| LOTUS FERTILITY DOULA SERVICES Prenatal - Birth - Postpartum - and Beyond PRENATAL, LABOR, & BIRTH A Continuum of Care Lotus Fertility Birth Doula Service involves much more than joining you at your birth, it is a specific "Continuum of Care" that begins prenatally, and cultivates the personal relationship of a traditional midwifery nature. Doula Service provides a continuous care presence for the birth journey and is a unique package that supports each woman's intuitive process for the birth of a new family. Care begins with several Prenatal Doula sessions (starting in any trimester, the earlier the better) that encourage the emotional empowerment foundation for Labor Support, Conscious Birth, and Postpartum Health. These sessions are mostly comprised of home visits, and may involve Informed Choice consulting, Prenatal parenting preparation, Birth intentions work, Birth Partner education, and/or Yoga instruction. For planned cesareans due to high risk issues, these services can still support your choice-making, optimalization of trial-of-labor, lotus birth practices, conscious family bonding & mother-baby reunion, and thereby enhance Postpartum wellbeing. Mary has specialized experience for assisting clients who have intention towards aware birth and bonding (i.e., delayed cord severance and other basic interventions, newborn genital integrity), wherever and however the birth occurs. Due to the complexity of beginning and completing a therapeutic relationship, the Birth Doula package is not offered without the Prenatal & Postpartum home visit session component. In cases of unexpected outcomes such surgery or neonatal complications Mary will abide with you and continue to facilitate informed choice where applicable. Fee for Doula Services full Continuum of Care Prenatal through Birth: $ 900 (planned hospital or birth center) $ 500 (homebirths with CPM/CNM) Initial Consult/Interview Fee: $50 (can be applied towards Doula package) Early booking requests are encouraged for best availability, as Mary limits the number of births she attends. Deposit of half of fee requested in order to book services, balance payable one month before estimated "due date". In the event of cancellation, deposit shall be refunded minus any interview time and/or Prenatal sessions, calculated at a rate of $60/hour as explained in Client Contract. POSTPARTUM SERVICES The Best Baby Shower/Blessing Gift, plan ahead! In-home skilled Postpartum support the first 6 weeks is priceless, and of much more value and lifelong benefit to new mothers than a crib, plastic toys, and designer baby clothes, soon outgrown, will ever be. For more on this subject, see Baby Gear Economics. The ancient medicinal sciences (Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine, and native cultures in general) say that between 22-40 days of supported home retreat, domestic caregiving, and intense mother-baby bonding is absolutely essential, having a lifelong impact on maternal & child health on all levels. Traditionally these weeks of the very early postpartum time were lived as a very personal home seclusion, in order to stabilize mother and baby for optimal recovery and energetic integrity. Conventional western medicine recognizes that it takes 6 weeks for a woman's internal organs to return to their pre-pregnant state, and women who have cesareans have additional recovery issues with regard to abdominal muscle disabilities and mobility concerns. It is a well known fact that the rates of significant Postpartum depression in the West are very high (realistically estimated between at least 30-40% of childbearing women, as many do not seek help). The endocrine disruptions of labor drugs and negative birth experiences are obviously a significant cultural & hormonal factor in this, as well as the lack of extended home recovery and Postpartum Doula care. Even women who have empowered, blissful natural births, can find themselves anxious, overwhelmed, and prone to further stress and/or illness without sufficient Postpartum home retreat and traditional, non-clinical midwifery support or the female companionship found in indigenous cultures. Likewise, even women who have a mother or mother-in-law willing to help out in early Postpartum may have various relationship issues or time constraints or lifestyle differences that would be complemented or further supported by a Postpartum Doula. Lastly, but most importantly, women who have committed partners find additional Postpartum support very beneficial because optimal home confinement and solo household management are very stressful, if not impossible, for a new father who is in his own time of transition and bonding. Men often understandably feel unequipped for the depth of full Postpartum recovery & provision realities when also having to maintain their income-producing employment. Men have unique and special talents simply being themselves as men to their mates who are new mothers - they often find it enormously helpful to be freed to do that, and the dynamics of healthy partnership and a thriving new family can be supported by a Postpartum Doula. Fee for Lotus Fertility Postpartum Doula Care: Two levels of care Level I: For the optimal "40 Day" care (recommended in the Yoga tradition as well as many cultures, learn more here), the hourly fee is reduced into a flat rate of $1000 for 40 hours ($25/hour), with distribution of hours per week determined by client according to their unique family situation, such as 20 hours the first week, 10 hours the following two weeks. Additional hours are available and calculated at the hourly rate, according to availability and the family's needs. Payment of minimum ($250) is due in order to book services in advance, payment of balance is due by the 3rd day Postpartum. If you would like business cards to distribute with your Baby Shower/Blessing invitations that mention your "Postpartum Doula Registry" please contact Mary. Level II: For occasional or minimal part-time specialized Postpartum support care: $30/hour, first 10 hours, $25/hour thereafter. Trade of goods/services for partial fee is possible in some special situations, please don't hesitate to ask! DOULA CARE BEYOND !!! On a case-by-case basis, Mary has provided eclectic nannying, eldercare, and support for people going throuth illness, injury, broken hearts, and grief. This service may include ayurvedic cooking, at an hourly rate depending on situation and availability. Feel free to contact Mary to find out more. Rates for this service range between $16-$22 hr. |
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The Lotus Fertility Birth Doula Services Continuum of Care includes:
* 2 Prenatal Home Visit Sessions (2 hours each).
* On-call phone support in late pregnancy and phone support during very early labor.
* Home attendance for domestic early labor support, transition to and support at your birth center or hospital (if you are
not giving birth at home with a Midwife). Staying with you through the first 2 -4 postpartum hours.
* A Postpartum home follow-up visit (typically 2-3 hours long) within the first week. Mary loves to provide additional
Postpartum care, Level I or Level II, as stated in the Postpartum section on this page.
Labor Support incorporates:
* Mary's birthing-familiar presence in your home during early/middle labor,
* ensuring that you are well-hydrated and also eliminating well,
* vocal nurturing and encouragement,
* cooking & serving healthy food,
* emotional facilitation,
* facilitating and encouraging the committed birth partner
through role modeling, respecting your process as a couple,
* warm bath assistance,
* use of labor-soothing essential oils,
* breathwork,
* hot/cold applications,
* therapeutic touch and sacral pressure point work,
* encouraging your mobility and helping with changes of position during intense labor,
* incorporating sound vibration, toning, and music,
* being your liaison with family & friends,
* continuous care during transition to birth center or hospital (if you are not having a home birth w/Midwife)
* communicating your wishes to numerous staff in the institutional environment in an elegant manner
* actively supporting informed choices to reduce unnecessary medical interventions,
* helping you maintain expanded awarenesss and breath through basic routine medical interventions/interruptions,
* encouraging conscious communication between you and your laboring baby,
* helping you consistently move through fear and pain into a return to LOVE and BREATH,
* reminding you to attune to your baby,
* facilitating privacy & integrity between the laboring woman and her committed partner for optimal physiology,
* facilitating mother-baby skin-to-skin reunion upon birth,
* focusing on you, and encouraging your focus, during 3rd Stage,
* for homebirth clients, assisting the licensed midwife if needed,
* facilitating mindfulness for placenta/cord care, and beautiful wrapping of both for Lotus Births.
* 2 Prenatal Home Visit Sessions (2 hours each).
* On-call phone support in late pregnancy and phone support during very early labor.
* Home attendance for domestic early labor support, transition to and support at your birth center or hospital (if you are
not giving birth at home with a Midwife). Staying with you through the first 2 -4 postpartum hours.
* A Postpartum home follow-up visit (typically 2-3 hours long) within the first week. Mary loves to provide additional
Postpartum care, Level I or Level II, as stated in the Postpartum section on this page.
