• Volunteer birth and postpartum doula services.

My work as a doula is influenced by my commitment to reproductive justice and my professional work in the field of public health. I was initially drawn to support birthing women after my own experience giving birth with the support of two wonderful doulas. In 2005 I received my training through a DONA International trainer and joined the volunteer doula program at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital in Brattleboro, VT. In addition to my work supporting birthing women, I have conducted a variety of research on maternity care through my academic work. Currently I am a doctoral student in Public Health/Community Health Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where my work focuses on the intersection between community health, social justice, and critical education. From a public health perspective, doulas have the potential to help improve maternal/infant health outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, and promote positive birthing experiences for women and their families. The high cost of doula care means that women without economic resources are less likely to receive this care.

I seek to support women and their families in having the best birth experience possible, however they define it. I provide volunteer doula services because I believe that all women should have access to a doula-attended birth, regardless of their income, life circumstances, age, and presence or absence of a partner/spouse.

• Birth Doula
• Childbirth Educator

My name is Karen Bayne. I have been a birth doula since 2003 and a birth educator since 2006. I am passionate about serving women and families and believe that women can be trusted with their births. Please visit my website for more information about how I work!

• Birth Doula
• Postpartum support
• Overnight care
• Breastfeeding consultation
• Help with home, siblings, errands

During the time of my midwifery studies and training, I was employed by a company called Mothercare. I worked as a postpartum doula, helping new moms with breastfeeding, baby care, household help, overnight support and simply offering companionship and attentive guidance through her transition. It was an opportunity to do such needed and important work for the whole family. I found that dads were eager for support also, from baby-wearing to baby baths. I loved this work and found it extremely rewarding.

Now as a midwife and mom of 3, I continue to love this work, and feel that postpartum support is truly necessary, and believe that good postpartum care lends itself to faster and gentle healing due to rest and nurturing, and inspires self-confidence and ease for the childbearing year.

• Birth Doulas
• Postpartum Doulas
• Childbirth Education and workshops
• Professional development (for doulas and other care providers)

Providing calm, confident and continuous support for the woman and her family during labor and childbirth, and empowering them with the tools and knowledge to achieve a positive pregnancy, birth and parenting experience. At Brattleboro Birth and Doula Services, your local childbirth and postpartum doula network, we contract with professional birth and postpartum doulas. Our doulas are professionally trained and for peace of mind, all doulas have verified credentials and references and you are guaranteed a back-up doula. Visit our website to see a list of doulas available.

• Classes - hospital-based and private
• Deep Relaxation for Pregnancy Birth and Beyond©- self hypnosis for birth
• Former certified HypnoBirthing® instructor
• Birth support

• Free consultation
• Two prenatal visits and one postpartum visit
• Phone and e-mail support
• 24-hour on-call status beginning at 38 weeks
• Full support during your labor
• Photographs and video during the birth if you wish

I received my training as a birth doula and childbirth educator in 2003, as a component of a year of midwifery training at WomanCraft Midwifery. I plan to be a homebirth midwife one day myself, so I have a special interest in natural birth.

When I began attending births in early 2004, I was lucky to quickly gain a wide range of experiences. I've attended home births and hospital births; Cesarean births and VBACs; quick and easy births and long, slow labors; water births and land births. I've worked with moms who are survivors of sexual abuse, GLBT families, and families with special spiritual needs. I welcome families of all configurations, and a sliding scale is available - no one is turned away for lack of funds.

A specialty of my practice is educating moms about simple ways to encourage their babies to be well-positioned for birth, increasing the chances of a shorter, less complicated labor. Since my clients have begun using these simple techniques, I've noticed that their labors are a great deal shorter on average. This is one of the best-kept childbirth secrets, and it's a privilege to share it!

I love the challenge of meeting what each unique labor brings, and I feel very honored to serve my clients on one of the happiest days of their lives.

• Birth Support
• Childbirth Education
• Breastfeeding initiation and ongoing support
• Attachment parenting coaching
• Significant experience with multiples and "high-risk" pregnancies including lengthy bed-rest
• Supportive and inclusive of same-sex families
• Free initial consultation - I believe it is critical for you to select a doula with whom you feel trust and connection...give me a call to see if I'm that doula for you.

I believe in the empowerment of women and their partners during their birthing year and early parenthood. I provide services that are inclusive and welcoming of your unique needs, hopes, and experiences. I am also trained to provide childbirth education, breastfeeding initiation and support, and attachment parenting methods. As a doula in the midwest, I specialized in pregnant youth and welcome them in my doula practice as well.

I hope to partner with each birthing woman to support and enhance her birthing experience. My goal is to coach you in the ongoing process of finding and trusting your own inner voice. I encourage and support your believing in yourself during birth and with your parenting efforts once your baby arrives. I support partners as they participate in the birth and newborn bonding and care. As a small, self-indulgent bonus, each new mom receives a handmade quilt upon the baby's arrival.

• Overnight infant care and parenting support is my specialty.
• Pregnancy Support
• Blessingway Ceremonies
• Birth Doula Support
• Postpartum Services
• Babywearing Instruction
• Parenting Skills Mentor
• Special interest in twins!

Mother of four children, two girls and two boys, I have birthed both in a hospital and at home. Having experienced a range of fully supportive and less than supportive births, I am committed to helping women have positive, supported births. Knowing that preparation for postpartum is absolutely irreplaceable, I offer counseling and ideas for ways to make the fourth trimester the special time it should be, while minimizing difficulties.

