Pregnancy and birth are both transformative events. Our personal experience, cultural background, environment and temperament can deeply impact these moments.
Increasing the chances to experience your dream birth, addressing previous traumas, getting rid off limiting beliefs, connecting with your inner force, are as many opportunities to make this period of your life the sweetest and the most empowering of all times for you and your family.
Having a birth doula reduces:
Having a birth doula increases:
I really liked the involvement, attention and responsibility of Chloe from our first meeting and after the birth of my twins. My husband was skeptical of the idea of turning to a doula, but I got even more support than I expected .
Katja, mother of twins, Espoo
I grew up in a goat farm, in Champagne, France. As a country child, I attended many kiddings. Births were assisted by my mother or father but natural.
All the animals at the farm had a name. From the dogs (Gamin, Romy) to the goats (Mirabelle, Myrtille, Suzanne, Davina, Karaté...) and billy goats (Sirocco, Bouba, Chantilly).
Animals were my and my little sister Elsa's friends. They were our equals. I had digested the idea that we, humans, are animals too. We are mammals, just like goats, cows, cats, dogs, monkeys and whales.
I gave birth for the first time in Winter 2012. The experience was traumatic to me. A medical condition dragged its attendant of interventions. I felt like an object more than a subject. I was a patient. Although I was admiring of my baby, it took me time to feel confident as a mother. My breastfeeding experience was an obstacle course which I had to quit out of exhaustion. I was self-critical with mixed feelings of guilt and envy. Looking at my child growing well and bonding with my partner helped me to see things from a positive angle.
Then, I gave birth for the second time in Autumn 2014. A natural birth like I had dreamt of. A wonderful and supportive team of professionals in the hospital. An involved and confident partner. An attaching and attached baby. A powerful birthing experience and a beautiful breastfeeding story. I felt like a queen, in the centre of the action, omnipotent and omniscient, pretty much like a goddess on Earth.
This second chance helped me understand that although we can't control the unexpected, we can surround ourselves with loving support, we can educate ourselves, we can control our decisions, we can accept and adapt. The force is in us and we can feed it each day.
Against all odds, in really funny circumstances and for my greatest joy, I fell pregnant at 40, after a heartbreaking miscarriage 2 years earlier. This pregnancy would be the last and I did everything to savour it and I gathered the confidence and funds to plan a home birth. Things didn't go exactly to plan but my baby was born fast and furiously beautiful and healthy at home, above the tub. Yes, you read it right, above. That's another comical story to cherish.
Doulakka, Veera Gindonis, Helsinki (394h)
Paramana doula course with Michel Odent and Liliana Lammers, Issy-les-Moulineaux (3 days)
Birth, Trauma, Evolution with Elizabeth Davis, Paris (8h)
Spinning Babies® Workshop with Jennifer Walker, Espoo (7h)
Postpartum workshop with Gabriela Ariana from Juurakon Voima, Vihti
Mayan Sealing Ceremony - Sacred Rituals for Postpartum with Brenda Miquiztli, Vantaa
Have you ever wondered
PLANNING to hire a doula?
There are all kinds of doulas with different approaches and specialties, all kinds of experiences, tools and vibes.
Check out the website of Suomen Doulat and enter your location, language, doula type in the search tool.
You will find a list of doulas matching your criteria.
You can of course research doulas in a classical search engine but their code of ethics might slightly differ from the doulas association's.
Explore their website and social media to grasp their vibe, assess their prices and core values.
Reviewing their clients' testimonials can provide insight on the bond you will create with that doula.
Then, you have a short list.
Contact them and meet them, online or face to face.
Prepare your list of questions for the interview.
Example: What is your take on epidurals? Have you ever supported a twin birth? Would you go with me if it ends up in a c-section? What are your favourite natural pain reliefs? Do you have a back up doula?
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