Sweet Song Doula is pleased to introduce updated pricing and a wider rage of service options for birth doula and breastfeeding support clients. Curious how doulas set our fees? Take a read here for a greater understanding of what goes in to the price you pay for our unwavering support. You’ve read my services and fees page, but still have questions? Contact me!

If you plan to breastfeed your baby, consider hiring a doula with evidence-based training in lactation.

(Evidence-based training means that your CLC has learned what is actually known about breastfeeding, based on the latest studies and research, not what we think we know based on opinions or myths. This is a very important distinction!)

You and your doula will develop a special, trusting bond over the course of your relationship, and she will be with you continuously throughout your labor, and usually up to two hours following your baby’s birth. We know that those first two hours after a baby is born are vital to getting the breastfeeding relationship off to the best start possible, and a doula with specialized training in breastfeeding is uniquely poised to support women as they begin and continue their breastfeeding journeys.

Just as she was there solely for your support during your birthing experience, the doula with breastfeeding training will be able to assist you in the immediate postpartum period and in the days and weeks following the birth of your baby. She can offer help when and if you need it, assist with positioning, assess your baby’s latch, and help you to gain confidence in your new role as a breastfeeding mother, first by listening, then by counseling, and by never judging!

I offer my services at $50 per hour for birth doula clients and $65 per hour for breastfeeding support only clients.

I am a married mom to one little boy living with my family in Framingham, MA. I love spending time with family and friends, reading, cooking, taking pictures, exploring the outdoors, being crafty, and fitting in a little yoga when my schedule allows for it!
Learn more about me.

But assuming you’ve already figured out the reason for your sore nipples, here are four simple things you can do to help promote healing for nipples that are sore due to abrasions and/or cracks:

Coconut oil: Affordable and easy to find in the cooking oils section of natural foods stores, coconut oil is a wonderfully soothing and moisturizing treatment for sore nipples. Solid at room temperature, coconut oil melts easily when it comes into contact with body heat or a hot day. Coconut oil can even double as a diaper cream for baby!

Saline soaks: To promote healing, soak the nipple in warm water for 5-20 minutes, several times a day. Use approximately 1 T per 2 cups of water. Epsom salts and regular table salt are both suitable for the soak. If using Epsom salts, be sure to use only unscented ones.

Topical wound ointment: To promote healing in cracked or ulcerated nipples consider using SafGel or Medihoney (a medical-grade honey, sterilized to eliminate botulism spores. Do not use regular honey!) wound ointment after nursing. Rinse or wipe nipples gently with warm water prior to nursing to remove any visible ointment. Both SafGel and Medihoney can be purchased online.

Gel pads: Some breastfeeding mothers like to use gel pads, such as Lansinoh’s Soothies or Medela’s Tender Care HydroGel pads, on their sore nipples. Be sure to follow package instructions about rinsing and changing gel pads to avoid encouraging infection in cracked nipples.

Thank you to Jessica Lang Kosa at Motherfeeding for the wonderful information about healing sore nipples!

Nourishment for Healthy Nursing

“Eat wholesome foods like stews, soups, whole grains, and baked veggies such as yams, squash, carrots, and asparagus. Add a little fresh ginger, black pepper, turmeric, and ghee to aid digestion. Ample protein and good quality fats like ghee, olive oil, and coconut oil are nourishing and help build the blood.

Make spiced rice porridge. Cook 1 cup of rice with 1 teaspoon of turmeric, 1 to 2 teaspoons of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pippali, 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger ,and 3 to 4 cups of water, until the rice is mushy. Garnish with fresh cilantro and eat a small bowl of this a couple of times a day for the first two weeks.

If you can tolerate dairy, drink a cup of warm milk, an hour before bed, laced with a pinch of nutmeg, cinnamon, and cardamom, and a drizzle of maple syrup. If dairy is out, try organic almond, hemp, or rice milk instead.”

