Doula

I have been providing women and their families labor support since 2008. I did my DONA training with Penny Simkin (founder of DONA and author of The Birth Partner and Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn) and Patricia Predmore. I have also done advanced Doula workshops with Gail Tully (author of www.spinningbabies.com) and Naoli Viniver Lopez.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is a doula? A labor doula provides continuous emotional encouragement, physical comfort and informational support during the birth process, as well as acts as an advocate for the mother in order to promote her birth wishes.

Why hire a labor doula? Studies have found that women who have continuous labor support from a hired doula have fewer medical interventions, shorter labors and (most importantly) feel more satisfied with the birth experience afterwards. You will always remember the day of your baby’s birth. Hiring a doula will insure a less stressful and more joyous milestone in your family’s life.

Where do you work? I attend both homebirths and hospital births. I have mainly worked at Cedars Sinai, Good Samaritan, Kaiser Sunset, Huntington Memorial, UCLA Westwood and UCLA Santa Monica. I am willing and available to provide doula services at your home or any other Los Angeles area hospitals.

I hope to have a natural birth but if I chose to have an epidural, will that be a problem for you? Absolutely not! As your doula, I am your advocate and will do everything in my power to help you have a joyous and satisfactory experience.

My partner is very excited about the birth of our first child. He is worried that hiring a doula will minimize his role as my partner. Is this true? Many partners feel this way and imagine the birth of their first child as a very intimate affair. Hiring a doula will help your partner be more present and relaxed during your labor. A doula helps your partner be the best they can be at supporting you. Having continuous emotional and informational support allows the two of you to stay connected throughout the process.

Is your role as a doula contrary or adversarial with my OBGYN and the hospital staff? No one has ever asked me this outright, but I feel like it is a very common myth about doulas. No, a doula should not create conflict in the labor delivery room. Hospitals and doctors and nurses are wonderful! I chose to deliver my daughter in a hospital for a reason. I knew my partner and I would feel safe in a hospital for the birth of our first child and that we would best be able to relax in that environment. Regardless of the hospital and its protocols, as a doula, I never go into a hospital room with my dukes up, ready for a battle. This would not aid in your relaxation, and your relaxation is always my primary goal. I believe that a birth team is much more fluid if they are cohesive and respectful of one another. I will advocate for you and provide as much information as possible, while maintaining a sense of peace in your delivery room.

What are your fees? My fee is $1000. This includes two prenatal meetings (roughly 2 hours each), continuous support at your birth and a follow-up visit within the first couple of weeks post-partum. My contract goes into this in greater detail. I can email you my contract so that you can review the details and fine print. When you decide to hire me, you can mail me the contract with a 50% deposit to reserve my services. The balance of my fee is due when you are 36 weeks pregnant.

Do you ever offer discounts? Occasionally I do. Please do not hesitate to email me with your budget and if I am not able to work within it, I will be sure to refer you on to an amazing doula at your price range.

Do you recommend that I also take a childbirth education class? YES! Childbirth Education is so very important and I really encourage every first time couple to take a class that is a minimum of 4 weeks. I am available for private childbirth classes if you would prefer that over a group class. Or if finances are an issue, I can give you a list of books and videos so that you can home school yourselves. In our prenatal visits, we can review and flesh out what you’ve learned in your classes. If you feel like you need extra help in one particular area (i.e. stages of labor, breath, massage techniques for labor, breast feeding, etc.) I would be happy to go over that during our prenatal visits. For second or third time parents who took a birth class the first time around, we can use our time together during the prenatal visits as a refresher.

How many births do you take a month? I take 2 or 3 births a month.

What happens if you can’t attend my birth? When we make a contract with one another, I am making a commitment to you to support you at your birth. I love my work and, believe me, I always want to be there. That being said, there is no way for me to guarantee that my daughter or I won’t get sick, or that I won’t be at another birth when you go into labor. This is very, very rare (in fact, I have only ever missed one birth), but just in case I always have back-up covering me. I am a part of an amazing community of doulas (www.dascdoulas.org) and I always have great women standing by in case something extreme happens. If I have a trip planned around your due date, I will give you plenty of notice and I will arrange for you to meet or have a phone chat with my amazing back-up doula.

I think I’d like to hire you. What’s the next step? Send me an email or give me a call. Be sure to let me know when you are due and where you are delivering. If you want to get to know me a bit better, you can always stop by one of my prenatal yoga classes or give me a call and we can chat over the phone. If you and/or your partner want to meet for tea sometime, we can also arrange a 30 minute interview/coffee date. Once you’ve decided that I am the doula for you, I will email you my contract. You can fill out the paperwork and send it back to me with a 50% deposit to retain my services.

This is just a basic list of questions I am often asked. It is by no means the ONLY questions. Please feel free to call me or email with additional thoughts, questions or concerns regarding my philosophy, background, style, etc. I look forward to hearing from you and getting to know you during this amazing time in your life.