Birth Doula Services

Doula supporting a labouring woman

Are you pregnant and wish to be empowered and respected through their pregnancy and birth journey, but don’t know where to start? My doula services provide a deep-dive into preparing for your ideal birth. Perhaps you want a better experience than the mainstream medical model provides. You want your unique wishes understood and followed, and information to make actual informed choices. Partners want to be supported in that fine balance of being a helpful birth-partner while calmly going through your own journey.

Doulas provide continuous physical, emotional and informational support through pregnancy, birth and early postpartum. This support results in more positive birth outcomes.

As a Master Doula, I am an expert in non-pharmaceutical pain relief through a variety of positions, comfort measures, massage techniques, acupressure, breathing techniques and nourishment. My role as a doula is to create a safe cocoon within which you can labour and give birth as you desire. 

One of my objectives is to protect the memory of your birth, no matter where or how you choose to birth.  My most sincere wish is that you look back on your birth with fond memories and feelings of satisfaction, and that your new baby’s birthday is a wonderful, empowering event!

I offer a complimentary meeting to chat about what kind of support you’d like, what kind of support I offer, and to learn what your needs & birth wishes are. Most importantly it’s an opportunity for us to find out if it feels right to work together. In an ideal world only people with whom you feel totally comfortable would be invited to such an important event! Please read the rest of this page before booking an intro meeting.

Benefits of Doula Support.
Studies demonstrate that doula presence correlates with:

  • 50% reduction in overall caesarean rate
  • 25% decrease in length of labor
  • 40% reduction in oxytocin use
  • 60% less requests for epidural
  • Less painful labor and delivery

Doulas compliment and enhance the role of the father-to-be, co-parent, partner or birth-companion. The whole family benefits through increased family bonding, healthier babies, positive breastfeeding relationships, and less postpartum depression.

 

About My Work

In the past 18 years I have attended over 400 births with a vast number of different medical care providers in six different hospitals and birth-centres, and many homes. Also, I love teaching! My prenatal classes have helped thousands of new and new-again parents prepare for birth over the past 15 years and I’ve been training doulas and other birth professionals for almost 10 years. 

I’ve served clients from different backgrounds and with all kinds of plans, situations and circumstances, including… 

  • solo parents, co-parents, couples 
  • healthy pregnancies 
  • complicated pregnancies
  • Hypnobirthing and other systems such as Birthing From Within
  • natural birth
  • medicated birth
  • caesarean birth (planned and unplanned)
  • previous trauma
  • VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean) 
  • water-birth 
  • pre-existing physical conditions
  • pre-existing mental health conditions 
  • mobility issues
  • breech-birth 
  • twins 

 

Twelve Valuable Things You Get as my Doula Client:

In my birth support and birth doula work, I share many practical tips, tools, gold-nuggets, evidence-based information and experience-based advice. My doula clients benefit from the following 12 things.

#1: Prenatal appointments

Prenatal preparation is the biggest determining factor in how your birth will go. 

We use these appointments to get to know each other and to ensure you’re prepared for your birth. You’ll learn what your options are, determine your wishes and preferences, and I’ll offer suggestions and strategies for your best chances of getting the birth you want – your ideal birth. We also cover preparing for the early postpartum days.  

 It normally takes 2 or 3 appointments for us to feel ready for your birth. Extra appointments can be arranged if needed (for example if a significant change to your birth plan becomes necessary) at no extra charge. Meetings are offered online, at my office, and at your place if you live in or close to the city.

 #2: Extensive educational support through your pregnancy, birth, and early postpartum days

This includes my trifecta of online prenatal classes: the 4-week Birth Essentials prenatal series with additional Newborn Class, Hospital Tour, How to Ease Labour Pain 2-hr workshop (sold individually for $200). 

You’ll also have access to a plethora of evidence-based articles, videos, e-mails, client handouts, referrals to local health practitioners, and advice for situations tailored to your individual circumstances (e.g. sibling prep, navigating uncommon circumstances such as a twin birth).  

In most areas, including ours, one can’t simply call their medical-care provider and ask a quick question. While I don’t provide medical advice, I can direct you to the right place to find out about medical issues, provide resources and references, and answer your logistical questions no matter how big or small.     

 Tasha, a client of mine wrote to me, “Thank you so much for being such a fabulous doula.  I felt so prepared and ready for the birth because of all our meetings, phone calls and emails.  It was a great experience for me – beyond all expectations because of your help.”

 With the aim of preparing and educating my clients, you have access to my lending library of resources. You can borrow books and access online full-feature videos that help you prepare for birth, breastfeeding and postpartum. There’s information for partners too. In some circumstances I can lend birth support tools such as Rebozos and TENS machines.

 #3: My Member Vault for doula clients 

This is your all-in-one digital sanctuary for empowered, informed, and supported birth prep. 

It’s thoughtfully curated to guide you through pregnancy, birth, and the first 8 weeks postpartum with confidence. The Member Vault includes evidence-based resources, personalized guidance, birth and postpartum planning tools, on-demand classes, a week-by-week prep path, a directory of trusted local services, and much more.

 There are several bonus modules for specific needs such as Sibling Prep, VBAC, Homebirth, Waterbirth.

 #4: Effective, written Birth Plan preparation 

A good birth plan must be easy to read, concise, and specific to you. 

