My Story

I would like to share a bit about my childbirth experience. The experience of my son’s birth was not the most desirable. Then when my daughter was born, the experience wasn’t much better. Although I was supported in a hospital, setting I wish I had the opportunity at that time to have Doula support at my births and during my postpartum period. After my son was born, I had gone to see a doctor after experiencing a wide variety of feelings and so much despair. I was prescribed Prozac from a psychiatrist and was told that I needed therapy. In reality I was experiencing undiagnosed postpartum depression and lived for months with the pain. This was part of the motivation to become a Doula so that I could help other birthing persons to have a much better experience than I had. If I knew then what I know now, I could have prevented taking unnecessary medications and enjoyed the experience of being a first time mom in a much different way.

During my training, I learned of studies which showed how women who had good birth experiences remembered more of it than women who had negative experiences. Those women with the more positive birthing experiences had also been the most informed, empowered and supported. A common element to the negative birthing experiences was that the women reported feeling inadequate, lacking knowledge and that they were left with a feeling of helplessness much like I myself was. These negative feelings directly impacted the experience of birth, creating a sense of insecurity and inability to parent and care for the newborn. I have experienced an upswing in families with anxiety and ADHD. I personally have experience with these in my own home and have developed strategies to help and cope better. I have coached many families with either ADHD or both. I am proud to say that these families have been successful in caring for their baby and it has helped their family unit.

My birthing stories were not the joyful experiences I had looked forward to because I was unprepared and I did not have anyone to advocate for me and was not aware of what I was going through.

I would like to be the Doula for you that I wish I had. I would like to empower other birthing persons with knowledge and preparedness. With this power, it will allow each person to feel supported so they can enjoy a more positive and more memorable birth experience. It brings me tremendous joy to help each birthing person bring healthy babies into the world, help support their partners and provide postpartum care. With my background in Early Childhood Education, I can also support siblings of the newborn to guide them through the adjustment.

As the years have passed and I learn more about family dynamics, the topic of ‘how do I get my baby to sleep?’ has come up an awful lot. Families have divided over this issue, it has been a topic of mass discussion and one that we need to be more sensitive to and aware of. I decided to do some research and found a colleague who was taking a sleep educator course to be a certified infant family sleep specialist with Bebo Mia. The more I learned about how the infant brain works in terms of sleep, the more I wanted to become a sleep specialist and I will share all my knowledge with you! I am a huge fan of Greer Kirshenbaum, PhD who was one of the facilitators in the sleep course. Greer launched her new book ‘The Nurture Revolution’ which is taking the world by storm. Greer has been featured in the media and has a huge social media presence and I have attached some links for your reference and reading pleasure.

In addition, I am proud to be the acting President of the Ottawa Valley Doulas Association, an active member of the Association of Ontario Doula, a member of Dona International. This all helps me stay current with knowledge and new practices so I can better support you. 🌺🌸

In my heart, I am passionate about every birthing person having the best possible experience no matter how your baby comes into this world. I will be there to advocate no matter what your choices are. If you choose a c-section, natural birth, medicated birth. After your baby is born whether you decide to breastfeed, or bottle feed, Pampers, or cloth diapers, circumcision or not. No matter what your family unit looks like, I will be there with a helping hand every step of your journey without judgement.

Stephanie 💕