For the past decade I have been involved in the parenting community in myriad ways: parenting community leader, LLL Leader, lay-labor support, birth advocate, and now as a professional doula.

I am dedicated to a learning-all-the-time lifestyle and am constantly researching, reading and exploring the world. My love of the birth process led me to seek out training with Birth Arts International as a Labor and Postpartum Doula.

I believe that each mother knows deep down how she needs and wants to birth and parent, and see my top priority as helping mothers to find that personal parenting style. There is no one right way to birth or parent, and I love offering options and support to families on their parenting journey.

• On call starting 2 weeks before your expected due date
• Birth doula
• Breastfeeding support

I'm a student midwife looking to gain experience and attend as many births as possible in hospitals, at home and in birth centers.

• Birth doula
• Postpartum doula

This is your birth experience. As your doula, I am there to facilitate, and realize that this means something different for each individual.

• Labor Assistance
• Postpartum Support
• Lactation Counseling
• Supervised Homebirth Services
• Labor/Birth Tub Rental
• Belly Casting Services

I am committed to supporting you and your family during pregnancy, birth and beyond. Having a baby is a time of sacred transformation. It is my purpose and joy to support you and your family during this time by being a resource for evidence-based information on pregnancy, birth, the postpartum period and breastfeeding. During your labor I will be a constant presence, providing both physical and emotional support as you give birth to your baby. As your Labor Assistant it is my duty to provide you with the support you need during your time of transformation, thereby empowering you and your family for years to come.

I am an ALACE trained Labor Assistant and the mother of 3 children. My youngest child was born at home. I have completed a 45 hour Lactation Counselor Certificate Training Course. I am training to become an ALACE Childbirth Educator. I am a believer in birthing the way nature intended. I am at the beginning of my journey toward becoming a Midwife one day. I believe that all women in all settings deserve all-embracing support during labor, however they decide to birth, should they choose it.

• Prenatal meetings and postpartum visit and support
• Birth plan counseling
• Birth art sessions
• On call 24 hours, beginning two weeks before expected due date
• Knowledge of medical procedures, informational resource
• Continuous physical and emotional support throughout active labor
• Proficient in techniques for relieving labor discomfort
  • Massage, breathing, pressure points, labor positions, visualization, and relaxation techniques.
• Advocate for mother's wishes
• Breastfeeding education and assistance
• Childbirth education/preparation classes
• Lots of love and honor for the birthing family!

I am a birth enthusiast! I love having the opportunity to support and educate women and help prepare them for the awesome experience of birth and motherhood!

I have been a labor assistant for 8 years. My training began in Israel at The Misgav Ladach Birthing Hospital in Jerusalem, where I was trained in an intensive doula program and worked many hours on the labor and delivery floor. I began teaching childbirth education classes in Brooklyn 7 years ago and have continued to teach and attend births here in Amherst. I am currently in the CAPPA CBE certification program, and I am a certified DONA and CAPPA doula, as well as a CAPPA certified labor doula trainer.

I believe that every birthing mother deserves a doula who will help in creating an environment that is conducive to birth. I strive to help women discover and arouse their own innate birthing abilities. My goal is to help birthing women to have a wonderful birth experience and a beautiful birth memory!

• A continuum of care from Pregnancy through Infancy
• Birthing From Within® Childbirth Preparation Classes - 12 hour series, Immersions, and private sessions.
• Birthing from Within® Doula Support - Labor and Postpartum
• Birthing From Within® Birth Story Workshops
• Mama Journey Mindfulness Support Groups

My own journey through pregnancy, my son's birth, and becoming a mother was deeply transformative.
I realized that birth offers us a profound opportunity for personal growth, which can be very helpful in our parenting!
I have since been in training to offer mothers, their partners and newborns a unique and meaningful continuum of care from pregnancy through postpartum.

Please read below for more information, visit my website at www.mindfulbirthjourney.com, or just give me a call. I look forward to hearing from you!
(Sliding scale is available for all my offerings.)

In Birthing From Within® Childbirth Preparation Classes we learn Mindfulness practices (based on age old meditation traditions) which are proven to be very helpful for coping with pain, un-wished for surprises, and life postpartum. In BFW classes we also:

• Explore personal concerns and release fears with thought provoking processes and creative expression.
• We learn about and explore:
  • Creating the optimum environment for birth,
  • Labor physiology and psychology,
  • Home birth and hospital culture,
  • Handling un-wished for events and getting information and giving consent,
  • Finding your voice,
  • Birth from the baby's perspective,
  • Preparation for life postpartum - family, food, support.
  • Special class for Partners and much more.
• Each couple receives a BFW Keepsake Journal with over 200 pages of thoughtful questions for both you and your partner, from pregnancy through postpartum.
• My BFW classes are fun! We dance, sing, work with art materials, hear stories, and make friends.

• As a BFW doula, I offer you at least 6 hours of BFW classes, both in group and privately.
• My first consultation is free.
• I am on call for you anytime during day hours and then 24 hours a day after 37 weeks.
• I support you with Mindfulness techniques, and will support you and your partner in making your own best decisions.
• If wanted in labor, I can be very hands-on, and will massage, offer aromatherapy, hold hands, talk and breath with you.
• I will stay with you for the first few hours after your baby is born to help with breast-feeding and to get you nourishing food.
• I will visit you within three days of the birth, if possible, at your home.
• And again within the next month.

As a postpartum doula I will offer you basic house cleaning, and cooking and support you emotionally and physically in your care of your baby.

Mama Journey Mindfulness Support Groups

In the months that follow, you can come with your baby in the pre-crawling stage, or by yourself to practice Mindfulness with other mothers, have time to talk, and renew, and build community.

