Doula Advice

First of all, I want to say that you should be blessed with an easy and uneventful pregnancy. I want to become a doula and I am going through the training now. I saw a documentary made by Ricki Lake called "The Business of Being Born". It promotes doulas and home births. One of the doulas there is from the local NY area. You can get this film from Netflix. It is good to watch either way.

G.

Congratulations on your pregnancy! My name is R. and I am a doula. I think it is great you are researching doulas now instead of when you are well into your pregnancy. A little about me; I have been a doula for the past 6 years and have assisted over 30 births. I own my own doula business A Passion for New Begininngs. I provide prenatal education, childbirth education, labor support and breastfeeding support. Although it is recommended to hire a doula at 7 months I feel she or he should be hired as soon as a women finds out she is pregnant. I feel there is a lot to know about pregnancy and I find that women and their partners are cramming at the 3rd trimester and end up forgetting what the learn. I prefer to give bits of information gradually. Please feel free to email me at ____@____.com or call me at 718. ###-###-####. Please note I will be away from July 6th to July 26th. Good luck!

try metrodoul.com that's how i found my doula, used her for both my kids, she was amazing.

good luck!

I highly recommend Mia Borgatta ____@____.com
Also the people at Real Birth www.realbirth.com could make good recommendations.

Good luck

Hi B.,

I had an amazing doula for the birth of my son last year. Her name is Sharon Yeung and she works with a group of other doulas. She is also an acupuncturist/chinese herbalist so she is very well-rounded as has worked extensively with pregnant women, as well as children. I can't recommend her highly enough!

Besides her professional experience and expertise, Sharon is really personable, empathetic and thoughtful. She came over to help as soon as labor began and was with me and my husband for the entire 24 or so hours, working tirelessly. In case you're worried about a doula being "in the way" during an experience that is so emotional with your partner, I can say whole-heartedly that both I and my husband were really thankful that she was there for the whole thing. It is great to have a professional there during the process and can guide you through without panic. It also is helpful to have someone to advocate for you at a hospital, where there is often a lot of pressure to "speed things along" or medicate, which I didn't want.

Sharon's website is fiveseasonshealing.com, and her contact info is: ###-###-#### / ____@____.com
If you have any questions you can email me at ____@____.com luck with everything!

There is a great center in Park Slope: Birth day presence--they have wonderful doulas who i am sure would be willing to travel to any of the three areas you mentioned. Here is their website: http://www.birthdaypresence.net/