Modern Mama Services
personalized & holistic care for pregnancy, labor, and postpartum
serving families across Eastern Massachusetts
Birth Doula Services
Description of Services
Emily is an experienced labor doula who is passionate about supporting clients' unique needs in the prenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum periods. Different families hire doulas for different reasons, and Emily tailors her support to fit a client's specific needs. Emily is most interested in supporting her clients' informed decision-making process, whether it be about pain relief options for labor, choosing or declining hospital interventions, or options for natural or medical induction of labor. When clients are active participants in their care, they are more likely to feel satisfied and empowered by their birth experiences. Pregnancy and labor can sometimes take unexpected twists and turns, but with the right support clients will feel confident and calm facing any challenges that come their way.
In the two prenatal meetings, Emily and her clients get to know one another and make a plan for labor support based on the client's unique needs and hopes. Together, they review birth preferences and comfort measures of choice, and also discuss preparing for the postpartum and nursing.
When a client's birthing day arrives, Emily will join them in labor either at home or in the hospital. She will stay through the birthing experience as a physical and emotional support, advocate, and source of knowledge and comfort. She continues her support through the first hour or two of the immediate postpartum to ensure clients are settled, have had the opportunity to ask any questions they may have, and to support the initiation of breastfeeding.
Emily will also be a source of support in the postpartum. She is in frequent contact in the first days and plans to see clients for a postpartum visit within the first week back home. These visits cover lactation support, newborn care, healing after the birth, emotional support, and processing the birth experience. Emily is happy to offer a second postpartum visit as needed.
Benefits of a Labor Doula
A birth doula provides emotional, physical, and educational support in the perinatal period. Having a trusted, knowledgeable, and skilled doula by your side for the birth of your baby offers a great number of benefits. A 2012 Chochrane review shows that continuous support through labor is correlated with shorter labors, lower rates of pain medication use, and lower rates of c-sections and assisted deliveries. Women who use doulas feel more positively about their birth experiences.
Doula services include two prenatal visits, unlimited phone and email support, comfort measures and advocacy through your labor and birth, lactation support, and one or two postpartum visits.
Emily partners with different doulas at points in the year. Sometimes Emily works in a solo model where a back up doula attends one of the prenatal appointments with Emily. At other times, Emily fully partners with another doula; clients meet both doulas equally and and either doula will attend their labor. In both models, clients benefit from the added assurance that, should Emily be at another birth, sick, or otherwise unavailable, clients will have met the doula attending their labor. It is also wonderful to have a second set of resources and ideas to tap into! Meet the doula team
Emily also mentors up-and-coming doulas. Clients who are open to being shadowed give a wonderful learning opportunity to a new doula. Read more about the mentorship program and meet my current mentee.