BFW Birth Story Workshops

You can also come for a 4 hour class and explore your birth experience through healing visualizations, drawing, and writing and sharing with other mothers. Partners are also welcome to this class.

I have over 60 hours of mentor and doula training with Pamela England, author and founder of the Birthing from Within® movement.
I have also trained with Michelle L'Esperance of Warm Welcome Doulas.
I have been offering my services to families in Western Mass. for two years. References available.
I bring my love of meditation, expressive art-making, mothering, children and families to all that I offer with Mindful Birth Journey.

• Labor and postpartum doula

Midwife in training looking to gain experience as a doula.

• Birth & Postpartum Doula
• Birthing from Within® Childbirth Classes
• Prenatal Yoga, Baby & Me Yoga, Tots & Tykes Itsy Bitsy Yoga®
• Fluent in Spanish

I discovered my passion for working with new moms and dads and their children after giving birth to my son Kai. I believe that the birth of a baby offers parents a profound opportunity for transformation, empowerment, and healing and that sharing yoga provides a unique opportunity for parents and children to connect with one another and themselves. I am committed to helping parents nurture themselves, so that they can nurture their children. As your doula and mentor, I will support you in birthing in awareness, regardless of where or how you birth. 

I have completed the Birthing From Within Art of Childbirth Mentorship training as well as doula training with local midwife Michelle L’Esperance and midwives in Mexico. I am a Registered Yoga Teacher, certified prenatal yoga instructor, and graduate of the 200-hour Forrest Yoga Foundation Teacher Training with Ana Forrest and the Tot and Tyke Itsy Bitsy Yoga teacher trainings. 

I offer Birthing from Within childbirth classes at Green River Yoga in Greenfield, and soon at Cradle in Northampton. I offer prenatal yoga, baby & me yoga, and Tots and Tykes Itsy Bitsy Yoga at Green River Yoga in Greenfield, Bhava Yoga in Brattleboro, and soon the Hadley Yoga Studio in Hadley.  My practice is inclusive, and I work with families from all income levels, single moms, young mothers, immigrant families, and LGBTQ families.

I offer a full array of birth support and care, including:

• Doula Care - Labor and Postpartum
• Homebirth Midwifery Care, including Water Births and VBAC
• Herbal Consultation and Classes
• Herbal Formulas to Support Pregnancy and Birth (Hot Mama Medicinals)
• Placental Encapsulation
• Fertility and Pre-Conception Counseling
• Well Woman Care
• Facilitated Mother/Baby Blessing Ceremonies

As a birth professional, my role is to promote and protect the health and wholeness of the birthing family, and to nurture their strength, courage and wisdom. Birth is always transformative, and it can also be joyful, creative, and empowering. My goal is for my clients to give birth with confidence and trust in their bodies.

As a mother, I know how special the time surrounding pregnancy and birth is, and also, how challenging it can be. Finding the support you and your family need and deserve during this unique passage is important. My priority is to help you connect with the people who are right for you, drawing on birth professionals and other caregivers as well as family, friends, and community.

I was raised in the Rocky Mountains and the deserts of Eastern Oregon, whose majestic landscapes inspired an early interest in plant medicine and natural healing. At 19, I began formal study to pursue this path, enrolling in a yearlong Clinical Herbalism program at the California School of Herbal Studies. I continued my extensive study of healing plants with a number of mentors over an eleven-year period. During this time, I also trained in massage and bodywork, studying at The Institute of Conscious Bodywork and Heartwood Institute in Northern California. Combining my knowledge of plant medicine and bodywork, I developed a private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area, and taught classes on herbal medicine.

In 1999, to pursue a growing interest in birth and midwifery, I became a DONA-certified Doula, and began attending births. Shortly thereafter, I began a 15 month apprenticeship with Cindy Haag, a homebirth midwife in the Bay Area. Following completion of my apprenticeship, I moved to New Mexico to pursue a 2 year training program at the Northern New Mexico Midwifery Center. There I received an Associate's of Science in Midwifery through the National College of Midwifery. In February of 2006, I sat for my certification exam and received the title of CPM (Certified Professional Midwife) from The North American Registry of Midwives.

Since moving to Massachusetts with my partner in the Spring of 2006, I have attended births both as a doula and midwife. I helped found an annual herbal conference, the Grassroots Community Herbal Convergence, and served as both Vice-President and then President of the Massachusetts Midwives Alliance. I gave birth to my son at home in the Fall of 2008, and, as he rounds the corner of 9 months out of the womb, I am excitedly returning to practice.

• Pre-natal, birth and postpartum

I have been a teacher for over 20 years, and have taught everything from infant and toddler pre-school to adult education for the handicapped. For six years I taught child development at the high school level, which included birth control, conception, pregnancy and birth. As a mother of three, pre-teen, tween, and teen, I am versed in all areas. After training and working at Cooley Dickinson for a short period as a post partum doula, the program ended. I continued to be interested in furthering my training as a doula. I took the birth doula training with Michelle L'Esperance in 2/08. I look forward to being of help to you as you bring into the world your miracle of life.

Birth doula support (see website for more information) includes:

• A preliminary interview
• One (or two, depending on length) prenatal visits with Mom (and her partner, if she so chooses) to learn more about each other and Mom's wishes for her labor. We will work on a birth plan (if desired) and discuss comfort measures.
• Unlimited phone and email support. 24 hour a day support beginning 3 weeks before your due date.
• Continuous labor support beginning at the start of active labor and ending one to two hours after birth (as you need and desire), including help initiating breastfeeding, if desired.
• One postpartum meeting about two weeks after delivery to recount and retell your labor and delivery, to screen for postpartum issues and to ask questions and provide resources and references as needed.

