Many times over the years, women in my Prenatal Yoga classes have asked if I offer birth support. I would joke that they were welcome to call while in labour and I could chant to them down the line or remind them to breathe and send their energy dowwwwwn. To be honest, I’ve felt like my job has become more and more about providing a space to support women (and connect them to each other) during the massive physical, hormonal, mental, emotional, relational changes of pregnancy and lead up to birth and less about just how you can modify a sun salutation for a pregnant body.
I’ve been honoured to be part of so many women’s journeys and thrilled when they send me photos and share stories of which things we did in class helped, no matter how birth unfolded for them. Often women come back to practice yoga again with their precious ones and it feels like the best reunion! But for me it has felt like there’s been a big wide gap in between… So, in 2022 with my youngest baby headed off to primary school I finally answered the call and dived into Birth Support training with the amazingly knowledgeable, experienced and inimitable Rhea Dempsey.
Just exactly WHAT a doula or birth support person or birth keeper or spiritual midwife does is sometimes hard to define. Rhea refers to it simply as “being with”. On top of this, each doula brings their own special sauce or skills or things they might be able to ‘do’ to the mix – some are also masseurs, or naturopaths, or aromatherapists or body workers or yoga teachers! But first and foremost it’s about the being not the doing.
I employed a doula for my first birth over 15 years ago, because women who had walked the path ahead of me and whom I trusted recommended that I do so…. but ahead of time I was actually a little confused about what she would “do”. However once we were in the thick of it, the penny dropped. She really wasn’t “doing” much at all, but I felt very clearly that she was totally there for me. Because I’d gotten to know her, because I felt seen and listened to and simply supported, because she knew birth and trusted that I could do it, I trusted that I could too! And guess what? studies back up what I experienced; Women who receive continuous support generally have better birth outcomes as well as reporting higher levels of satisfaction with their birthing experiences overall.
So… here I am now offering to ‘be with’ you.
I have now had 3 children of my own, all born into water and 2 born at home. I trust birth and I trust that you and your body were made to birth your baby!
If you live in the Geelong, Bellarine or Surfcoast area and would like to chat to me about possibly supporting you in 2023 through your pregnancy and birth please get in touch and we can arrange a time to have a phone chat and see if we might be a good fit. I can also email you through a breakdown of my pricing and packages. When we speak you might have questions for me, or points you’d like to clarify and vice versa. We need to both feel sure that we click, and will make a kick-ass team (together with anyone else you plan to have at your birth) when the time comes for your baby to enter the world.
Once we have agreed to embark on our journey together we’ll schedule 3 to 4 home visits of approximately 90 minutes at times that suit us. I’d recommend if you are partnered, that they are present too, at least after our first meeting. We will get the chance to know each other better, to discuss your pregnancy journey so far, plus any hopes, fears, dreams you may have for your birth as well as for your 4th trimester. I can share books/resources and point you in the direction of further information around labour and birth if needed. We will look at how to write a birthplan and once you’ve worked on it in your own time we can go over it together. We can workshop how your pre and early labour might play out and how you might set up a birth circuit in your own home. If you are birthing in hospital we can discuss a gameplan that you are comfortable with regarding how and when to get there, and what you might like to bring with you to help you feel comfortable, safe and relaxed. In a hospital setting sometimes a doula can also help advocate for you if need be (or help you and your partner understand and weigh up any medical procedures or measures/interventions offered) but it’s never within our scope of practice to tell you what to do! It’s always absolutely your call. And we just support you in that. If you are birthing at home I can liase with your midwife and be of any help needed… eg caring for older children, cooking, filling birth pools, chanting mantras! whatever you need.
Being your doula will mean that I am on call for you from 38 weeks gestation until your baby is born. And to the best of my abilities I will provide continuous (non medical) support to you throughout your birth and for the first few hours postpartum.
Depending on your needs I can visit and support you as much as you need in your first few weeks with bub too (and we can work this out ahead of time or on the fly) – this might look like shopping, cooking wholesome, nutritious meals, helping with older children, cleaning, birth debriefing, emotional support, baby wearing while you nap… mmmm
But first let’s just chat and see where we are at 🙂
Postcript: I now have a page with prices and packages…. see tabs above and click on Doula/Birth Support 🙂
Matri Yoga 