FAQ

The Greek word doula means caregiver. A birth doula cares for a laboring woman and her partner during birth. She is a trained and experienced labor companion who provides emotional, physical & educational support throughout a pregnancy, birth & the early postpartum period.

Your birth experience is one you will remember for all your life. A doula cares for you and wants you to have a positive outlook when reflecting upon your birth. Doula’s are there to calm the space around you, facilitate communication between you and everyone else in the room, guide you during labor, and provide education and reassurance to you and your partner before, during, and after your baby is born.

I will attempt to attend your birth no matter when you go into labor. The reason I state that my on-call availability begins at 38 weeks is because I cannot guarantee a lack of plans for the entire duration of your pregnancy. I will share all of my out of town vacations with you as they come and provide you with my back up doula if I am completely unable to attend.

Heck no girlfriend! You are the expert on your body and your baby. You don’t need another person telling you what you need to do. I support your wishes. Want to know what makes a woman feel empowered? It’s when she is in charge. I will encourage you to pause, process the information at hand, and make decisions for yourself. It’s *your* birth.

I know, it’s totally weird science. I’ll be honest, America is a bit behind on Placenta Encapsulation experiments, but the anecdotes are monumental. There have been 8 scientific studies since 1918 involving Human Placentophagy (placenta consumption) and many just provide what vitamins and hormones are found in the placenta. There are only three scientific studies that provide evidence proving that women who consume their placenta have an increased supply of breastmilk and higher levels of iron in their blood. It’s true that within a week after a mother delivers her baby, she will experience the largest change in hormones in her life (bigger than puberty and menopause), but that loss of hormones can be combated by consuming her hormone rich placenta. It’s extremely challenging to prove that placenta consumption helps with depression and energy levels, because blood tests can’t prove our emotional wellbeing, but the anecdotes surrounding those situations are why placenta encapsulation is growing exponentially.

There are three reasons I would be unable to encapsulate your placenta. The first is if your entire placenta is taken to pathology for testing. If that is required by the doctors, I would request they take just a small sample of your placenta for testing and that you retain the rest of your placenta in your labor room. As long as the sample is deemed safe for consumption, I will process your placenta. The second reason is if you use drugs or alcohol throughout pregnancy. It’s your body and you get to decide what to put in it, but there are no research studies proving that it is safe to consume so I cannot attempt to encapsulate at this time. The third is if you test positive for HIV, Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C. If any of these circumstances occur before I pick up your placenta, I will reimburse 100% of your payments.