_________

“Nursing your baby can be hard on your upper body, making your neck and shoulders achy and sore. Easton recommends gentle neck stretches and shoulder rolls; uttanasana (standing forward bend pose) with hands interlaced behind your back; gentle forward folds like balasana (child’s pose); and mild supported backbends, such as shavasana over a rolled blanket placed behind the shoulder blades, perpendicular to the spine.”

Excerpted from “Mother Nurture: Yoga and Ayurveda for Postpartum Bliss” by Claudia Welch with Scott Blossom, Yoga International, Spring 2011

Below is a list of participants. I will be updating it as the day goes on!

Sweet Song Doula
Pre and Perinatal Psychology Professionals
Womb Wonders: Ten Moons of Magic
All About Babies
Christina Haney – Birth Doula & Hypnobabies Childbirth Educator
Loving Creations Doula Services, LLC
Sara Baum, Doula
BirthSwell
Patrice Nichole Byers
Northern Virginia Midwifery
Citizens for Midwifery
Magic of Motherhood
Peace on Earth Begins at Birth Doula Services by Jenny Stevens
Talk Birth–Childbirth Education Classes
Blessed Beginnings
Rainbow Doula & Birth Photography
Peaceful Beginnings Doula Services
Traditional Birth Services of Atlanta
Juno Lucina Birth Services
Eva Birth Services
Breath of Life Birth Services
Syracuse Natural Parenting Support
Mother’s Intuition
Jordmor Birth Services
Moon Princess Birth Services
Brandice Senecal, Doula
Jessica Poppe-  Birth Doula
Doula on Duty – Lighthouse Birth Services of NJ
Baby-Empowered Birthing Education (BEBE)
From Womb to Cradle Doula Services
Ann Lipofsky, Doula
Mamatoto Birth Project
Northern Colorado Birth Network
Mamahhh
Birth Kalamazoo
Birth Smart
Cocoon Birth
Emerging Birth Doula Services
Bella Belly Doula Services
Edenway Birth Center
Tampa Bay Birth Network
Belly to Babies
A New Life Begins – Doula & Pregnancy Services
Encircling Hands Doula Support and Education
Dreamscape Studio
Birth Behind Bars
MomDoula
Making Mothers Birth Services
Highland Midwife Birth Services
Belly Laughs Doula & Birth Services
Los Gatos Wellness Center
Special Moments Doula Services
Knoxville Doula
Beautiful Beginnings Midwifery: Center for Birth & Women’s Health
Muse Doula
Indigi Mama Midwifery and Doula Services
A Tranquil Journey Doula Service (Fort Lewis)
Cascade Perinatal Services
Little Papoose Birth Doula
Breath of Life Midwifery – Roanoke, VA
Earthy Birthing
A Woman’s Design
Three Sisters Birth
Baby Love Birth Center
Rosemary Birthing Home
In Bloom: Birth Doula & Lactation Care
Agroterra Birth, Photography & Doula Services by Lisa Gendron
Your Bay Area Doula – Birth Doula, Labor Support Services

And she hit me with this: “I have to be honest: Knowing the kind of birth you had, having it be so very far from the one you wanted, how  can you be a doula for women who have the kind of birth you were hoping for, without feeling insanely jealous? I don’t think I could do that.”

Woah. Right on, mama. What an excellent question!

This really gave me pause to think. I took my time coming up with my answer. And I was totally honest with this woman, because her honesty meant a lot to me.

This mama in particular had had a much less than ideal experience with her first birth. She is planning a VBAC this time around. She’s got an incredible doula supporting her journey. She’s educated herself on VBAC, carefully chosen her care providers. She’s done all the right stuff for herself and her baby. She’s working toward something I myself will be working toward when the time is right for a second baby.

But VBAC is still somewhat taboo in our modern maternity care system. Once a cesarean, always a cesarean often prevails, even with practitioners who claim, initially, to support VBAC. VBAC scares lots of people who are in positions to empower a women desiring VBAC. And those people’s dissenting and doubtful words and actions  — no matter how mild or well-meaning — have a deeper impact than they can ever know.

