Birth, Breath, & Beyond

A doula is a woman who serves a woman as she walks through pregnancy, labor, and beyond. She provides emotional, physical, and informational support to new and expectant parents. Doulas help reduce the risk of medical interventions, lower anxiety, and improve the birth experience.

The prenatal experience can include, among others, the following options based on the needs of the mother: birth education, discussion of benefits and risks of the multitude of decisions the pregnant mother must make, viewing and discussion of the These Are My Hours documentary, formal meetings or informal calls/texts to answer questions or provide emotional support, prenatal yoga private or small group lessons, diving into birth hopes, meditation and intuitive work to connect with the baby, healing of trauma in preparation for labor, postpartum preparation, sharing of books and resources, and so much more!

Each and every baby enters the world with his/her own unique story. If the mother wishes for the physical presence of the doula at birth, I am on call starting at 38 weeks of pregnancy and will do my best to be available if labor starts prior to this point. Some mothers wish for the doula's presence through all stages of labor while many others wait until sensations start getting really big or only call me if desired that day. During labor, I can help create a relaxing setting, provide reassurance, give physical counterpressure, offer suggestions of options to try from oils to labor positions, and more. I can help the mother with questions that come up and provide lactation support if needed.

I am Whitney and pregnancy and motherhood have changed me forever in a million beautiful ways. After a wonderful 9 months full of yoga and hikes, I was able to meet my son with a water birth at home. After years of knowing I wanted to be a healer, birth work finally found me and has become my favorite niche. Within the same year of giving birth, I became a certified doula. I am a lifelong learner who is continuing independent midwifery studies and who is in the middle of Birthkeeping school with Whapio of La Matrona. In the longer term, I see myself becoming a Doctor of Natural Medicine. I have much to offer in my service including with yoga, meditation, essential oils, herbal remedies, homeopathy and anatomical understanding. I am also pregnant with my second baby, who will likely come around the Fall Equinox 2024.

While I am happy to support mothers-to-be in any of the vast array of choices she can make in her childbearing journey, the number of clients I can take on each year is limited due my current familial, entrepreneurial, managerial, and volunteer duties. At this time, I aim to support only a handful of women per year. The women who would align most highly with my experiences and understandings with birth are women who wish to claim their sovereignty and power as they freebirth at home outside of the medical system. These are women who would seek the support of the medical system if events unfold in a way where that were to become necessary, but who trust the body and see birth generally as a completely normal physiological part of life. These women take responsibility for their choices and they simply wish for the assistance of one who has walked the path before. I particularly love to work with women striving for an orgasmic birth experience as that is what I am working towards, myself, currently.

Freebirth is birthing independently outside the default medicalized system. It means that you birth on your own terms and take radical responsibility for your birth experience and your own care. It's trusting in the physiology of birth and that by allowing the body to pass through its natural hormonal process throughout labor, bonding and healing are optimized. It is understanding that no one loves the baby more than the mother and that the mother is giving the baby the gentlest start to life possible. We trust that when the mother's authority isn't taken away, her intuition will grow and that strengthening the intuition will guide her through the rest of her journey raising her child. In freebirth, we understand that nothing is a guarantee including the illusion of safety. Every moment presents choices and we make each and every decision in love for ourselves and our babies.

Below are examples of the types of questions we can discuss in depth throughout the pregnancy journey:

- Is there anything I'd do differently because of tests that can be run during pregnancy (such as ultrasound, GBS testing, gestational diabetes testing, etc)? 

- What types of foods can I include in my diet to optimize my baby's health and my own?

- How can I connect with my baby during pregnancy?

- What does my dream birth look like and what can I do to prepare for that outcome?

- What fears may I need to work through to allow my body to relax open during labor?

- How can I increase my chances of a spiritual, connected, enlightening, ecstatic, or even orgasmic birth?

The client I dream of working with is a woman who stands in her power and makes choices from a place of love and not fear. She may not know everything about pregnancy and birth, but she trusts her body and is willing to learn as she comes across each step. She takes responsibility for her choices but she leans in for assistance when she needs knowledge or physical/emotional support. Together we open up in vulnerability to dive into and process any shadow work that needs to be done to prepare the body, mind, and spirit for the depth of what the birth experience can be. She is willing to do the work to prepare for an ecstatic and orgasmic birth if that is what she wants. We could live in the same city or communicate virtually, but we become close like sisters. During labor she may or may not even wish for me to be physically present with her, but she knows that I'm a call away if there is any help she needs from me. After birth, she may choose to frequently reach out for questions and support whenever motherhood presents challenges that she wasn't prepared for. 

If you would like to start a conversation about working together in birth doula or Birthkeeper relationship (understanding I'm still in training for the latter), please reach out via the Contact Us portion of the website. Each client's needs from me may differ. For instance, a first time mother may need extensive birth education while a mother with previous traumatic births may have much different work to do in unpacking the births and diving into shadow work. Some mothers may wish for long distance virtual support while others may want to have in person meetings exclusively. Likewise, some mothers may wish for weekly private prenatal yoga sessions while others may only wish for me to be present at the birth in the capacity of a wise woman birth witness. Thus, pricing is a la carte and depends on the extent you wish to work together. If you feel like you and I are a good fit, please reach out to me and we can connect further!