FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS



What tools do you bring to my birth?

This may vary based on your preferences, but we will explore some of them during your prenatal visit. I have options including a TENS unit, a massage gun, wood combs, a spiky pain stim tool (similar purpose to the wood comb, with 360 degrees of spikes instead of 1 row), a few battery-operated candles for soft mood lighting, a galaxy lamp projector, and multiple rebozos for a variety of traditional Mexican comfort techniques.

How long are you with me during labor, birth, and postpartum?

This mostly depends on your preferences. Birth is my happy place, so I'd love to spend quite a bit of active labor with you, if you'll have me. If things are progressing quite slowly with your first birth and my presence wouldn't help you progress to active labor, I may wait to join you until your contractions are consistent and productive if I'm also needed by my own family. But generally, if it would be time to have the conversation about heading into the birth center or hospital, and if you're notifying your provider, it's time to notify me as well.  I do not offer refunds for failure to notify me in a timely manner, and I ask for at least 4 hours notice that I'm on standby to make sure I'm able to make arrangements for child care, school transportation, notification to the midwives I'm apprenticing with, time to make sure all of my tools are charged and packed, etc. I will generally stay with you until we get you moved to your postpartum recovery room and settled in for golden hour and your baby's first nap, to make sure you get something to eat and drink, and make sure I'm available if you have any questions or concerns.

What if I have a traumatic birth or a c-section?

One of the services I offer is birth processing. We may want to wait for a couple of weeks to schedule this, so you can initially process your birth experience and identify the parts that felt the most traumatic to you, before we meet or arrange a call to discuss it together. Hopefully during your pregnancy, we've been able to do some emotional preparation for the possibility of not having the birth outcome you'd envisioned, and how to navigate processing and accepting that change. It's important to remember that my job as your doula is not to save you from pain, discomfort, or interventions, or guarantee you have the exact birth you dreamed of, but to offer you emotional support, education, comfort tools and techniques, and advocacy for your informed consent to augmentations and interventions, with compassion and encouragement. Doulas cannot control your birth outcome, but we can help you feel informed about the choices available to you, the risks and benefits of them, and any alternatives you can consider.

Do you have any recommendations for classes for me to take?

It's up to you if you'd like to take classes, listen to podcasts, watch videos, or take a more casual approach with occasional social media posts facilitating our discussions about birth prep. If you'd like to take any classes, I'd recommend a birth prep class if it's your first baby, a breastfeeding class if you've never breastfed before or had any challenges with previous babies, and I also like to encourage mamas to consider Hypnobirthing classes, as I have seen it be a very effective way to manage stress and fear, and I have seen it really help mamas achieve the unmedicated birth they've been preparing for. Please let me know if you need recommendations for classes to take in your area, I know a lot of local resources available!

How do you and my husband/partner work together during my birth?

I'm there for your partner as well as you, and I don't view myself as a replacement for their participation. I love to teach dads a variety of comfort techniques to support you through early labor, and I'm here if he ever has questions about what he can do for you, and the importance of his engaged presence during your labor. I do what I can to encourage dad to regulate his own nervous system, so he can provide you the kind of support you need from him. I'm the expert on physiological birth, and he's the expert on you and what you're comfortable with. Together, we are very capable of giving you all of the support, comfort, and techniques you need to have a beautiful birth experience. And if plans need to pivot to accommodate symptoms of distress, exhaustion, overstimulation, etc, then I'm there to talk you through them and discuss your options. I believe your partner should be your primary support person, as he'll likely be the biggest boost to your natural oxytocin. Of course, sometimes we have a long birth, so we may take turns on providing the comfort measures, so one of us can step away for a quick nap in the waiting room, or to order some food and drinks for the birth team to keep everyone going through the night. I never want to overshadow your partner as a birth support person, so I'll encourage dad to get in here with us, and show him what he can do for you. It's important that YOU empower him through your pregnancy to be an active participant in your birth, and express often how much you're going to need his support, so he doesn't show up with an expectation that he gets to be a bump on a log sitting in the corner and scrolling social media the whole time.

What if you can't make it to my birth?

Precipitous labor is unpredictable - the fastest one I've attended was just 52 minutes from water breaking to me holding her baby in a towel in the parking lot 4 minutes after I arrived at the birth center. Life happens. Kids get the flu. Traffic and weather love to strike during the most urgent scenarios. Child care may be unavailable or further away than expected. Hormonal migraines don't wait until I'm off-call. As a result, I cannot guarantee my attendance - especially if you don't notify me in a timely manner. Please don't delay notifying me that you're in labor until you're already 7cm and have gotten an epidural!

Depending on how much notice I'm given, I may be able to have a backup attend your birth either temporarily or in full. I have a network of local doulas that are all happy to volunteer to step in for each other in a pinch, and if you have already paid me in full, I would compensate them from the fees you already paid to me. If a backup is not available and I'm unable to attend your birth due to circumstances like precipitous births, hormonal aura migraines, child care arrangements, or I've already been called to another birth with one of my midwifery preceptors, or I would otherwise be too tired to safely drive to your birth, I'm happy to offer Fresh 48 photography, a closing of the bones ceremony, lifestyle photos of your family, a family portrait session, a postpartum birth processing visit, postpartum doula visits, a postpartum goody package, etc. depending on your needs and what is most convenient for you. Please see the doula ceremony section below for descriptions about the ceremonies I offer.

I do not offer guaranteed refunds for my services, as my services typically begin months before your birth, and I tailor my lifestyle and availability for sometimes an entire month while I'm on call for you from 38-42 weeks - so please call me when it's go time, even if it's 1:45am & you just want me to hang out in the parking lot on standby until things get more intense. I've been at many births that abruptly went from 4-10cm or 6-10cm in one contraction - all three of my own births unfolded like this when I got epidurals, too.