Labor Support incorporates:
* Mary's birthing-familiar presence in your home during early/middle labor,
* ensuring that you are well-hydrated and also eliminating well,
* vocal nurturing and encouragement,
* cooking & serving healthy food,
* emotional facilitation,
* facilitating and encouraging the committed birth partner
through role modeling, respecting your process as a couple,
* warm bath assistance,
* use of labor-soothing essential oils,
* breathwork,
* hot/cold applications,
* therapeutic touch and sacral pressure point work,
* encouraging your mobility and helping with changes of position during intense labor,
* incorporating sound vibration, toning, and music,
* being your liaison with family & friends,
* continuous care during transition to birth center or hospital (if you are not having a home birth w/Midwife)
* communicating your wishes to numerous staff in the institutional environment in an elegant manner
* actively supporting informed choices to reduce unnecessary medical interventions,
* helping you maintain expanded awarenesss and breath through basic routine medical interventions/interruptions,
* encouraging conscious communication between you and your laboring baby,
* helping you consistently move through fear and pain into a return to LOVE and BREATH,
* reminding you to attune to your baby,
* facilitating privacy & integrity between the laboring woman and her committed partner for optimal physiology,
* facilitating mother-baby skin-to-skin reunion upon birth,
* focusing on you, and encouraging your focus, during 3rd Stage,
* for homebirth clients, assisting the licensed midwife if needed,
* facilitating mindfulness for placenta/cord care, and beautiful wrapping of both for Lotus Births.
Postpartum Doula services include:
* New mother companionship and emotional support as she bonds with her newborn child & integrates
her birth experience in the very tender first 6 weeks postpartum,
* Facilitating skin-to-skin newborn care for optimal mother-baby health,
* New mother physical comfort measures, self-care support,
* Maintaining a cosy Postpartum home environment for the new mother-baby's "intentional retreat",
* Supporting the new father by relieving some of his concerns about the new mother's emotional
support,
* Facilitating optimal mama-baby bonding through "mothering the mother" and her intuitive process.
* Nursing support: skin-to-skin positioning, lactation enhancing techniques, dietary guidelines, and
herbal medicinal teas,
* Infant bathing and light massage support,
* Lotus Baby cord & placenta pillow coordination tips & assistance,
* Exquisite nutritional medicine home cooking of meals & snacks learn more about Mary's cooking
* Occasional grocery shopping, various errands,
* Laundry for mother and baby,
* Encouraging the new mother's continuous proper hydration & elimination,
* Being a weekly presence that reminds the new mother that she is still recovering weeks 3-6.
* Natural remedies for Postpartum comfort, including new mama foot massages.
* Nannying of older children in the home, driving/collecting from school
* New mother companionship and emotional support as she bonds with her newborn child & integrates
her birth experience in the very tender first 6 weeks postpartum,
* Facilitating skin-to-skin newborn care for optimal mother-baby health,
* New mother physical comfort measures, self-care support,
* Maintaining a cosy Postpartum home environment for the new mother-baby's "intentional retreat",
* Supporting the new father by relieving some of his concerns about the new mother's emotional
support,
* Facilitating optimal mama-baby bonding through "mothering the mother" and her intuitive process.
* Nursing support: skin-to-skin positioning, lactation enhancing techniques, dietary guidelines, and
herbal medicinal teas,
* Infant bathing and light massage support,
* Lotus Baby cord & placenta pillow coordination tips & assistance,
* Exquisite nutritional medicine home cooking of meals & snacks learn more about Mary's cooking
* Occasional grocery shopping, various errands,
* Laundry for mother and baby,
* Encouraging the new mother's continuous proper hydration & elimination,
* Being a weekly presence that reminds the new mother that she is still recovering weeks 3-6.
* Natural remedies for Postpartum comfort, including new mama foot massages.
* Nannying of older children in the home, driving/collecting from school
| Mother Jenn & Baby Marcus Postpartum cesarean recovery home care, March 2004 |
| January 2007 - Birth Doula clients |