My personal philosophy is that every woman has the right and the authority to make the decisions that are right for her pregnancy, and her labor and delivery. My role as a doula is to stand with you - and with your partner - through this very special time in your life to help you achieve the birth you desire. I provide unbiased and unwavering support for you, for your baby and for those who love you both. It is your body, your baby, your birth. I am blessed and privileged to support women who are bringing life into the world.

Please see my website for more information about me.

• Preconception coaching
• Pre and Postnatal Pilates based classes
• Pre and Postnatal Massage
• Birth Doula
• Postpartum resources and phone/email support

As a Doula I am 100% there to support my clients - the Mama and her partner. I support all the choices available to a woman and don't believe that there is a "best way" to labor or give birth. I believe that however she or he arrives every baby's birth is natural.

• I offer kind and supportive help to birthing mothers and their partners during labor and delivery of their babies, as well as new baby/new family help after the baby's arrival.

After having 3 homebirths and one childbirth center birth myself, I know about the strength, courage and empowerment that comes from the profound and truly wonderful life experience of giving birth to a baby - a miracle!

I would love to offer my services to birthing families, and help them have a positive birth/life experience.

• Birth doula
• Free interview
• 2-4 prenatal visits and 1 postpartum visit
• Email & phone support
• On call 24/7 starting at 38 weeks
• Constant labor support
• Photography if wanted

I believe that every birthing mother should have all the support that she needs so that her birth experience is a positive and joyful one.

I am the mother of two girls, each with different birth stories, one being an unplanned cesarean with no labor and the second being a successful and un-medicated VBAC. I am DONA trained and very excited to be working as a doula. For more information please visit my website.

• Labor Doula
• 2 visits before birth; 2 after
• Works with spouse to help support the mother
• Speaks passable Spanish

I believe that Better Beginnings happen for mothers and babies when the mother and her caregivers develop a relationship with the doula before labor, a relationship, based on openness, trust and information.

Services include:

• -monthly prenatal visits
• birth plan counseling
• unlimited phone and email support
• unconditional constant physical and emotional support throughout labor until 2 hours after the birth
• whenever you feel your labor has started, I will be there
• knowledge of the emotions as well as the physiology of the labor process
• effective positions for labor and birth
• relaxation and massage techniques
• early breastfeeding support
• two visits for postpartum care, with more available if you need them
• on call availability starting at 37 weeks
• sliding fee scale, I will never turn anyone away for financial reasons!

I have been fascinated with childbirth ever since my mother told me the story of how I was born. Little did she know it would affect me the way it did! I have been a DONA trained doula since 2007 and have a passion for all things related to childbirth.

I recently spent 4 months in South Africa, studying community health and specifically childbirth and maternal health. I attended over 30 births, including several cesarean sections.

Although I am a strong advocate for natural birth, I understand that every woman deserves to have the childbirth of her choice. Women also deserve to be educated about all the choices available to them. I also believe that the role of a doula is to educate, support and empower women through the childbearing process.

I have experience with natural childbirth, water birth, epidural birth, cesarean birth (both in South Africa and in the US), twin births and many more of the amazing things that can happen during childbirth!

I love this work, it is my passion! As your doula, I am there to make sure you have the birth you want, the birth you deserve; I am there to serve you.

• Doula Training Workshops and Mentoring Program
• Postpartum Doula Workshops
• Creative Movement for Birth
• Pre-conception Counseling
• Birth Doula Care
• Postpartum Doula Care (day or night)
• Free initial consultation
• Inclusive of all family configurations: LGBTQ, adoptive, single parents, stepfamilies, or traditional
• Support for loss or birth after loss
• VBAC, multiples
• Natural breech-to-vertex support

Women approach their pregnancies, birthing-times, and early months of parenting with such a wide range of beliefs, hopes, and personal history.

For some women, birth is an exciting physical/athletic challenge; akin to a high mountain ascent. While it may be daunting, there is also the potential for a meaningful inner experience, and ultimately an exhilarating victory.

For some, it is a spiritual or religious rite of passage; an invitation to deepen in faith and trust, and to welcome a new soul into their family and the world.

For some, it is a frightening unknown; a time to revisit and hopefully revise self-perceptions around issues of strength, power, knowledge, safety, and trust. Sometimes past negative experiences resurface during the pregnancy, prompting women to reach a new level of healing and resolution.

For some parents, birth is the passage into a much longed-for life as a family; the joyful welcoming of a child after uncertainties of infertility or assisted conception.

For some women, it is a solitary passage into motherhood. By choice or circumstance, single mothers are called upon to dig deep for courage and strength.

For most of us, birth is a marvelous homegrown hybrid of several of these meanings. As your birth doula, I'm interested in hearing what this pregnancy and baby are to you; and developing a deep understanding of how I can be of service to your growing family.

Families of all configurations, beliefs, and birth plans are welcome. I support women in home or hospital; natural, epidural, c-section, VBAC, birth after loss, birth for adoption, and multiples.

I've been honored to walk this path with women and families for over thirteen years. While each birth is unique, there are also common themes in the passage. My role is to serve as an experienced companion and guide, supporting your highest hopes and shining a light on your own wisdom, courage, and strength.

• labor doula support
• prenatal Thai Yoga bodywork
• resources for community services and evidence-based information
• postpartum support and overnight care

A positive birth experience can empower and transform you and your partner, ensuring a positive beginning in your new roles as parents.

