women have begun to regain trust in their body's ability to give birth, the climate of fear around this everyday miracle has begun to decrease. I offer my physical and emotional support, my knowledge and my experience to help reach this worthy goal. Women helping women through this most important journey is an ancient tradition and I am proud to be part of this sisterhood.

www.freewebs.com/maternalglow

I believe that women should feel empowered by their birthing experiences. A woman who is informed about her choices is powerful and feels more confident in herself and her power to birth.

Upon reflection of my first birth experience, I was left feeling that there has to be a better way to birth. I trained with ALACE in 2006 and started attending births shortly thereafter. This has been a healing journey for me, and has made me more compassionate; I understand birth as a journey that may travel down many paths, all leading to a common end: a new life being brought into the world.

I trust that a woman will always choose the best path for herself and her baby, whether it’s at home or in hospital, managed or natural. I am dedicated to supporting your birth choices and helping you to become an informed, empowered woman.

I am a DONA-trained birth doula, and have attended hospital births, homebirths, and cesarean births. I’ve completed Dr. Jack Newman’s breastfeeding course, and have trained with A Safe Passage workshop. I enjoy working with women from all backgrounds, and make special room in my schedule for younger, poorer, and substance-involved women. As well, I am currently working towards my certification as a Lamaze childbirth educator.

I left the world of editing and publishing in 2006, after the birth of my daughter, to pursue birth work full time. Because my background is in language and literature, I see birth as a narrative experience, and one that builds an important chapter in a woman’s life story. In addition to my training in massage, relaxation, and meditation techniques, I employ the power of words in the birth environment. I have seen how words can shape, soften, and transform the birth experience, and inform our memories of it for life.

I am a DONA-certified Birth Doula and a Childbirth Educator; my goal as a doula is to fulfill my vision of working with women to facilitate self- empowerment and self-love through knowing and trusting in their own bodies. I enjoy focusing on birth because this is when women are simultaneously at their most powerful and vulnerable. Bringing a child into the world is a unique experience for each mother and her partner. I believe that every birthing couple has the right to be fully educated and supported in their birth choices.

www.andreasdoulaservice.ca

My name is Jennifer and I am a postpartum doula and homeopathic
practitioner. I completed ALACE birth doula training in 2006, and CAPPA
postpartum doula training in 2008. I became interested in postpartum care
during the years I spent working as a nanny. I understand that while an
extra set of hands is helpful, sometimes a soft heart and open ear are just
as important. All newborns are delightful and unique in their own ways, and
having the chance to interact with them is one of the things I love most
about providing postpartum care. The tradition of women supporting women is
very important to me, and something I am proud to be a part of. I have a
special interest in working with young and single mothers, and new
immigrants. It is my goal to deliver the same quality of care that I would
want to receive.

My specialty is helping mothers through the postpartum period with
knowledge, compassion and practical solutions. The postpartum period often
takes mothers by surprise. It is such a difficult emotional and
psychological transition and yet, at the same time, the experience of falling
in love with your new baby is blissfuly euphoric. Many mothers find that
being between the two extremes is confusing and exhausting. Having someone
to help in the home and with older children, help with breastfeeding
concerns and who understands the importance of mothers and babies being
together in the early days and weeks after the birth can make the transition
easier. I offer more than a decade of experience counselling breastfeeding
mothers and 8 years of experience in breastfeeding my own children. My
services include care of older siblings, light housekeeping, meal
preparation and newborn care and breastfeeding help.

Copyright © 2009 London Independent Doula Association (LIDA)