Flow: Labor
The right lighting, dim + twinkly. The right playlist. Safety. You think, ‘I can be myself here. I can fart, you know what I mean?’ Movement, sway. The next right thing. Here. Now. Slow, low and open. The air is heavy with love, with trust. The bubble of peace is strong, protected. Movement comes naturally, now a sway, now a sigh. Sounds are welcomed, encouraged, met. A sip of water. A deep breath. A cool towel. A warm bath. Just you and the music. Just you and your baby and the music. Another sip of water. Safety in the dark, cool, and dim, to be seen, to be known, to be powerful. To not understand the mystery, but to show up open, willing, and supported.
Physiology First
The most important aspect of labor is feeling safe enough to let the mind go into a flow state, where the thinking mind recedes and the body moves intuitively. If we hit a snag, my understanding of functional anatomy, the pelvis and muscles surrounding it allow me offer suggestions to create space and facilitate baby’s descent.
Finding Your Rhythm
As Penny Simpkin puts it, “if you’re in rhythm, you’re coping.” When your rhythm is being reflected back to you, it’s easier to pick back up if you get distracted. When fear, tension, and pain want to creep in, I will guide you back to rhythm, back to movement, back to coping.
Continuous Support
Your medical team will be in and out of your room, checking on other patients, taking care of paperwork, standing back and seeing the big clinical picture objectively. I will stay by your side, supporting your process, letting your partner take breaks. Being with you, holding space. Studies show continuous support improves birth outcomes: shorter labor, less interventions, increased coping.
Let’s Get You All Settled
Once the baby arrives, I will hang out with you for a couple of hours, basking in the glow of all that you’ve accomplished and all the places your journey’s taken you. I’ll support you with breastfeeding and celebrate and admire you as you fall in love with your new baby. Later, we will debrief, but for now, we will focus on settling in to a new rhythm and rest.
Flow: Labor Package includes
3 prenatal visits,
4 weeks of call, (38-42 weeks, 39-43 for first time birthers. If you know you tend to run early or late, we will adjust accordingly)
continuous support during labor
one postpartum visit.
Sliding scale, $1000-1500
If you are worried about being able to afford doula Services, check out Richmond Doula Project, an amazing org that I’m a proud volunteer with