sup·port (səˈpôrt): bear all or part of the weight of; hold up.
When I think back to my birth experience there is this one moment that I always come back to. After we transferred to the hospital my primary care giver was transferred from my midwife to the on call OBGYN. He was called to perform two Cesareans just as I was coming into my 22nd hour of labour. He had mentioned that if things didn’t progress soon, I would be most likely getting surgery as well to ensure the delivery of a healthy baby.
I kept asking for more time. I knew that I needed more time to allow myself to physically and mentally connect with Aggie and for us to work together to deliver her earth side.
That left my husband, my midwife, a nurse and my doula in the room. Emily didn’t leave my side. She secretly put those acupuncture needles in my feet to try to help turn Aggie’s head. She smiled at me and put a blanket over my legs. She explained what was going on to Jeff and she told me to try to sleep. She didn’t leave the room. When I told the nurse that I thought the baby’s head was finally coming down she said she really didn’t think that it was possible and told me to wait for the doctor. I looked at Emily and told her what I was feeling – she politely asked the nurse to examine me. Sure enough, Agatha’s head was right there. It was time to push.
Jeff was on one side holding my left leg up, my midwife and the nurse were helping to control her head coming out and Emily was on my other side holding up my right leg. I had my team, my people, my support surrounding me. They were helping to bear part of the weight of my body as I was actively pushing. It was pure magic.
In my opinion, pregnancy, labour, birth and postpartum aren’t experiences to tackle alone. Having your tribe to support you is what inevitably makes you stronger. It’s not that you need to have these supports around you – yes, I know they made stirrups for a reason – but having a human holding your leg, working with your contractions, reminding you to breathe, telling you that you are a capable, incredible force of strength is what’s different. It’s what gets you from being in your head to going to your heart. It gives you that incredible surge of confidence to just innately know that you can do this thing. Even more so postpartum. That shift rocked me. I had no clue what bringing a baby home would look like let alone feel like. If there was one thing I could do again about my birth it would be to ask for the support of a postpartum doula. Someone to support me as I support someone else.
I started to see Jo and Rachel from Born Doulas popping up on friends and other like minded people’s Instagram feeds. When I checked out their page I saw the same energy and love that I am trying to bring to women’s lives. I felt like it was an immediate connection. Two mama’s doing what they love, supporting their own families and the families around them. Whether it’s through the birth or the postpartum period, Jo and Rachel provide doula support as well as placenta encapsulation services. They have a low key, calm approach that empowers you the moment you start talking. When I left our first meeting I felt even more excited to share what they are doing on LFJ.
“The whole point of woman-centred birth is the knowledge that a woman is the birth power source. She may need, and deserve help but in essence, she always had, currently has, and will have the power”
Can you share 5 words that describe the feeling behind Born Doulas?
Women centered – Knowledgable – Full circle support – Empowered -Humour
Some women don’t know what a doula is or why they are different from a partner in the labour journey. Can you touch on that? What are three reasons you think it’s helpful to hire a doula?
The role of a doula is to provide knowledge and guidance supported by evidence based research and experience as well as hands on physical and emotional support to a woman and her family throughout her/their pregnancy, birth and transition into parenthood. The difference between a birth doula and a partner is that a doula is there to support both of them! The doulas role is never to take away from the partners role (or any other support person) instead it is to enhance it by guiding and supporting them on how best to support the labouring mother as well as providing relief and support so they can also take care of themselves. As doulas we have had the honour of witnessing birth a number of times as well as to have birthed our own children therefore we understand the beauty and power of the birthing process. With this deep knowledge we are able to ensure that the sensations and visual cues of birth are safe, normal, and part of the beautiful process needed to meet your baby. By normalizing and positively supporting these experiences we are able to calm and ease not only the labouring mother but also her partner allowing them both to trust in the process.
1. We can normalize the birth process and encourage informed choices
2. We can provide support for the both the labouring mother as well as the partner all while striving to honour their hopes for a positive birth experience
3. We are able to offer a full circle support by providing information, guidance and support for the duration of your pregnancy, labour and transition into parenthood
What connected you two and made you want to start Born Doulas? Did you feel like something was missing from the doula world in Toronto?
We have our oldest sons to thank for us meeting! They became friends in JK and through supporting their friendship we were thrilled to discover that we were like minded women who quickly became very dear friends. We are both mothers to two sons each who were all born at home with the wonderful support of midwives. We were both raised in environments where birth was very normalized and discussed with ease. In combination with our upbringings, our own birth experiences, and back grounds in social work/support work it was a very natural progression to join the birthing world in the role of doulas. We did our training together in the spring of 2014 and established Born Doulas shortly after and have been growing everyday since. To be invited into one of the most intimate and significant experiences in a woman’s life is such an honour. We feel incredibly blessed to be able to support women and their families through these experiences and simply love witnessing women in all their strength and beauty.