We’ll co-create an effective document that builds bridges with your medical care providers while helping you get what you want. Through this process you’ll learn about options and choices for your birth. Your birth plan is made available for everyone on your medical team. You want them to read it, understand it, and respect it. People sometimes hire me just to do this as a one-off consultation.  

 #5: Roadmap to Optimal Birth Prep

This 1-page list contains 30 suggestions for things you can do or learn to be fully prepared for your birth. It has been refined over many years of working with thousands of families. It’s not a “to-do” list, but rather options for you to consider in preparing for your birth.  

 #6: Postpartum Prep Plan  

Many people focus so much on how their birth will go that they’re unprepared for life with a baby. 

I’ve created an outline of things to help you be ready for those early days and weeks with your new baby. I intend to get you thinking about what you and your family will need in the early days and weeks together, so you can thrive (rather than just barely survive, as so many new families do).

 #7: Hands-on, experiential practice for birth and postpartum  

If you wish to practise holding a baby and/or breastfeeding positions and tips, I’ll bring a weighted baby-doll to an in-person meeting. We can also practise some of the hands-on comfort measures covered in the Easing Labour Pain class – a great way to teach partners and companions to feel confident in taking a more active role at your birth. Finally, we can practise some of the positions that I may recommend during the birthing process if labour seems stalled or slows down.

 #8: Softening the journey: Prenatal prep & labor positioning for a shorter, easier birth  

One of the most effective ways to prepare for a faster, more comfortable birth is by helping your baby into the optimal position in the weeks leading up to labor. 

Starting at 34 weeks, I guide my pregnant clients through simple, gentle practices and exercises that encourage ideal fetal positioning — because when the baby is well-aligned in the pelvis, birth tends to be smoother, quicker, and less painful. 

If labor slows or stalls (often due to positioning issues), I offer hands-on support and movement-based techniques to realign the baby and get things moving again with greater ease. This approach not only increases comfort but also significantly reduces the likelihood of a caesarean birth. My knowledge comes from years of hands-on experience, specialized training, conferences, practice with techniques of Spinning Babies, and certification in Gilligan’s Guide — a powerful system developed by Ann Gilligan to lower birth complications and keep labor progressing efficiently and safely.

#9: Directory of local services and health practitioners who specialize in prenatal and postpartum care 

I am choosy about referrals and believe you’ll find good care through this list. It takes the guesswork out of finding resolutions to your problems, helping you find solutions with which you can feel comfortable. You’ll know I’ve vetted everything and everyone I recommend.  

 #10: Continuous support through your labour and birth 

The three most common questions I get in early labour are: 1) “Is this labour?”; 2) “Is this normal?”; and 3) “Is it time to go to hospital?” I will answer those questions for you – and many others – and help guide you through the transition from home to hospital, or getting ready for your homebirth, depending on where you plan to give birth. If you’re coming from out of town, then I will help you with the extra logistics involved.  

I’ll meet you where and when you need support and be that calm, reassuring presence. I’ll: 

  • provide advice and comfort measures such as position changes, hands-on support, or creating space for you and your partner;  
  • help you understand what’s happening and what might come next;
  • suggest a series of positions and movements to keep labour moving efficiently and more comfortably;
  • help facilitate communication with your medical care providers; 
  • keep your wishes and care at the forefront of your birth.  

 This is important to remember: Your doula is the only professional in the room who answers only to you.  

 Ask me about my TENS machines and Rebozos, which reduce pain and keep labour moving.

 A client of mine, Julie, wrote to me after her birth, “When my labour progressed quickly, your calm reassurance was invaluable! I knew that I was not alone. As I gave in to the powerful process of birthing, your steady encouragement was a beacon in the storm. Months later, reflecting on the birth, I remember it as a powerful, beautiful transforming experience.” 

#11: Extra helpers at your birth 

In some situations, you may want an extra helper along. For example, if you’re planning a water birth, you’ll lose one of your support people for an hour to set up the birth-pool, and then another hour immediately postpartum to clean it up. I train doulas and there’s almost always a new doula willing to take on tasks such as pool-care, photos, and other things so they can gain experience at a birth with me. This is optional for you and is arranged ahead of time.

 #12: Basic postpartum and breastfeeding support 

What happens after your baby has been born? 

Everyone you talk to has a different – and often uninformed – opinion about family matters, baby-care, baby-feeding, sleep, and all kinds of other things. Juggling extended family can add another layer of stress or calm. I understand that at this phase of a new family’s life, everything said to you by well-meaning loved ones is either a curse or a blessing.  

 After the birth, you’ll get a day-1 visit, then another visit or two if you like, and check-ins via phone or text, so you can get your questions answered. After all, this is a time when many people find they don’t know what they don’t know. I can reassure you to trust your instincts, direct you to community or health resources, and answer your questions as an experienced professional. 

Visits are in person if you’re in or around Regina, and are done virtually or by phone if you’re farther out. 

 

 BONUS for Home-Birthers: 

After years of attending homebirths, I’ve developed and refined a comprehensive framework that ensures virtually every detail is prepared for a smooth and empowering birth at home. From methodically preparing the home environment to strategically placing supplies, including the setup and maintenance of birthing pools, every aspect is designed to support a seamless experience. I provide my clients with the essential information they need readily at hand, ensuring confidence and peace of mind throughout the birthing process. With my system, home-birthers can embrace their journey with comfort, security, and the assurance of a well-prepared environment.

 

More Info & Next Steps