Meet our Doula

I met Jeanna though prenatal yoga at Blossom Birth. I really liked her philosophy and general attitude in life - open, down-to-earth, knowledgeable, approachable and with a great sense of humor. :) I liked how she really engaged people at the beginning of class and made me, and others, feel comfortable. I also appreciate how she teaches prenatal yoga - still a workout but honoring what our pregnant bodies need. The more I found out about her, the more I liked.
She has an incredibly rich background and is active in so many organizations - here are just a few: Whole Birth Yoga, La Leche League, Association of Labor Assistance and Childbirth Educators (ALACE), Metropolitan Adult Education, and is the President of the board of Bay Area Birth Information (BABI). For more info on her, check out her website Mindful Mama.

For a long time, I thought I was for sure going to be someone who asks for an epidural at the first possible moment. We have the technology so, why not? The more I spent time with people at Blossom like Jeanna and the more I read books like "Birthing from Within" (Shannon, thanks again for sending it to me) and "Ina Maya's Guide to Childbirth" (Thanks Ellen for suggesting it), the more I felt like I could and actually want to try a natural birth. :) So once I turned that corner, Jeanna was my first choice.What does a doula do, you ask? In short, she "mothers the mother". She is trained in labor and birth and helps the mama meditate through the pain. As a result, a doula helps decrease the risk of cesarean, use of drugs, epidurals and helps lessens the chance of tearing and episiotomies. I've read in studies that doulas also decrease the length of labor. Because of this, some insurance companies are starting to cover doulas costs. Cool!

You might ask "Why have a doula when women have been delivering babies for centuries?" Well, although that is true it is also true that up until the 1920's childbirth was one of the leading causes of death for woman. Plus why not use the knowledge of someone who has helped tons of woman go through it before? The way I see it, no matter how great of shape I am, I wouldn't climb Mt. Everest without a Sherpa. Would you? :) (Photos from blog India Ink)Scott, my mother, my sister Maria and I will be guided by Jeanna, our birth Sherpa, to deliver Gemma into the world. :)And today we started the process! Jeanna met Scott and me at our place and we chatted for 3 hours getting to know each other better and going over all sorts of questions we had. It was great getting that one-on-one attention.

Next week Jeanna is teaching the "Intensive Childbirth Preparation" class at Blossom that Scott and I are signed up for. I like that we'll be able to learn even more from her through the class. Incidentally, that is our last class before the baby comes. We are getting close - soooo excited!