Believing your baby and your body are meant to work naturally together toward birth, my role as a doula is to provide emotional and physical support to you and to your partner during labor, birth, and during the postpartum as you move forward as a family.

Being connected to community services and accessing evidence-based information is very important during this time, and my role as a doula extends to providing access to these resources.

I am a certified labor doula and a certified postpartum doula (Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association/CAPPA). I have completed childbirth education training through CAPPA as well. I have a master's degree in anthropology with a focus in medical anthropology and the postpartum issues of stress, anxiety and depression. I offer postpartum overnight services as I believe sleep is essential to health and that sleep deprivation can exacerbate postpartum issues.

I also offer Prenatal Thai Yoga bodywork, which is particularly beneficial for women seeking to ease the natural stresses of adapting physically, mentally, and emotionally to pregnancy. In the comfort of your home, wearing clothing that allows you to move, I provide a gentle and relaxing one hour massage. I bring a professional grade massage mat and you bring out your favorite pillows!

• Birth Doula and Postpartum Doula support

I am trained as a doula as well as an assistant midwife by Ina May Gaskin on the Farm in Tennessee. My specialty is postpartum doula; I have run a childcare business for 29 years and have as of today raised 90 infants from 2 weeks to 12 yrs old. Evening hours and overnight availability.

After almost 30 years of raising them, I am enjoying the redirection of assisting in their arrival! There is nothing more rewarding than helping two people become a family. I am still working in the childcare field and am raising children from 2 weeks and up!

• Free initial interview
• Four prenatal visits
• On call period from 37 weeks to birth
• Continuous support during labor
• One postpartum visit

Birth is a thousand things, all of them deeply personal. As a woman who has experienced both cesarean and vaginal births, I have an intimate understanding of how the journey from pregnancy into early parenthood can take us to places we never expected to go. My interest as a doula is to help women envision the birth that feels right for them, while acknowledging the great unknown of how any labor may feel and progress. Every woman has her own unique strengths, as does every relationship, and I seek to honor the individual process of each woman and her partner(s).

I've received both doula and midwifery training, and have been attending births since 2005. I'm comfortable with labors and births in home and hospital settings and have a fondness for waterbirths. I've also worked extensively with women around cesarean and VBAC issues.

Before, during, and after birth support for moms, babies, and those who love them.

Birth Services include:

• A free preliminary interview with mothers (and support partner if preferred).

• Two to four prenatal visits to get to know the mother,the birth plan, and expectations for the upcoming birth. During this time we will discuss coping techniques, practice positioning, and identify the ways in which I can be most helpful during pregnancy, labor, birth, and postpartum.

• Unlimited access to phone and email support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Also included is access to my ever-growing library of pregnancy, birth, and parenting books, movies, and other resources.

• Labor support beginning when I join a mom in early or active labor and continuing through the birth and into the postpartum time. Labor assistance includes the physical (massage, positioning, aromatherapy, coping techniques), emotional (guided meditation, encouragement) and informational (clarification of terms and procedures, advocate for birth plan, communicative link between mom and healthcare providers) guidance for mom and those who are present to offer her love and support at the birth.

• After birth presence, where I can assist in initiating breastfeeding at this time if the mother so wishes.

• Birth services conclude with a postpartum visit to the family home after the birth as a time to check in with mom, screen for postpartum issues, facilitate connections to the community, and to recount and share in the birth story.

My birth philosophy is that every woman deserves a satisfying and secure space in which to birth. As a doula, I work to facilitate the creation and maintenance of that sacred space before, during, and after birth through emotional, physical, and information support for mothers and their families. Just as each individual is unique, so are births and those that support mothers during this special time. All services are tailored to meet the specific needs and preferences of clients in order to provide the support that will best fit moms, babies, and those who love them.

I am interested in working with women and families of all shapes, sizes, expression, formation, and self-definitions. I am open to journeying with clients through birth plans of any composition ; including but not limited to, natural, low intervention, medicated, Caesarean, VBAC, hospital, birth center, home, and water births. I have knowledge of aromatherapy, pressure points for use in labor, massage, guided meditation, moxibustion, use of the faja/rebozo (labor shawl), and labor positioning; all of which I seek to use according to the needs of clients. I currently serve women and families in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts and may take clients located in the greater Hartford, Connecticut area.

I proudly hold a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences and a certificate in the study of culture, health, and science with a focus on women’s health from Mt. Holyoke College (cum laude, 2009). This is where my interest and passion for maternal and child health was first sparked and encouraged to grow across the multiple disciplines of biology, anthropology, religion, art, economics, and politics. I am currently pursuing graduate studies through a master’s in public health (MPH) program with a concentration in community health education at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. I am also a trained sexual health educator and small group/workshop facilitator.

I participated in a DONA approved birth doula training with Tara Poulin, CD(DONA), CCCE(CAPPA) from Birthing Gently and completed my postpartum doula training with Michelle L’Esperance, CPM from Warm Welcome Birth Services. I am certified in first aid care through the American Red Cross and infant/adult CPR through the American Heart Association. I am also a certified small watercraft safety instructor and a nationally certified pharmacy technician (CPhT).

Temporary volunteer doula support as I gain experience and complete my certification. I completed the doula training workshop with Michelle L'Esperance.

Support Services:

• prenatal
• birth doula
• newborn care
• breastfeeding
• cloth diapering
• babywearing
• postpartum

The experience of the birth of my son, upon a foundation of a deep rooted interest in supporting the health and wellbeing of families, blossomed into an inspiration to help couples actualize the birth of their dreams and begin their journey together as gently as possible.

