We are a group of doulas, midwives and related care providers who are linked together as members of the Green River Doula Network. We serve the Pioneer Valley (Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden counties) as well as eastern Berkshire county, southern Vermont and southern New Hampshire.

GRDN provides an informational listing service. Anyone is welcome to contact GRDN members who are listed here. We intend our listings to provide easy access to birth and postpartum doulas. This is not a referral service, but is an inclusive list of network members. For more information, feel free to contact GRDN.

Mission Statement

The Green River Doula Network was founded to provide easy access to doula services for area families and to provide professional support. We provide resources, information, and referrals for those seeking labor support or postpartum doulas. Our goal is to expand awareness in the wider community about the positive emotional and physical effects that doulas can bring to the labor and birth experience, and to provide educational opportunities for doulas.

About Doulas

Postpartum Doulas

Postpartum doulas provide support to new mothers and their families after the birth. A postpartum doula provides services in the home to help facilitate a warm and nurturing experience for the entire family. Each doula offers individualized services, tailored to the individual needs of the clients.

Birth Doulas

• Provide a wide range of caring, non-clinical and highly beneficial techniques that include physical comfort measures and emotional support before, during and after the birth.
• Understand the physiology of birth and the emotional needs of a woman in labor.
• Access helpful information for the expectant, laboring and postpartum parent/s to assist in their decision making.
• Work in cooperation with physicians, midwives, nurses, and the partners and families of laboring and postpartum women.
• Faciliate communication between the laboring woman, her partner, and clinical care providers.
• Vary in experience, training, services, and personality. There are certifications for doulas; however, many very experienced doulas are not certified.
• Recognize that childbirth is a key life experience that the mother will remember all her life. Thus, doulas help nurture and protect the woman's memory of her birth experience.
• Provide support and care for adoptive parents in the first few weeks of their new family member's arrival.

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