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| | | Childbirth Consultations What is a Childbirth Consultant?
A Childbirth Consultant is someone who will guide you on how to best prepare for your upcoming birth. This includes educational, informational and emotional support. We will join you in the comfort of your own home where we will have a private session that is customized to your needs and issues. This will help you feel more prepared and confident about the new journey you will be taking. These sessions are good for moms and couples who want more personalized guidance, do not have time to take a standard childbirth class, have already taken a childbirth class and are seeking additional information, or have taken a childbirth class during previous pregnancies and want a refresher.
Birth Works® Childbirth Preparation Classes Group and Private Classes! Birth Works childbirth classes are for any woman with any birthing history, i.e., new parents and parents with prior vaginal and/or cesarean births. Our classes are innovative and experiential in design. They help women gain confidence in their ability to birth, releasing any fears they may have that could hinder the birth process. Our classes also help birth companions become aware of ways they can make labor safer and more comfortable for the laboring mom. The classes are interactive and provide both a physical and emotional preparation for birth. Our program is suitable for parents planning a hospital, birthing center or home birth. Classes are facilitated by Lori Pendergast, a certified childbirth educator with Birth Works, Inc., and Jodi Moore, a certified doula with Doulas of North America. We are finding that couples are looking for shorter childbirth classes but still want to be able to get the essential information they need. We offer three 3-hour group sessions as well as private classes in your home. These private classes are great for moms who are on bedrest and for couples who are unable to attend a group session or who just want more personalized attention. As part of the childbirth class, you will receive a book full of essential information about pregnancy, birth, the postpartum period and beyond for you to keep! To find out more information about Birth Works go to www.birthworks.org. For a sample class outline, go here. |
.jpg) Birth Doula Services *To help ensure we can be by your side when you need us, we only take clients who live within 30 minutes of Leesburg, VA and who will have their births at INOVA Loudoun Hospital in Leesburg, VA and INOVA Fair Oaks Hospital in Fairfax, VA. Lori and Jodi are birth doula partners. Together we are rich in life experiences, skills, ideas and perspectives, offering you more than a single doula can alone. We have experience with natural births, vaginal birth after cesarean births, as well as births requiring medical interventions and cesarean births. Like most doulas, we have each been in solo practice, frequently working with each other for backup and professional support. Realizing that we share similar philosophies about birth, we chose to enhance our services by providing the same
personalized support but with the strength of a doula partnership. We will each attend your doula prenatal visits, most of the time together. This provides you with an unique opportunity to meet and develop a relationship with both of us. This ensures that in any event, you will have the guidance of a doula with whom you share a close, trusting relationship with. Moms labor better when they have people around them who they feel very comfortable with. We also have a third doula, Jennifer Crane, who we use as a backup doula on the rare occasion that Lori and Jodi will not be able to attend your birth. She also shares the same philosophies about birth as we do and you will have the opportunity to meet with her if you choose to do so.
We have a passion for birth and truly care about each and every one of our clients. During your prenatal visits, we will discuss your desires, concerns and maybe even fears about the upcoming birth of your baby. We will discuss your birth preferences and will provide you with information that will help you make more informed decisions during labor and birth. We may also do visualization exercises and relaxation exercises that can prepare you for labor and, if needed, a "mini" childbirth class. We want you to go into labor feeling relaxed, confident, empowered and ready for your baby to be born. Our responsibility as doulas is to meet your needs the best we can during your labor and birth. It does not matter what type of birth you desire--hospital, home, medicated, nonmedicated, interventions, no interventions--we will not judge your choices. We are there for you (and your partner) to help ensure a more satisfying birth experience! What is a Doula? The word "doula" comes from the ancient Greek meaning "a woman who serves" and is now used to refer to a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth; or who provides emotional and practical support during the postpartum period. A Birth Doula Recognizes birth as a key experience the mother will remember
all of her life Understands the physiology of birth and the emotional and
physical needs of a woman in labor Assists the woman in preparing for and carrying out her plans
for birth Stays with the woman throughout the labor Provides emotional support, physical comfort measures and an
objective viewpoint, as well as helps the woman get the
information she needs to make informed decisions Facilitates communication between the laboring woman, her
partner and her clinical care providers Perceives her role as nurturing and protecting the woman's
memory of the birth experience Allows the woman's partner to participate at his/her comfort
level.
Research evidence shows that the quality services of a postpartum doula can ease the transition that comes with the addition of a baby to a family, improve parental satisfaction and reduce the risk of mood disorders. A Postpartum Doula
Parents Night Out (Any location within 30 minutes from Leesburg, VA) Whether you have added a baby to your family or have had your first baby, it's often difficult for parents to have some time alone and bond as a couple again. While this is extremely important, it is often not done due to not having any family nearby or because parents cannot find a reliable babysitter. We are now offering babysitting services in YOUR home so you can rest assured that your precious little one(s) are safe and sound while you go and spend some time together--just the two of you! | |
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