I strive to be a voice and force of unconditional support for the women I work with, no matter what birth experience they seek for themselves. I choose my words carefully. I no longer  throw around terms like “natural birth” and “normal birth” (a big thank you to my colleague, Cynthia Mesh of Quilted Birth & Beyond Doula Care & Childbirth Education for schooling me early on in my career on the power of words). I am committed to empowering women to educate themselves about the choices available to them. I am committed to compassion, care, and sensitivity.

So yes. My son was born out of an incision in my abdomen and uterus. I did not experience the challenge and exhaltation of vaginal birth that I had been seeking.

But, I was unconditionally supported by both my husband and my doula. A doula who never wavered in her commitment to our birth experience, despite it’s transformation from what we’d be planning to what actually happened. And that’s the kind of doula I want want to be.

That being said:

I will not lie and say I have never felt envious of women who’ve had a vaginal birth without medication or other interventions.

I will not lie and say I’ve never doubted my ability as a doula to support another women in labor and birth.

I will not lie and say I am completely healed from my birth experience.

I will not lie and say that I believe my own birth experience makes me incapable of being an excellent doula.

Though I’ve only attended four births at this point in my journey, I know I’ve grown exponentially as a doula through those experiences. Supporting women to birth in the way that feels right to them, feels right to me. I believe in making myself available to women who need to talk about their hopes, fears, regrets, and desires about birth. I don’t believe I can give away too much information in the interview.

I am a doula.

I am a good doula.

And I thank this back-up mama for making me answer a hard question about the why and how of what I have chosen to do.

Optimal Fetal Positioning is a theory developed by Jean Sutton and Pauline Scott which states that a mother’s own position and movement can positively (or negatively) influence her baby’s position in the womb.

The ideal position for birth is called Left Occiput Anterior. This means that the baby is vertex (head-down), with their back on the left side of mama’s belly, and with the back of baby’s head (their occiput) facing mom’s front (anterior).

Why does it matter?

OFP matters because mother’s whose babies are in an ideal position tend to have easier labors and births since baby’s head is well-placed to help dilate the cervix and navigate through the pelvis.

What can you do?

Educate yourself on how your own movement and posture impact your baby’s position in utero!

Ask your prenatal care provider and doula about their own experiences supporting mamas who’ve experienced malpositioning. What did they suggest to their patient or client to help remedy the situation? Can they recommend a chiropractor trained in the Webster Technique, demonstrate a self-care practice you can do at home, or suggest written or online resources?

Here is a list of my favorite OFP resources. Enjoy!

Optimal Fetal Positioning for a Better Birth from the DoulaMomma blog.

3 Principles in Pregnancy from Spinning Babies.com.

How to Prevent a Posterior Labor from MotherSpirit.net.

Get Your Baby Lined Up! Optimum Feotal Positioning from the Homebirth Reference Site.

The answer to that question lies in the journey I took to and through my own birth experience, and the incredible support I received from my doula and wonderful husband.

When I became pregnant, I did what most women in the United States do. I made an appointment with an OB/GYN (who was recommended to me by the primary care doc I’ve been seeing since college). I went to my prenatal visits, the longest of which was my intake appointment. I did the early prenatal screening tests. And when the pregnancy finally started to “feel real,” I started to think about a birth experience.

At the time, I didn’t exactly know what sort of birth experience I wanted to have. I knew I wasn’t afraid of birth, and that I was definitely interested in an unmedicated and intervention-free birth. I asked around to see if anyone I knew had birthed without either of those things, and not many had. “Don’t be a martyr,” they said. “Just get the epidural,” I was told. “What’s wrong with a little pain relief?” I was asked. The only people I knew who hadn’t had epidurals and such were women in my mom’s generation. My mom herself, in fact. She’d had her babies (me in 1978 and my sister in 1981) with a forward-thinking female OB who saw no need for mamas and babies to do anything but work together during labor and birth.