As I continue on my journey toward becoming a certified nurse midwife, I look forward to supporting families as a doula.

• Birth Doula
• Postpartum Doula
• Herbal Consultations
• Fertility Counseling
• Kundalini Yoga Classes
• Birth Tub Rentals
• Henna Adornment
• Belly Casts

I am a doula and student midwife practicing in the Valley since 2000. I believe it is my duty as a young midwife to serve the women and families in my community not only as an educated birth attendant, but also as a friend and fellow mother. Having a baby is a time of change and amazement which should be protected and nurtured. In my doula practice I focus on developing the relationship between myself and the family to establish trust and confidence so that I may serve their highest intentions and visions. It is my job to inform your choices, but not to choose for you. I have a lending library with books,videos and DVDs. I provide all the information that I can and stand in full support of the choices each mother makes for herself and her family. I believe it is only in empowering the inner knowing that we can make truly informed choices. I guide a woman to trust herself and her body and safe guard the birth so that it may be as gentle as possible for the baby. Although I strongly encourage natural birth and am trained in natural pain coping techniques, I also believe that a woman's ability to relax into her birthing experience is more important than anything else. I fully support women who choose to use pain medication.

In addition to birth attendance, a large part of my practice is in supporting the postpartum family as they transition into parenthood. A well supported mother ensures an easier time for the whole family and a happier baby. As a postpartum doula I help women with whatever is most needed in their individual family. This can include reviewing and processing the birth experience, breastfeeding support and troubleshooting, massage, cooking/preparing foods and medicinal teas, light housekeeping, errands, chores, childcare and resource referrals. I believe that the postpartum support is just as crucial to the success of the childbearing years as labor support. The first few weeks and months following the brith should be focused on bonding with the baby, healing the body, establishing a healthy rhythm, and creating effective systems of organization and family responsibilities. I often give a lot of nutritional and herbal support during this time.

Both my labor support and postpartum practices are tailored to fit each individual family. This is what support is all about. I am here to help you get what you want and need, not to tell you what you want and need. On the flip side, I can understand that it may not always be easy to know what would be the best thing to do or what needs to get done. As a mother of two young children I can help prioirtize. From the ancient yogic teachings, we learn that the mother is a sacred vessel of creation and that her attitude and happiness affect the wellbeing of her children and partner. I am honored to do this work in reverence and respect for the creative force and the precious life that we are given here on the planet. Thank you.

• Birth and Postpartum doula care
• Massage therapy and Reiki for doula clients

Offering services as a volunteer as I complete my doula certification.

Prenatal, Birth & Postpartum Services:

• free initial consultation
• 2-3 prenatal visits, as needed/desired
• assistance in developing a birth plan
• unlimited email & phone (9 a.m. to 10 p.m.) support throughout pregnancy
• on-call beginning two weeks before your expected due date
• supportive presence (emotional, physical and informational) throughout labor and birth, and immediately after
• 1 postpartum visit
• breastfeeding assistance & support
• sliding scale

Where to begin? I have had an enduring interest in childbirth since my own two wonderful daughters were born. Having had fulfilling, uncomplicated pregnancies and unmedicated births at a time when personalized, non-medical pregnancy and labor support was virtually nonexistent, I consider myself fortunate to have had the birth experiences I'd hoped for.

Over the years, I kept abreast of changes in the childbirth field through reading and discussion with other mothers. But, it wasn't until 2007 when my younger daughter decided to get a master's in public health with an emphasis on women's reproductive health that I thought seriously about finding a role for myself in the field. I decided to be trained as a birth doula.

Having majored in a scientific field, I am partial to an empirical approach in my work as a doula. I am also knowledgeable of a variety of traditional techniques that have been effective in childbirth through the ages, and I am always open to trying "whatever works" or is desired by a particular woman.

I believe that an effective doula's greatest assets are an abundance of compassion for a birthing woman, a deep respect for the natural process of birth, and an appreciation of the value of teamwork in a medical environment. Each of us has a distinct function in assisting and supporting the process of birth.

To me, pregnancy and childbirth are arguably the most significant, dramatic and transformative experiences life offers to women and their partners, and I consider it an honor to be allowed to play a supportive role during this important time in their lives. My goals are to increase a woman's confidence as she enters this period and to facilitate as comfortable and uncomplicated a birth experience as is possible for each woman, given her respective circumstances, beliefs and desires. I would like nothing more than for her to look back many years later, as I do, and know that she had the best possible birth.

• Offering labor support and postpartum doula services.
• Special interest in multiples, providing support for non-traditional families (adoptive, GLBT, surrogate), and writing, particularly related to birth and pregnancy.

As an newly trained doula, I am currently seeking birth experiences to practice my skills.

I eagerly look forward to helping mothers achieve an empowered, responsible birth, regardless of location or level of intervention. Though a strong advocate for natural childbirth and midwifery care, I believe that it is important to offer support for all women regardless of their path to and through pregnancy, labor, birth, and homecoming.

As your birth doula, I will write my version of your birth story as a keepsake for you and your family. I will offer this to you at the follow-up postpartum visit in the days after your child's birth, and will assist you int writing from your point of view if you wish.

As a birth mother of five children (two sets of twins and one singleton), I have had wonderful experiences that have moved me to help others achieve beautiful, satisfying births and “babymoons.” I have personal experience breastfeeding multiples and can offer insight into how to breastfeed under challenging circumstances. Completed four-day training with Michelle L'Esperance.

