A postpartum doula helps you (and your entire family) cope with and actually enjoy your new baby.

Every new baby is an individual with preferences, moods, and a distinct personality.  It takes time and effort to get to know that new person and to help him or her integrate peacefully into your family.  Often, we don’t have enough time to really relax with the new baby, and our “get-to-know-you” time is stressful and filled with demands from older children, partners, relatives, and that pile of laundry that just won’t stop lurking in the corner.  Complications from the birth, a multiple birth, serious breastfeeding problems or the challenges of  “two under two/three” can make things even more difficult, isolating mothers as they struggle to cope and placing them at a higher risk for postpartum depression.

As a postpartum doula, I offer you the most precious of commodities: time.   I can be your hands for laundry, your legs for playing with your cooped-up toddler in your yard, your arms for holding your baby while you have a relaxed, uninterrupted shower, or your head for thinking and organizing your piles of stuff when your brain is just too fuzzy from hormones and lack of sleep.

If you have breastfeeding problems, I can help or refer you to a professional as needed, and I can help you devise strategies for nursing a baby with a toddler in the room.

I can help dads become more involved in baby care if they wish, and help dads, moms and older children figure out the intricacies of whatever baby-carrying devices they may have.  Alternately, I can help evaluate what carriers would be a good investment for you.  I can also help you manage diapers (especially if you’re new to cloth diapering), baths, and outings.

I can cook you some tasty, nourishing meals that your whole family will enjoy, and help you with menu planning and shopping lists to keep you and your family fueled up without stress.

Most importantly, I can give you time to just be you.

Mothering is hard work, and nobody was ever meant to do it alone.  A postpartum doula can mean the difference between merely surviving your infant’s babyhood and really enjoying it.  And a happy mama often means a happy baby.

Please note, I will not be taking new doula clients until November 2013 due to the birth of my second child in March; however I am still available for breastfeeding help if needed.