“Peace on earth begins with birth”
— Jeanni Parvati Baker
Congratulations on your pregnancy and welcome to my doula services page. I have had the honour of being asked to support many many births since 2013 and it is a privilege to be considered as your doula to support and share this most exceptional of times as you welcome your baby earth side. I believe that birth is an amazing experience, an experience completely unique to you.
As a birth doula my philosophy is to protect and respect your privacy and birth wishes, to ensure that you feel safe, supported and secure. By providing emotional and physical comfort measures for you and your partner so they can be totally focused and lovingly present for you. I am guided by my clients birth intentions, not mine. By providing a listening ear, and with permission, signposting good information this can help you make informed choices. Knowledge cultivates a feeling of empowerment in your pregnancy, so you can confidently create the birth and family that is as unique and as individual as you are.
Some people may wonder why you would invite a stranger to attend your birth, but there is good evidence that demonstrates why having a doula is possibly a good thing. The evidence collected and conclusions have found that there is a 50% reduction in caesarean rates, 25% shorter labour, 60% reduction in epidural request, and a 40% reduction in forceps delivery. You can find the research here. But mostly my clients are often looking for continuity of care, someone who is there, who is aware and supports their wishes and helps for their preferences to happen. Trusting you and trusting birth.
Doula Package
-
Sessions are approximately two and a half hours long and as well as covering birth-y stuff this is also a time to get to know each other. Every client I work with is different and has different needs so it's fairly fluid and organic process but has a framework as follows:
Your vision for your birth
Debriefing previous birth experiences
Birth place options
Understanding your labouring and birthing body
Comfort measures that support the labouring and birthing process
Breathwork and positions that support labour and birth
Relaxation and guided meditation
What if scenarios and how we work together as a team
Postpartum preferences and the first forty days
-
My intention with these sessions are to nourish you focusing on post birth healing and support and to encourage you to follow your instincts whilst giving space for you to reflect on your birth.
Birth debrief
Signposting to any relevant support for example feeding
Post birth healing tonics
Nourishing food
Belly wrapping
Yoni steaming
Closing the bones
“..... THE most incredible aftercare where I felt not only looked after but totally blissed out and able to enjoy the experience of early motherhood in a way I hadn't before”.
-
These workshops and 1-2-1 sessions are for you and/or your partner, friend, sister, or family member or whoever may be supporting you when you are moving towards meeting your baby through the initiation that is labour and birth.
These sessions cover the physiology of labour and how that journey can be supported with natural comfort measures, such as movement, breath, massage, nutrition and other helpful tips and suggestions.
I share my learnings as an active birth teacher and my experience of supporting birthing people as a birth doula over the last decade to help you feel more confident and prepared as you approach this very unique and special time.
These sessions are usually about 3 hours and in our time together we will explore:
How to prepare for labour
The stages of labour
Supportive breathing techniques for labour and birth
Movements and positions for labour and birth
How to work together throughout labour and birth
Supportive massage and touch techniques for pregnancy, labour and birth
Bonding and relaxation practices
Doula top tips
As a doula I am very much led by my clients and their preferences, which are open to change at any time. My support is underpinned by my Active Birth teacher philosophy, and all of the many wise traditional midwives and birth keepers I have had the privilege to be mentored by. I am here to encourage you to follow your instincts and your body.
I go “on call” from ten days before your estimated due date, this means that my phone is on twenty four hours a day, seven days a week until you move into labour and I am never too far away. As soon as we agree to work together I am available to you supporting you in any way I can.
What’s Included:
Want to know more about how it might feel to work with me? Please read some of my client’s experiences here and let’s talk more with a no obligation discovery call.
“Yolande's birth prep sessions were like long, warming chats with an old friend. We explored many aspects of pregnancy and birth, and my partner and I came away from each session with new knowledge and a greater confidence.”
Kind Words
“I will never forget my birth experience and you are such an important part of that memory. I had the birth I hoped for, actually it exceeded my expectations and I realise how few women can say that.”
— Sarah Jane Boulos
“There are not many Yolande's in this world! Her passion for empowering and supporting each individual who walks into her practice through their personal journey of being female (whether it be menstruation, pregnancy, birth, becoming a mother and menopause), is admirable. Yolande provides useful knowledge and recommendations which are invaluable, giving females a voice to choose their own path in their journey.”
— Candice Berzins
“Yolande was such an incredible rock and support for me during my birth which was surrounded by a lot of challenging emotions. We couldn't guarantee my partner would be able to be at the birth so the wonderful Yolande stepped in to be my primary birth partner, not only did she support me prior to the birth but came to appointments prior to my main hospital admission, and stayed with me from beginning to end.”
— Sarah Cooke
“The most incredible aftercare where I felt not only looked after but totally blissed out and able to enjoy the experience of early motherhood in a way I hadn't before. She brought me delicious food, homoeopathic remedies, she soaked my feet and she just LISTENED.”
— Joanna Woodward
“The aftercare was really special with the pelvis closing ceremony and a lot of emotional support. We really felt Yolande was part of the family and very blessed to have her being a big part of bringing our beautiful son into the world.”
— Camille
“The aftercare was really special with the pelvis closing ceremony and a lot of emotional support. We really felt Yolande was part of the family and very blessed to have her being a big part of bringing our beautiful son into the world.”
— Louise Havell
“Please value your job and role as a doula, I think yours is a wonderful and crucial contribution to motherhood, of just ensuring that women have a nurtured, magical and nice way of starting being mothers.”
— Clarissa
“She is one of the rare kinds of people, who can somehow be lighthearted and optimistic, and extremely knowledgeable at the same time, without trying to show off her amazing professional qualities.”
— Olga
“As the traffic slowed to a standstill, the baby moved faster and faster, and giving birth in the taxi seemed entirely likely. But what I remember most about that journey is Yolande’s calm instructions to keep breathing and her hand pressing on my back. We were in the hospital for less than half an hour before our daughter arrived and, for me, it was the perfect birth, so very different from the traumatic one I’d had six years earlier.”
— Laura Gibson
Let’s Talk Birth
Book a Free Consultation
If you would like to explore the potential of doula support and to know more about me and my approach then let’s book in a complimentary discovery call.
yolandeyoga@gmail.com
