Ridge Meadows Doula Services

Your experienced Doula Collective (Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows and beyond!)

Going Paperless

As an Apple lover, I’ve always had apps on my iPhone I use for my Doula Services- To keep an eye on my clients, track due dates and keep in contact via email, text or phone (heck! even Skype once!). I recently bought an iPad to add to my service and now I’m making all my paperwork paperless… Although now I’m not sure it’s called paper work?!?  Nonetheless, I have apps where you can sign my contract from the comfort of a coffee shop table on our first meet. This makes my green crunchy side happy and my busy doula/mommy life more organized.

 

The newest app I found is called Square.  I download this FREE app and they send me a deceive that connects to my iPhone or iPad and turns it into a portable debit machine. Awesome right! Now after the family has a new baby, or I drop of placenta pills we can conveniently use my device and there is no cheque or cash required. So easy!  Read more about Square here.  https://squareup.com/ca

 

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Have you liked my Facebook Page?  https://www.facebook.com/RidgeMeadowsDoulaServices

 

 

 

 

 

Placenta Encapsulation

November 2013 is a new step for Ridge Meadows Doula Services. We have added a new service, Placenta Encapsulation. Now before you barf in your mouth or tell your friends about this crazy witch doula’s blog you read- take a minute, a breath, a sip of water to relax and read on.

 

I heard about placenta encapsulation through other doulas, mostly on social media. Then I became intrigued. Why would someone pay to ingest their own placenta? As soon as I did any research I found benefits, and multiple benefits.  One that stood out to me was that 80% of woman report having the baby blues (me!) having the baby blues makes every day tasks mentally and physically exhausting, this includes taking care of a new baby.  Placenta encapsulating gives you back the hormones and vitamins you lose after you birth your baby and placenta and  lessons the risk of postpartum depression.

A few other Benefits are………………….

– Increased milk supply

– Increases your iron

-Encourages your uterus your uterus to return back to it’s pre-pregnancy size

-Combats stress

-Increases energy

 

For the germaphobes out there-  It can be safely done if you have a trained Independent Placenta Encapsulation Specialist. Part of training with Full Circle Placenta is the  requirement of a blood born pathogens certificate and a Food Safe certificate. We always wear gloves, masks and goggles and we sanitize the surface we work on and all the utensils we use with bleach.

My extensive training makes me a great choice for encapsulation. We can meet, have a coffee, chat about your pregnancy and if we are the right fit- go from there. If you feel we aren’t a match- I trained with some amazing doulas that are also encapsulating. So if im not the right one in your eyes I will find you the right Placenta Encapsulation Specialist. The benefits and research are there. So lets get you some  happy mama placenta pills.

 

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Doula Competition

I’ve heard this time and time again. “My competition is Doula (blank)” I’ve always struggled with the idea because I know I have different strengths from other doulas, therefore in my mind we are not competition, we are different doulas with different skill sets in the same community. Interviewing a Doula is very personal, the mother needs to be comfortable with me or the relationship at the birth will be strained. So I welcome the questions and concerns to make sure we are a good match.

Yesterday I sat with another doula chatting birth, placentas and doula-ing and I was happy to hear she had a similar value.

The doula field is still not mainstream. Doulas need to work together, networks and spread the benefits of a doula.

The knowledge and empowerment from my coffee meeting yesterday proved my point.

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Miscarriage

October 15th is Infant Loss Awareness Day. It is to remember miscarriage, stillbirth and infant death.

Miscarriage can be a very isolating experience. Many people don’t share they are pregnant in fear of miscarrying. So, if you miscarry, you haven’t told anyone you are pregnant so you have little or no support. For me and many of my friends talking about this trauma was helpful.  If 15-25% in woman who conceive miscarry then why the heck are we not talking about it?

I’m writing this post to encourage woman who have miscarried to talk about it, find a friend, a sibling or  a counsellor…SOMEONE you feel you can be open with. Then share. Many woman’s experiences are downplayed as it is “common” or “gods way” or any other lists of reasons “why”. These messages are often said with a good intention of stopping the woman’s hurt. Instead it is devaluing the woman’s experience and emotions. Woman (and men) then feel they are not suppose to cry, feel disappointed, be angry or experience loss.

The second reason I’m writing this is to normalize feeling sad. I had a miscarriage at 6 weeks. You can’t base love on how long you have known someone. I heard from people I care about telling me  it wasn’t my time, or the baby obviously wasn’t healthy. Again, not helpful—  to me it was a loss of our baby and our dreams. I was SAD. I wanted to grieve, but didn’t think I should. For a long time I didn’t work though my miscarriage, I just went on and avoided. Men and woman don’t become parents when the baby is born, they become parents when they feel like they are attached to their pregnancy and have love for the liny human growing inside of you…. This can happen while pregnant for 4 week, 4 months or after the baby is born.

I want mothers and fathers to allow themselves to feel, then share and remember— feel whatever emotions are in you and share that with someone healthy in your life and remember

Baby Loss Awareness Day

October 15th is baby Loss Awareness Day. It’s a day that may be unheard of to many of you. For me it is a day to think, remember and grieve.

January 11th 2010 was the most amazing life changing day for me as this is the day my daughter Mia was brought earthside. Hours before in the same room I birthed in, my best friend had birthed her son. A healthy 7lbs 10oz baby boy named Colin. Sadly, he died, on the same day of his birth and the same day Mia was born. This is my story.

Leah and I both had struggles with conceiving. Nearly 2 years later I was finally pregnant, the following month Leah was pregnant. 2 best friends with their children due a month apart. This was the beginning of maternity clothes shopping, creating delicious non-alcoholic drinks, researching, reading and baby clothes shopping. Because we learned I was having a girl (Mia) and she was having a boy (Colin) naturally we planned our future with a running joke of an arranged marriage or at least our children would be best friends forever.

When I was 2 weeks late and about to be induced the following morning, I got news Leah was in the hospital in labour. I thought this was funny because I had bugged her about wishing she would birth first and tell me what it was like. We rushed to the hospital and brought her a few things, gave her a hug and went home and *tried* to sleep. Mostly I laid in bed thinking of Leah in labour and the fact that our little babes could be born on the same day.

January 11th 2010, I woke up and got ready to meet my little girl. I had moments of anxiety because I had not heard from Leah. I put it off and thought maybe she was having a long labour. We got to the hospital and I was put in the same room Leah had been in. This was odd to me because I still hadn`t heard from Leah. I put it out of my mind as I had work to do—- birth.

Mia was born in the early evening.  I was moved into another room and after we settled in, snuggled our little blessing and celebrated Mia`s birth Jonathan looked at me with wide eyes. He had heard that Colin had passed away a few hours after his birth and now he had to tell me, that my best friends baby was dead…. This was one of the hardest conversations we have had.  I wanted to see Leah, I wanted to see Colin, I wanted to cry, I wanted to hold Mia. It was a mix of emotions and I had a hard time determining what emotion was going to come out at any given moment.  Leah (the strongest woman I know) came and visited me on January 12th before we took Mia home. Even through the tears of myself and our husbands, Leah managed to look at Mia and tell her how beautiful she was and that she now has an angel watching over her.

Over the next days, weeks, months and years the mourning of my little nephew that died from doctor error became more manageable. He is a member of our family and we talk about him with Mia. She knows she has a birth mark on her knee and it we call it a kiss from Colin before he went to Heaven. We celebrate his birthday and we will never forget. Infant loss will always be hard, but parents and family member need to know that the baby is not forgotten.

For others involved—- offer a tear, a hug, love, listen, learn, cry and never forget.