Services

Consultation

We’ll meet and spend some time getting a sense of one another to see if we’ll be a good fit. These meetings are most effective if any partners/co-parents who intend to attend the birth are present so I can answer any questions or concerns they may have. 

If you choose to hire me, you can expect:

Pregnancy Visits 

During which we will:

  • Discuss and collect your history - past pregnancies, health concerns, general life stuff - whatever you want me to know about you!

  • Learn about current pregnancy/ hopes for the birth/parenting wishes

  • Get to know you! & whoever else is involved with the pregnancy &/or your family.

  • Support your creation of a Birth Plan / Map

  • Learn about

    •  your favorite coping mechanisms for discomfort, stress, fear, and so on.

    • What kinds of camaraderie you enjoy

    • What kind of touch is calming/encouraging for you, if any

  • Offer soothing touch.

    • Feet, lower legs, hands, neck/shoulders, scalp

  • For those with dogs – If you want, I can offer recommendations about local dog trainers, social media accounts, and books to help your new baby integrate safely and peacefully with your fur babe.

Ongoing Support via text/video-chat as the birth approaches and if medical concerns come up during pregnancy.

Izzy’s Presence Through the Birth

Whatever the arrival of your baby looks like, I’m here for it. Medicated/Unmedicated; Hospital/Birth Center; whatever! I will be available via video/call/text as you navigate early labor. Once active labor begins, I’ll scoot right over to you. This plan allows me to be well rested and present for you and your supporters when you need me!

I will be available to stay with you through labor, pushing, and the first few hours of postpartum.

What does a doula do during a birth? The answer to that is expansive and specific depending on the doula and the needs of the birther, but here are some examples of how a doula may help during labor and birth:

  • Positioning & Movement

    • Works with you to find positions that will help you rest during labor.

    • If labor is not progressing as desired, a doula may suggest positions & movements that can intensify contractions and encourage Baby to descend.

  • Work with you to remember and use your coping skills through the intensity of contractions, the emotions that labor and birth call up, and so on. 

  • Provides comforting touch – shoulder & foot rubs, a hand to squeeze, hugs – sometimes just a light hand resting on your back is enough. 

  • Information! There is a LOT of technical information thrown at you during pregnancy, labor, and birth, which can be hard to hold on to and process in the moment. I can remind you what might come next, how it might feel, and what strategies you’ve practiced that might be just right for the coming moments. 

  • Support your (other) birth partners, if you have them - remind them to get food/water, suggest ways they can keep their bodies ergonomically positioned while supporting your body, etc.

  • Aid in creating a space within the hospital/birth-center that honors the mammalian needs humans have during labor and birth

    • Set up twinkly lights, your playlist

    • Essential oils

    • Singing

    • And so on!

  • Bring new providers up to speed about your birth hopes if you are napping or need a break during a shift change.  

After the Birth - The birth is over, but your birth doula isn’t quite done supporting you. 

First, I will visit your home in the first week postpartum to

  • Begin processing the birth with you.

  • Hear about how baby-feeding & parent-feeding are going.

  • Offer Soothing Touch, a shoulder to cry on, someone to hold the baby so you can take a shower, etc.

I will visit again about two weeks after the birth, and then again at six weeks postpartum. 

PostPartum Support

Those who have hired me as a Birth Doula have the option of adding these five-hour visits, which are typically broken down into 

2-3 hours of Home Projects

  • meal prep/ cooking / dishes 

  • Laundry (processing, folding, sorting as Baby grows)

  • Baby proofing/crib building - I love that Ikea shit. 

  • Baby-wearing support! I have a lot of experience with a myriad of baby-wearing apparatuses and am delighted to offer my knowledge about that. 

  • They do not include

    • Doing dishes not related to my cooking projects

    • Housekeeping beyond kitchen clean-up/ tidying Baby’s room

2-3 hours of Heart Projects

  • Being with Baby while you do Person Time (whatever that looks like for you - a nap, a long bath, a run, watching TV and eating cookies. I don’t really care as long as it’s nourishing you in the ways you're needing.)

  • Soothing Touch

  • More birth processing, listening, chatting, whatever you are needing. 

  • Taking Baby on a walk so you can be in the house alone.

  • Talk about feeding Baby & yourself, partner dynamic shifts, emotional state, whatever comes up.

shanandoah sun.jpeg