Snohomish County Doula

Several months ago, I realized that I had an inner list of three things I just wished every one of my clients would look at when they were preparing for their baby, and then realized I had some favorites for each of the stages of a childbirthing year: 1. Moving through Pregnancy, 2. Working with Labor and Birth, and 3. Getting to know the new baby.

In this three-part series, I’m giving you my absolute favorite recommendations for each stage. I really feel like having these on board through your childbearing journey will ease stress and empower you.

This post focuses specifically on resources that will help you actually get the baby OUT.

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Childbirth Ed

Instead of one simple little link here, I’m just going to stress that knowledge is power and being capable of informed decision-making is the most powerful feeling out there. In contrast, when I’m hearing someone’s birth story, and they’ve told me that their birth was either hard/long/terrible/traumatic, there is often a statement that they hadn’t thought childbirth ed would be important, and they would just go to the hospital and “the doctors would take care of everything.” Doctors and nurses and midwives are fantastic and well trained, but they can’t do this for you. Please, please, please get in a class where you have someone loving and friendly and knowledgeable, and ask allllll your questions.

Here are a few resources:

My wonderful backup, Jocelyn, teaches in-person childbirth classes in Snohomish county. I can’t recommend her enough.

If you don’t live in my physical area, I have several families who have done the online childbirth class through Mama Natural, and they only have good things to say about it!

The Expecting Miracles classes at the Pregnancy Resource Center in Everett are fantastic, and I know Serena, the instructor, personally. She’s one of my favorite humans, and I know this class is fantastic.

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Spinning Babies Parent Class

I have mentioned before how much I love Spinning Babies and their work. Their main idea is to use body positioning to allow more space for baby, more comfort for a mom, and more effectiveness from contractions. It’s genius. I would recommend this as an addition to a more comprehensive Childbirth class. It’s a bit difficult to find in-person classes, so either borrow the DVD from your doula (ahem….) or order it from Spinning Babies themselves.

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Homebirth in the Hospital

This is one of my favorite books. Stacy Marie Kerr does a fantastic job at explaining your options within a hospital setting, and how to advocate for a wide range of possibilities. Even though many of clients plan home- or birth-center-births, this one is requested for borrowing so often that it’s rarely on my shelf. So, again, either borrow it from your doula, or consider getting a copy of your own.