I have been a professional doula and childbirth educator since 2004 encompassing 535+ births. I am comfortable working in all birth settings, serving at 28 DFW area hospitals, 12 DFW area birth centers, and dozens of homebirths. I have extensive experience with the full spectrum of birth choices, including waterbirths, VBAC’s, natural births, induced and medicated labors, stillbirths and cesarean births.
I limit my client load to three doula clients per month, because my commitment is to attend all of my own clients’ births. I do not share call with anyone else. Although many care providers honor me by referring clients to me, I am neither employed by nor paid by any care providers, birth institutions, or insurance companies. I enjoy working well with my clients’ OB doctors, nurses and midwives- but I only work FOR my clients.
I personally attend over 96% of my clients’ births. I do have relationships with a number of DFW area doulas who I can call on for backup in the extremely rare occasions that I am unable to immediately go to a birth when called. In these rare situations, I use seasoned doulas as my backup, not doula trainees, to ensure that my clients have the level of professional doula expertise they expect when they hire me.
I love to get to know my clients as people, and stay in touch with them between pregnancies. It is my joy to serve families for all of their family’s births and be the first person they call when they get pregnant again, or even to stay in touch each month while they are trying to conceive!
Birth is an emotionally charged, momentous occasion. Some clients need extra nurturing and support in labor, free from fear of judgment or feeling that they are being “weak”. Sometimes labor can bring strong feelings to the surface from a complicated emotional history- such as anxiety, fear of pain, infertility, previous loss or trauma- and having a calm, empathetic companion in labor can help.
While the majority of my clients prefer a natural birth and to breastfeed, I also serve clients who want Doula support for their induced labor, scheduled cesarean, or who plan to use pain medication or formula feed. My only agenda for each client’s birth is the individual client’s preference.
When labor does not go according to plan, making the decision to deviate from their birth plan can be stressful for the birthing couple. Because I work in many settings and see multiple ways of handling common issues when they occur, I can remain objective under stress and help the couple explore all their options so they can make the best choice for their circumstances.
