What is a Birth Doula?
A certified birth doula provides continuous, non-judgemental, non-medical, physical, and emotional presence, support, and guidance before, during and shortly after childbirth. Research shows that birth doula support can significantly impact how a family experiences birth.
Birth support follows your lead and may include:
A complimentary, no obligation meet and greet.
2-3 in-person prenatal visits to get to know each other and to offer assistance in:
Figuring out what is important to you (and what is not) and learning how best I can support you and advocate with you.
Identifying comfort measures that may work best for you including the option to borrow a TENS machine at no extra cost.
Amy is a Certified BRM Pro® in the Body Ready Method® and also has experience with Spinning Babies®. There are opportunities to work on physical preparations for birth in our sessions with movement prescription for you to practice between our visits.
Learning how to express colostrum during pregnancy (if you wish) - a complimentary colostrum collect kit will be provided and feeling prepared and confident to breastfeed your baby (or however you choose to feed your baby).
Planning for the postpartum period.
Text and phone support throughout your pregnancy and early postpartum.
Continuous physical and emotional support for your labour beginning in your home and continuing to the hospital, birthing centre, or remaining at home for birth.
The birth doula does not replace the birth partner! The doula helps the partner find ways to support the birthing person and know what is normal and what is helpful to do next.
Taking photos to capture special moments if you wish.
Assisting with first breastfeeding or other feeding method.
A postpartum visit to provide breastfeeding support (or other feeding method), reflect on the birth, and pass along postpartum resources as needed (additional breastfeeding and newborn support visits are also available, please inquire).
Investment - 3 payments of $516.67 + gst ($1550 + gst)
(Due to generous donations from families that have received support, doula care may be offered on a sliding scale to support anyone with financial barriers. Please inquire. If you would like to make a donation, please connect!)
“Amy was incredibly insightful and supportive in both the prenatal meetings and for the whole labour and delivery. Thanks to Amy's calming, maternal demeanour and her practical suggestions I was able to have the natural, unmedicated birth that I was hoping for. It was such an amazing and empowering experience and I couldn't have done it without her. She stayed by my side and kept me informed the whole time, and she was always looking for ways to make me more comfortable. Even in the chaos of the delivery room she was able to capture some beautiful photos of my daughter and I. Amy truly exceeded my expectations. I will always be grateful to have had Amy by my side and I believe any woman would be lucky to have her support.”
Courtney K, Calgary
“I will admit that I had no idea what a doula was prior to having Amy join us for guidance and support as we prepared to welcome our first child. My wife mentioned that she would like a doula and we signed up for an event where you could meet many different doulas in one day - one of those that we met at this event was Amy. Amy brought a sense of warmth/comfort, knowledge and candor when we first met her. We are people that thrive on information and Amy was able to provide background and context to our questions. We wanted to make sure that we also felt at ease inviting a person we barely knew into our home and personal life - there was never any hesitation in asking Amy to join us on our journey.
How you expect the birth to go and how it actually goes do not always line up - we found this out the hard way. A month before the due date high blood pressure readings took us to the hospital for what we thought would be a quick 1 - 2 hour check up for my wife and our baby. It turned out that we were in a more serious situation than we expected. Over the next 24 hours things progressed rapidly. We called on Amy to join us and she was there almost instantaneously. She stayed with us through all of the difficult decisions we needed to make and provided a great deal of emotional support to my wife and myself. I was happy to have Amy there with us through this difficult time.
I would enthusiastically recommend Amy to anyone looking for a doula.”
Michael B, Calgary
Postpartum Doula Support
What is a Postpartum Doula?
Bringing home a newborn is a very special event. As exciting as it is, support can be a welcome addition.
A certified postpartum doula provides evidence-based, non-judgemental information and care to help a family adjust in those first days, weeks, or months after bringing home a new baby or babies. Postpartum care looks different for every family and can be customized to your needs. It may begin immediately after birth, a few days later, or even weeks postpartum as you understand your needs.
Postpartum support follows your lead and may include:
A complimentary, no obligation meet and greet.
An in-person prenatal visit to prepare for the postpartum time including feeling confident to breastfeed your baby (or however you choose to feed your baby).
Assisting with breastfeeding latch and different positions (or support on however you choose to feed your baby).
Caring for the adults so they can care for the baby.
Learning your baby’s cues for feeding, sleeping, and soothing.
Overnight care (not always available, inquire about availability).
Support for families with multiples.
Caring for older siblings and helping them adjust.
Light household tasks including meal prep and laundry.
Current, evidence-based answers to your questions as well as tips and tricks.
Helping everyone develop skills to build a confident, healthy family - whatever that looks like for you!.
Investment $42.50 + gst/hr
(Due to generous donations from families that have received support, doula care may be offered on a sliding scale to support anyone with financial barriers. Please inquire. If you would like to make a donation, please connect!)
“Amy was very supportive and informative. She helped me adjust my breastfeeding to make the latch better. I use her strategy every time I breastfeed! She was willing to accommodate our schedule and needs and has a calmness and soft nature that she adopted with my babies. She was an angel.”
J & P, Calgary area
“Amy was such a wonderful presence in our home after we had our son. At a time when I was physically and emotionally exhausted, she graciously helped in many ways to make our lives easier in those first few challenging months postpartum. I felt completely comfortable with her from the first day we met and fully trusted her with my son while I caught up on sleep, exercised or just did a few things for myself that I'm not able to do with a baby. She also helped around the house with laundry, sterilized pumping equipment, etc. Not only that, but it was really great company having her around while my husband was at work and no family in town. She also taught me some great tips for using a baby carrier, sleeping and breastfeeding. I would without a doubt have Amy help out again if we had another baby. She's fantastic!!”
Alix L, Calgary