Doula Services 

*I am currently not attending births, as I am focusing on growing my own sweet baby. I am still available for postpartum doula support, as well as for private childbirth education sessions through mid-November. I will be back to attending births in the summer of 2019*

I am a certified Birth and Postpartum Doula. I received certification through Cornerstone Doula Trainings in San Francisco. I am also Lamaze International trained Childbirth Educator and provide private in home or small-group classes. I also aim to provide full-spectrum doula services and am currently training to be a Bereavement Doula through the organization Still Birth Day.

Labor Support Package – $1,500

• In-home visits where we will, among other things, discuss your (and your partner’s) hopes and desires for your birth, explore and practice comfort and breathing techniques that best work for you, create your ideal birth plan and discuss the best ways to achieve it
• Guidance in understanding the risks, benefits and alternatives to many routine interventions through evidence-based research articles and books in order to help you achieve the birth experience you prefer
• 24/7 on-call availability for your labor and birth, from two weeks before through two weeks after your due date
• Continuous labor support from the time that active labor begins until your baby is born – This may include suggestions for coping with pain, recommending positions that aide labor progress, and holding space for you
• After your baby is born, I will stay until breastfeeding has been established and your family is ready to be left to bond
• One to two postpartum visits to review your experiences of the birth, provide breastfeeding support, and answer any questions you may have
• A complimentary rental of an ELLE Labor TENS Unit
• Continued access support throughout your “fourth trimester”

Postpartum Doula Services 

Depending on your needs, services may include:

• 1 prenatal meeting (if possible)
• Breastfeeding support
• Newborn care and support with understanding baby cues
• Sibling support
• Light housekeeping and simple meal preparation
• Local errands
• Referrals to local support professionals, including massage therapists, acupuncturists, support groups, adult and pediatric chiropractors, etc.
• Non judgmental support for family
• Sleeping solutions and assistance with getting enough sleep in the first weeks
• Helping create a nurturing & quiet environment for the family
• Organizing offers of assistance from friends and extended family to create a structured flow of support for your family
• Care for baby when parents want to shower, nap, or spend some special time with older child(ren)
• Hands-on education for infant and mama care
• Babywearing assistance, education, and demonstrations
• Traditional Mexican healing rituals, including Postpartum Sealing/Bone Closing Ceremony, available upon interest & request (see below for more information)
• Free lending library from my collection of breastfeeding and parenting books

Postpartum Doula Fees: $40/daytime hour 

The Postpartum Sealing Ceremony

The postpartum sealing ceremony is part of Mexican traditional postpartum care. In our tradition, the postpartum period is just as important as the prenatal and birthing process. Unfortunately, modern maternity care and birthing practices do not tend to the spiritual and emotional needs of women and the community. Traditional postpartum practices were not only established to help the newly birthed mother physically recover but also to assist in healing emotional and spiritual trauma that arises from her whole life, generations ago or the most recent birth itself. The process of birthing is the greatest natural opening that a woman can experience and it takes weeks, months or years to fully heal and close those spaces that were wide open for so long. The postpartum sealing ceremony also supports mothers in their transition into motherhood by having other women tend to them, nurture them, honor them and show them they are part of a community. The intention of the ceremony is that the mother will feel loved, supported, secure and confident in her ability to heal, parent and thrive in addition to forming support systems within her community.

The ceremony begins with an herbal limpia and is followed by a bajo or vaginal steam bath, herbal body bath/baño, light body and/or womb massage, rebozo cerrada/closing of the bones, optional fajada/belly binding and ends with quiet reflection accompanied by an herbal infusion. If you have access to fresh and or dried herbs, some suggestions are: mugwort, rosemary, yarrow, lavender, calendula, chamomile, rose petals, red raspberry leaf, holly basil, rue, pepper tree leaves, red garden geranium and lemon grass.

Postpartum Sealing Ceremony Fee: $100 (only currently available to my birth and postpartum clients)