This got me thinking. So, being me, I got to reading. I picked up Henci Goer’s The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth. I devoured Ina May Gaskin’s Guide to Childbirth (just to name a select few). I read little snippets of information in magazines like FitPregnancy. And it was there, in the pages of a glossy, fairly fluffy periodical, that I first encountered the statistics about how doulas help to reduce the rate of epidurals, c-sections, and a number of other interventions in birth, simply by the virtue of their presence.

That information stopped me in my tracks. I had done enough reading to know that I didn’t want a surgical birth and a medicalized birth didn’t feel like the right choice for me, either. I wanted my baby to be born gently, sweetly, and surrounded by loving supporters who were committed to a mama having an old-school birth (with credit to Toni Negy).

We obviously needed to hire a doula.

Research, research, research. Troll the Mothering.com forums, ask around for recommendations (no one I spoke to had hired a doula, and most had no idea what one was). Fast forward to June. I was five months pregnant and interviewing doulas. We chose three out of a larger list I had compiled and met our first candidate on a dreary early summer evening. Erin welcomed us into her space and I immediately liked her. It was an instant connection. The interview was wonderful. My husband asked as we got in to the car to go home: “Do we really have to bother with interviewing anyone else? I loved her, and I could tell that you did, too.” He was right, but I felt obligated to do our due diligence. We completed our interviews with the other doulas and then called Erin to ask her to be our doula. She said yes!

Prior to meeting Erin, I had realized that the OB/GYN I was seeing for prenatal care wasn’t the right fit for me, so halfway through my pregnancy I switched to a midwifery practice affiliated with a community-based hospital. I was happy with the practice, and felt very positive that I would be well-supported there. But as my pregnancy progressed, I became more and more interested in having a homebirth. The more I learned about birth, the more excited I got about it, and homebirth seemed the way to go.

Then I had my 30-week ultrasound to check on my low-lying placenta, and I learned that my baby was breech.

“Don’t worry!” said the radiologist. “Your baby still has lots of time to turn, and most of them do.” But I was worried, so I went home and I researched some more. To make a long story short, I spent hours trying to encourage my baby to turn. Anything you’ve heard about doing to try to turn breech babies, trust me, I’ve done it: lying on an ironing board, flash light in my crotch, music in my crotch, talking to my baby, listening to hypnosis scripts, moxabustion, accupunture, accupressure, shiatsu, walking, somersaults in a pool, homeopathic remedies, external cephalic version. The list goes on.

Despite my efforts, my baby stayed right were he was, content to have his head nestled up under my heart, all the better to hear it beat.

We continued interviewing homebirth midwives, with the idea that based on the information we learned about the safety of vaginal breech births with an experienced attendant,  we’d still pursue a homebirth if we could find the right fit. But the midwives who were available for our due date and simultaneously a good personality fit, were not comfortable with a breech birth with a first time mom.

We were unable to find any information on doctors in our area who would remotely consider supporting a vaginal breech birth.

I began to realize that I was most likely facing the very birth I had most wanted to avoid: a cesarean. My baby would born out of an incision made through my skin, abdominal muscles, and uterus. I would be an inactive, immobile, and frightened participant. I began to feel sad, overwhelmed, and, quite frankly, cheated out an experience I very much wanted to have: labor and a vaginal birth.

Throughout all of this, my husband and doula remained hopeful that my baby would turn. They encouraged me to continue trying things that might get him to turn, so long as those things felt worth my time and energy. They asked me to talk with them about how I was feeling. Never once did either of them say, “The only thing that matters is a healthy mom and a healthy baby.”

In our second and final prenatal visit, Erin gently said to me that it seemed to her as though we had come to the decision to have our baby in the hospital, and in doing so, that we could be consenting to a cesarean birth. I remember tearing up. I remember feeling angry. I remember my husband rubbing my back, and holding my hand.