The birthing community as a whole is shifting and changing in such incredible ways. Pregnancy, birth and parenthood are becoming strong topics of conversation and in turn more and more women are actively seeking their villages and establishing the right supports for the experiences they hope to have. With these wonderful shifts the Toronto Doula world is evolving providing a variety of options to meet each women’s unique needs. To be able to connect to a woman/family in that way is such an honour. We have meet and supported some of the most incredible women and families in Toronto many of which we are still dear friends with.
What is one of your favourite pieces of advice or wisdom to share with your future clients about the birthing process?
The main wisdom we hope to transfer is to trust your body and to trust your baby. There is a certain level of magic and mystery to it all which needs to be embraced and trusted. You had the capacity to conceive and grow your baby so continue to trust in your body’s capacity to birth and nourish your baby. You can do this and will do it beautifully!
With that though even with the best laid plans our babies sometimes need to write a different tale. We often say the only guarantee with birth is that there are no guarantees, each birth must evolve in its own unique way and at times it’s not what we anticipated. As long as we honour our baby’s birth story, surround ourselves with support and make informed choices, a birth that evolves differently then anticipated will still be a very positive birth experience.
Overall you know your body and your baby better then any one else so trust your gut. You are your baby’s greatest expert and advocate.
If you had to pick a favourite moment in the labour journey what would it be?
Getting the call that labour has begun! The anticipation, the excitement, the unknown, the beauty and mystery of it all. Although there are similarities between births, no two births are ever the same each birth story is beautifully unique and we get to watch and support it as it unfolds. Knowing there will be another soul(s) in the world soon is a force like no other (be still my heart).
Tell us about Born Doulas Postpartum Doula services and why you think it’s important?
There is often such a strong focus on pregnancy and birth and not as much of a focus on the postpartum transition into new motherhood which can often be far more transformative then the birth itself. This is the time when the woman must birth the mother inside of her and much like the physical act of birth this is a more positive experience when surrounded by the right supports. Our postpartum support is really geared at mothering the mother by providing hands on support in terms of her recovery, newborn care and breastfeeding/bottle-feeding support as well as ensuring the day to day needs of a new family and home continue to run smoothly. We are also there to provide emotional support as the mother and new family transition through very natural and necessary but at times overwhelming shifts in hormones, exhaustion and new sensations in the healing and bonding process. Normalizing these feelings and sensations in combination with nurturing, empowering and supporting new mothers and their families as they navigate life with a newborn(s) will help ease the transition into parenthood giving them all the best possible start.
Do you have any favourite nourishing postpartum foods or supplement/vitamin/mineral/
Eating healthy and nourishing food during the postpartum period is so important, just as it was during your pregnancy. The main shift is that time may be a little harder to come by with a new little one. It can be helpful to have meals and snacks that are easy and fast to prepare, and that are nutrient dense and easy to digest. One of our favourite postpartum meals is a soup or stew with a foundation of nutritious and healing homemade broth (http://danielafreda.com/
As your body is working hard to heal itself and nourish your baby its wonderful to be able to grab something quick and easy such as hard boiled eggs, hummus and pita, cheese and crackers, muffins, trail mix, oatmeal and smoothies all of which are quick and nutritious. As for liquids, water is your best friend through the postpartum transition. It helps to keep you hydrated which can help support your milk supply and keeps your system running smoothly. Keeping a glass beside you while nursing (if you are) can really help keep your water intake up. Something else we recommend is drinking nettle tea. Nettle is a health boosting herb that is full of vitamins A, C, D and K, as well as calcium, potassium and iron. This can help rebalance natural blood loss from birth, increase your milk supply, and ease postpartum cramping.
Another wonderful option to nourish yourself post birth is to have your placenta encapsulated. The benefits that women have experienced from taking placenta capsules range from an increase in milk supply, restoration of energy and reduction in fatigue, reduction in the risk of postpartum depression and an increase in your iron. We are proud to provide this service and believe it can help contribute to a smooth and healthy postpartum transition.
Thank you Val!!! We are honoured to contribute to the beautiful and welcoming space you have created here. We are always happy to chat with anyone interested or simply curious about the support of a birth and/or postpartum doula in their journey.
If you have any questions or simply would like to get in touch with Jo + Rachel, you can visit their website and connect with them there – http://www.borndoulas.ca/ . Thank you both for taking the time to answer these questions and share your goodness with the LFJ community!
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