• Free consultation
• 2 prenatal visits at your home or location of choice
• Continuous labor support from the time you wish until about 2 hours postpartum
• Labor support at home, in birth center, or hospital, will go to desired birth location with you.
• On call 24/7 from two weeks before your due date until your birth.
• Love, advocacy, education
• 2 postpartum visits
• Unlimited phone and email support
• More visits if needed
• Sliding fee scale
• Answer any questions you might have at every visit and provide education.
• Help create/edit birth plan
• Meet with care provider if you wish
• Massage, comfort techniques for pregnancy and birth.
• Your Birth Story
• Photography/Videography
• Anything else Just ask!

As a doula my goal is to help women birth to their full potential in an empowering, beautiful, and spiritual way of their choice by providing continuous, personal, and loving support.

I received my training as and am working to become a midwife, and was fortunate enough to assist a homebirth midwife for a few months before moving to Western MA. My background as a student midwife lends knowledge of birth practices and medical procedures, in addition to just a deep personal interest! I look forward to meeting with you and your family to help provide a positive birth experience.

• free initial consultation
• birth doula services
• prenatal & postpartum massage
• private yoga instruction to manage prenatal & postpartum adjustments
• sliding scale fee
• gift certificates are available!

I believe that nurturing & supporting mothers leads to healthier happier families, and that leads to a more peaceful society.

In supporting women during pregnancy, labor, birth, & beyond, I have found a path where all of my skills as a yoga teacher, massage therapist, and compassionate human being are brought together in harmony. As a practitioner, I love being a supportive element in a woman's life as she adapts to the many changes of pregnancy & motherhood. Many women step into my office feeling anxious, stressed, exhausted, or uncomfortable in their changing bodies, but they leave feeling peaceful, nurtured, and at ease. When a woman receives massage on a regular basis throughout her pregnancy, we create a routine that is relaxing & familiar. When I accompany that same woman during her labor, that routine becomes an anchor that helps her to feel grounded and secure despite the flood of emotions and sensations that may arise. I have found compassionate & skillful therapeutic touch to be the greatest tool that I have as a birth doula. Of course, massage & doula service are both available individually and clients do not need to receive both in order to receive one.

As a doula, I honor every woman's individual decisions about her birth. I have attended natural births that were completely free from medical intervention, and I have attended births where women have chosen to utilize pain medication. What is important to me, is that each woman feel empowered & supported throughout her birthing experience.

Also, I consider postpartum massage to be just as helpful as (perhaps even more helpful than) prenatal massage. Even though the baby is now born, he or she is still attached to you for all intents & purposes, and lifting, carrying, and nursing a growing baby can be very physically demanding. Massage can relieve physical discomfort as well as help a mother to cope with interrupted sleep, and the mental & emotional challenges of adapting to life with a newborn.

It is my joy to support women into & throughout the journey of motherhood.

• Several prenatal visits as needed
• On-call from 38 weeks
• Attendance at the labor and delivery
• 1-3 visits postpartum as needed

I trained to be a doula because I love sharing, with women and their partners, this extraordinary experience of pregnancy and childbirth.

In times past, various women performed the doula role during the birth process: mothers, grandmothers, aunts, wise elder women, etc. Now, when communities are often so fragmented, we need to consciously create that support system.

I offer reliable support and comfort. I help to create an environment of safety that encourages the laboring mom’s body to open, soften, and do what comes naturally. Whether the couple has chosen a natural birth, or one aided by medical intervention such as induction, epidural, or cesarean, I can advocate for their wishes during the birth. I do this by getting to know the woman and partner, and by understanding their goals and expectations in advance.

The support I offer includes a wide range of methods to help the baby enter the world, including labor positions, breathing techniques, and ways to prepare for the birth during pregnancy. I also have experience working with people who have high levels of anxiety, having supported such clients throughout their pregnancy and birth. The postpartum period is crucial for the wellbeing of the new mom and her family and I offer postpartum doula services as well. Sliding scale fees.

• Prenatal and Postpartum visits.
• Assistance creating a birth plan.
• I have (with a local collaborator) written a pregnancy resource and information book to share with clients.
• I will be on-call for you 24/7 from 37 weeks until your birth.
• Emphasis on Nutritional Support before and after the birth (In addition to going over dietary recommendations I can provide meals or cook in your home if that is a set-up that works for you).
• Lactation support.
• Assistance with family adjustment and support in the home and with siblings.
• Experience as a postpartum doula for both singletons and twins.
• Photography services (I have done private contracted work for families, non-profits and schools).
• I am open to sliding-scale payment options based on individual need.

I came to being a doula by way of a passion for female reproductive rights. I believe that it is the entitlement of all women to have access to the health care they desire. In my work as a doula I have sought to create a model where that is applicable to all women, and have focused my work largely with single and young mothers in addition to a private clientele. I am able to offer guidance in obtaining local Public Assistance for women and children in Western Mass.

As a doula I offer whole support and am completely open to doing sliding-scale pay-rates to enable doula-supported births for all women. I believe in the sacredness of all ways that families grow and evolve and have had experience doing home care for adopted infants and their new parents.

In addition to birth work I have done sex education in an international sphere, and am involved with an array of local non-profits aiming to serve and enable mothers from all backgrounds. My doula care includes prenatal visits, nutritional consultation, birth and labor support, postpartum care, lactation support and can be catered to the needs of individual families.

I have experience assisting a midwife in a clinical setting and bring with me great knowledge of fetal positioning and optimal birth positioning from that work.

I am devoted to providing unbiased and continuous support that melds with all lifestyles via a model of candid care-giving.