I remember Erin saying, “Nicole, I know this is the not the birth you wanted for your baby. It’s not the birth I wanted for you. I know you wanted him to enter the world vaginally. Though a cesarean is not the birth you envisioned, it may be the birth you will experience. And remember, it is still your birth. I am here for you. Zac is here for you. Babies are wise, and perhaps there is a reason yours is so happy head’s up. I encourage you to honor your baby’s wisdom, and to work on making peace with the birth you will experience.”

Erin suggested that we spend some time reading about cesarean births. She told us it would be a good idea to ask lots of questions (if we wanted to do so) at our upcoming prenatal appointment with the midwives. She reminded us that there were still things we could do to personalize our cesarean birth. Did we want to request music in the OR, ask for silence during the procedure, ask that the doctor’s not announce the sex of the baby (even though we already knew it), find out whether or not it would be possible to initiate breastfeeding during the repair, or at least have as much skin to skin contact as possible.

She was right. Zac and I knew that and so I began making preparations for the birth I didn’t want. I told my midwives that I would not be scheduling a date for my son’s birth. It felt cosmically wrong to pick his birthday. One midwife in the practice actually had to present our request for a “trial of labor before cesarean” during a staff meeting to get “approval” from the backing OB/GYN. Ours was not a common request. We were informed of the very short list of “risks” of not scheduling our cesarean: 1. Not knowing the doctor on call (which didn’t matter anyway, because I’d only met the OB/GYN in the practice once and had no real relationship with her). 2. Having to experience a significant amount of labor if labor and delivery was particularly busy that way and couldn’t get us in to the OR in a timely manner. 3. The possibility of a cord prolapse should my waters release in labor.

We reviewed the risks, did not find any that were reason enough to schedule our son’s birth. I spent the final weeks of my pregnancy settling in to the apartment we had recently moved to. I worked full time up until the night my waters broke at 1:00 in the morning on October 16, my son’s official due date.

After my waters broke, I called to Erin to see what she thought we should do, and after speaking with her my husband and I decided to go back to bed and that we would meet Erin at the hospital at 9 a.m. Erin met us at check-in, and rubbed my back while we answered all the questions we’d already answered in our pre-admission forms. She massaged my hands and feet in the ante-natal room, while I was hooked up to the monitor and leaking amniotic fluid into the chux pads beneath me. We joked, told stories and laughed together while we awaited a visit from the OB. Erin reminded us to ask questions that had come up in conversations at our prenatals about pain medication options. She took photos of me and my husband’s last moments as a family of two.

When the time came for me to enter the operating room, I was walked down the hall by one of the surgical nurses. I remember feeling scared, anxious, and ready to see my husband’s and Erin’s faces again as soon as I could. I remember really not wanting to lay on the operating table. I remember feeling very alone.

The prick of the needle in my back was startling, and the numbness that followed was anything but a relief. I hated the sensation of feeling nothing. I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling, listening to unfamiliar sounds: machines, voices, the clinking of surgical instruments.

“We’re going to begin now,” the doctor said.

“No!” I exclaimed. “You can’t! Where is my husband? Where is my doula? I’m all alone in here!” I started to cry. Someone hustled out the doors to usher in my husband and Erin. It still amazes me that no one noticed that I was a woman about to have her baby, and that I was alone. It hadn’t occurred to anyone in the room to bring them in.

Though I’m sure it was only a matter of moments before Zac and Erin were in the room after my saying something about their absence, it felt like a lifetime and I was quite upset when they got there. Erin immediately showed Zac where he could sit so that he could get in very close to comfort me.

To be honest, I don’t remember much that happened between the time they entered the room until the time I was recovery. During the procedure I went inside myself and focused on the feeling of my husband’s hand on my cheek, the sound of Erin’s breath. The warmth of my tears. I mostly kept my eyes closed. I remember my son crying when he was born. I remember Zac going to be with him. I remember Erin by my side, telling me, softly, in my ear, what she could see of my baby. When I expressed upset at the noises I was hearing during my repair, she asked me what was bothering me, sounds, smells, or sensations. I told her the sounds, so she spoke to me, telling me how wonderful things were going, how beautiful my baby looked. How close I was to having him all to myself.

