Supporting families in Burns Lake and the Lakes District through preconception, pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
What is a doula?
A doula is a trained professional who provides physical, emotional, and informational support during pregnancy, labour, birth, and postpartum.
Why Beautiful Adventure Birth?
Local moms need to travel to other communities to birth their babies, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have local support. There are some great advantages to having a doula who lives in your own community... prenatal and postpartum services available in your own home, connections to local resources, and the option for your doula to meet you at your home before you head to PG/Vanderhoof/Smithers for birth are a few.
Labour/Birth Support
During your pregnancy, your doula will take time to get to know you and your partner, will be available to answer any questions you have, help you find the information you need to make decisions, and help you work through any anxieties/fears you may have about the whole process.
When you are in labour, your doula will provide continuous support. What does that support look like? Depending on the birthing woman and her specific needs, it may mean a lot of hands on physical support (for example, massage or counter pressure), or it may mean mostly emotional support (for example, comforting reassurance).
Are you drinking enough water? Are you feeling as comfortable as possible? Are you holding lots of tension in your body? Has your partner had anything to eat since arriving at the hospital? These and many more are the things your doula will be watching for when she's with you while you labour.
Once your baby is born, your doula will help you get settled in with your baby, helping you initiate breastfeeding if desired. Your doula will plan two visits with you and baby in the first month to give you an opportunity to process your birth experience and feel supported in your transition into motherhood.
Postpartum Support
The transition to parenthood isn't all sunshine and roses. Sometimes babies don't let us sleep and the exhaustion is overwhelming. Sometimes the emotions of the postpartum period are difficult. Sometimes, despite your deep desire to breastfeed, you struggle with it and it hurts and you just don't know what to do. Sometimes your baby doesn't want to be put down for more than 2 minutes, making it impossible to shower, let alone get the laundry washed, the dishes done, or the meals prepped.
In many cultures, women are cared for by family and community during the postpartum period, so that the new mother can focus solely on feeding her baby and healing her body. Unfortunately, most women in our society today don't have this type of support and often out of necessity, are trying to juggle everything. A doula can help fill in some of that gap. Postpartum support provides the mother the opportunity to have some help in the areas that she most needs it.
Prenatal Education
Prepare for your birth through prenatal education! Beautiful Adventure Birth Services offers private prenatal education classes... learn about pregnancy/birth/baby from the comfort of your own home! Classes cover many topics, including: health and wellness during pregnancy, the physiology of birth, comfort measures during labour, newborn care, breastfeeding, postpartum mental health, and much more.
Other Services
Find out more about belly casts, belly binding, and more
FREE Initial Consults
When you are considering hiring a doula, it's important to know that you feel comfortable and have a good connection with that person before you make any kind of commitment. For that reason, I encourage you to set up a FREE initial consult. Meet me for a cup of coffee/tea, ask any questions you have about my services and see if Beautiful Adventure Birth Services might be a good fit to meet your prenatal/birth/postpartum needs.