• Birth Doula
• Postpartum Doula
• Nanny
• Free Consultation
• Birth Photographer

As a birth doula, I will provide 2-3 prenatal visits, depending on how far along you are in your pregnancy when we meet. During your labor, I will provide physical, emotional, and informational support for you and your family. After birth, I will provide one 3-hour visit with you and your newborn at your house.

I have a special interest in multiples (extensive experience as a nanny with multiples), low-income teenage mothers (as I was one myself) and non-traditional families (I am part of one). I am supportive of all faiths, family orientations and birth plans.

As a postpartum doula and nanny, I have had the pleasure to work with many families in raising their children, and help new parents adjust to parenthood. I will provide a sense of ease with my knowledge of newborn care. I will help guide you into a routine that works for your family and lifestyle. As a nanny for over 8 years, I am able to jump into most any household and maintain a sense of balance and peace by staying ahead of daily chores, including laundry, dishes, meal prep, pet care and errands. With me I will bring great knowledge of newborns, multiples, and older siblings.

I am also available to help new parents with information on baby products and gear. I can provide recommendations on the top rated baby products: car seats, strollers, breast pumps, etc.

I am starting my first year of Midwifery at Woman Craft Midwifery, in hopes to become a CPM. I am excited for this journey to begin, one family at a time.

I look forward to working with your family.

• Birth doula

I believe a woman's body was created with the ability to birth normally, and desire to protect each unique experience of birth for each woman through sharing knowledge and unconditionally supporting her informed decisions.

• 1 to 2 prenatal and one postpartum visit in your home
• Birth preferences and "wish list" counseling
• Unlimited phone consultations
• Twenty-four hour on call service from the time we contract
• Early labor support individualized to client's need
• Continuous emotional and physical support for laboring woman and partner throughout labor, delivery and early postpartum
• Knowledge of emotional and physiological stages of labor
• Up to date knowledge of medical procedures and ability to answer questions regarding these procedures
• Many techniques for relieving labor discomfort including massage, breathing, pressure points, labor positions, visualization, aromatherapy and relaxation techniques.

Experience with birth:

• Trained and certified by DONA (Doulas of North America) in 1998
• Actively attending births as a certified doula since 1998
• Certified as Childbirth Educator by ALACE and actively teaching since 2006
• Have experience with vaginal births, VBAC, cesarean, twin births and water births
• Fully insured
• CPR certified
• Mother of one son
• I have attended births at Franklin Medical Center, Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Baystate Medical Center, Berkshire Medical Center, Holyoke Hospital, Fairview Hospital, as well as many home births.

• Birth Support
• Postpartum Support

My intention as a doula is to meet women where they are and be a trusted, honest, humble presence on the journey into motherhood. As a birth doula, I hope to ease your passage through labor by providing respectful, skilled, effective physical support and unwavering, loving, non-judgmental emotional support as well as unbiased, evidence-based information to help you make choices that are best for you and your family. As a postpartum doula, I hope to care for you, your family and your home so that you can care for your new baby.

• Doula Services:
  • Free consultation
  • 2+ prenatal visits
  • 1+ postpartum visit
  • Email & phone support
  • 24 hour on call service at 38 weeks
  • Labor & postpartum support
  • Sliding scale fee available
• Massage & Sound Therapy
  • Prenatal & postpartum
  • Partner training
  • Partner massage
  • Gift certificates available

My own personal journey into motherhood has led me to my love of birthing and doula work. I have three children whom I birthed in a hospital, a free standing birth clinic and at home. I learned about three very important aspects of myself along the way.

• The first was my voice. I have been a singer my whole life, but I did not know the depth or power of my own voice until the birth of my first child. It was there that I found my voice and its ability to move energy inside my body. I speak of this voice both as an inner soulful voice as well as a physical voice that moves both emotional & physical energy.

• The second thing I became aware of was my body's innate capabilities. I discovered that my body was created to birth (among other things) and that all I needed to do was get my head out of the way of the birthing process. Trusting my body and my voice brought me great strength and power in birthing, parenting and life.

• The third part was finding the power within myself, within my soul. It was my birth experiences that brought me the acute awareness of this amazing combination of the power of the voice, the power of the body & the power of the soul. It is these three things that keep me coming back for more. It is these three things that I enjoy experiencing and honoring in myself and other women through doula work.

I started my working journey as a nanny in 1989. I cared for infants through 12 year olds for 10 years. In 1993 I started my journey in the healing arts. In the past 17 years I have studied Shiatsu, Muscular Therapy, prenatal & postpartum massage, Samvahan Vibrational Massage, Sound Healing, & Muscle Release Technique.

It is my goal to utilize all the knowledge and experience I have gathered in my life to support women through this transformative and powerful experience of birth and early parenting. I am honored and grateful to be involved in work that empowers women, and therefore children and families and the world!

• DONA-trained birth doula services
• Reiki during labor
• Licensed hand and foot massage during labor
• Reflexology
• Belly casting
• Postpartum doula services

Birth is the most natural thing that our bodies know how to do. Let me help make this a wonderful experience for you. As a doula, it is my pleasure to make you as comfortable as possible. This means to me supporting you in every way, from advocating for your birth plan choices, creating a relaxing labor space, coaching, to reiki and massage. Hands on or hands off, your choice. Working with alternative to conventional methods. It is all about you and your sweet baby.

I also offer postpartum services for the family. This can include cooking a meal, help with breast feeding, running errands, and helping take care of the baby or babies, of course. C-section moms and moms of multiples really benefit from this as well.