Erin stayed with us for about an hour in post-operative recovery. She helped us with breastfeeding. She did all the things a doula is “supposed” to do. But what I will be forever grateful for is the human connection she forged with me and my husband in a maternity health care model that has all but done away with compassionate one-on-one care and support.

Erin encouraged us to follow our instincts, to trust ourselves, to trust our baby, and to educate ourselves on our options. She told us to ask questions, get answers, seek advice. She fostered communication between me and my husband, and shared with us an enthusiasm and appreciation for family, pregnancy, and the transformative power of labor and birth that is often forgotten in our “What’s on your baby registry?”-focused culture.

And I loved all of that so much, that I wanted to pay forward that same care and support to other mamas, babies, and families. That is why I am a doula.

“You must yourself take responsibility for your own birth, including the decision to have technology used on you and your baby. Remember, technology is not good or bad. How technology is used can be good or bad. Airplanes can be used to carry you to visit your family or can be used to drop bombs on women and children. How technology is used on you during pregnancy and birth is of great importance because it can help you and your baby or harm you and your baby. — Marsden Wagner {Excerpted from “Technology and Birth: First Do No Harm,” Midwifery Today Web site}

Technology and birth is a hot-button topic, and one that is ever-changing. We doulas are always learning something new, that’s for sure. Today, it’s more common than not for a woman to have some form of technology present during her labor and birth. And, really, what is technology? Even a homebirth midwife may bring some technology with her to a birth (a doppler is a good example of this), and so, when people argue that technology and birth don’t mix, where does one draw the line?

Of course, women birthing in hospitals are certainly going to experience a greater level of technology during their birth experience than women birthing at home or in birthing centers. Epidurals, intravenous fluid drips, fetal monitoring, and the like. And though research has proven that more interventions do not improve outcomes for normal labors and births of healthy moms and babies, it is vital to me as a doula that I acknowledge some of my clients may want, and even prefer, technology to be involved in their birth experience, and that it is not my job to talk them out of that choice.

I do feel, however, that it is my responsibility to impress upon a client how important and empowering it is for her to explore and understand the potential risks and possible benefits of the interventions she may be presented with during her labor and birth. I do this by providing a suggested reading list of trustworthy and up-to-date books and websites, and encouraging women to talk to their care providers about their own and their hospitals opinions and practices when it comes to interventions and technology.

I’ve heard it said that doulas and technology don’t mix. Well, as a woman who gave birth by cesarean with a doula by my side, I can say that I wholeheartedly disagree! (I am currently planning a post all about doulas and cesarean births, so stay tuned). Perhaps the most common question I hear in relation to doulas and technology is, “Why do I need a doula if I plan on having an epidural?” You know what? You might not need a doula if you are planning an epidural, just as their a women who don’t choose a doula for support during their unmedicated birth. However, emotional and physical support are still paramount to the laboring women, regardless of whether she feels her contractions or not.

For the woman who chooses an epidural, a doula can:

• provide comfort measures prior to the epidural being administered
• answer some of your questions about the process
• remind you that you can ask questions of your care providers
• help with position changes
• offer encouragement during pushing, and suggest positions for pushing
• be a constant source of support, for both you and your partner

When all is said and done, I believe your best birth is an informed birth, one where you have educated yourself on the possibilities, and where you have chosen a providers and a birthing location that supports your hopes and choices throughout pregnancy and birth.

I also believe that every woman deserves a doula, regardless of how or where she chooses to give birth. Don’t think that a birth with planned technology or medical intervention precludes you from working with a doula. Talk to other mamas who’ve had births similar to the one your envisioning for yourself, ask your care provider for references to doulas they’ve worked with, and check out online referral sources, such as DoulaMatch. Do your research and I can promise that you will find the right doula for you!