Debra Woods
Vancouver Home Birth Doula
Bring Birth Home!
Bring Birth Home!
Vancouver B.C. Canada
|
When your heart’s desire is to birth normally, as you are designed for–trusting in your baby and body, attuned to ancient wisdom…
When that desire is to follow your body’s birthing rhythms, participating actively during birth, to welcome your child gently into the world….. there’s no place quite like home. |
“Birth was and will always be the most commonplace of miracles, an event at once familiar and phenomenal, timeless and immediate, briefly making angels of us all.”
Three key elements that optimize normal physiologic birth are being where you are undisturbed, feel safe and have personal privacy.
|
Why Birth at Home?
"Giving birth at home meant giving birth on my terms, being able to naturally, calmly go through my birthing waves the way I planned. Getting to try different ways to move my baby down and have no restrictions on where I went. Being able to hold my baby and not rush the process." Carly
"Control is the key word - over sight, smell, sound, lighting, people (who comes and goes), environment and food. Comfort of my own home is unparalleled. I know I have everything I need and where everything is." Vivian
"My husband and I have 2 boys. Both were born at home. My birthing experience was intense, but peaceful and stress free considering what I was going through. I can't imagine not being in my home. I felt comfortable and safe. I believe it made it more special and rewarding in the end.
Both my sons were born in the water. They were calm and alert. My husband got into the birthing tub and delivered our boys. I feel that our experience was more intimate because we were in our home." Yunita "Peace on Earth begins with birth." Jeanine Parvati Baker |
Research shows that low risk pregnant women who plan home births have fewer interventions without any increased risk to mothers or babies.
A normal physiologic labor and birth are powered by the innate human capacity of the woman and fetus. This birth is more likely to be safe and healthy because no unnecessary interventions disrupt normal physiologic processes. Birthing at home minimizes disruption, thereby enhancing the potential for a normal healthy vaginal birth. Yet why exactly is that beneficial?
A normal, healthy birth provides many important benefits to your baby and you, such as: ■ Achieving better overall health for your baby. ■ Enabling your baby to successfully adapt to life outside the womb. ■ Feeling physically and emotionally well and confident as mothers. ■ Being better able to respond to your baby’s needs.
In addition to both of you, your family and society also benefit from a normal, healthy birth. As more women experience normal labor and birth, the view of birth will change to one of wellness, rather than illness. It also helps to ensure that a woman and her healthcare provider act as partners, sharing decision making and responsibility. Excerpts from document written by ACNM, the Midwives Alliance of North America, and the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives.
“Birth is not something we suffer, but something we actively do and exalt in.” Sheila Kitzinger
Bring Birth Home!
About Debra
For 27 years I have been providing doula care and birth education to childbearing families. I advocate for midwifery care & home birth as options for choice in care provider & place of birth for healthy pregnant women.
I’m very comfortable and at ease in the home setting. I’ve a long history with home births, beginning in the 1970’s attending friends’ births and with my son’s birth at home in 1979. In the late 1980’s, early 1990’s I worked alongside lay midwives at home births. I was a member of the Midwifery Task Force, a consumer group which raised awareness about midwifery care and helped bring about its legalization in 1998.
My home birth doula service fully prepares couples. They’re totally cared for while birthing at home and for some hours after, until they’re ready for quiet family time. I ensure families receive comprehensive instructions/setup for being at home. For those wishing a water birth, birth pool and accessories are included in my fee. Fee: $1200.
In addition to the numerous trainings I have taken to upgrade my doula skills I bring my 27 years experience to each birth I attend. With experience comes a wisdom and intuitive sense that simply can't be learned from a textbook or training.
Experience has shown me that the birth process unfolds in a myriad of ways. Each woman's journey mirrors who she is. Her essential grace, strength and essence comes forth. Birthing women are my teachers. I continue to be in awe and honored to be present at such memorable life altering events. We truly give our all to birth our children.
Experience has shown me that the birth process unfolds in a myriad of ways. Each woman's journey mirrors who she is. Her essential grace, strength and essence comes forth. Birthing women are my teachers. I continue to be in awe and honored to be present at such memorable life altering events. We truly give our all to birth our children.
I am also a Hypno-Doula. For information about all my services, please go to www.dakinidoula.com
.Aside from birth, my other passions include my spiritual practice, spending time with my son, enjoying games night with friends, gardening and travel to tropical destinations.
“A doula is like a trail guide. Familiar with the path, she keeps you hiking through the hard parts, knowing the view at the end is incredible.” — Mother Strong Doula
Doula and Midwifery Care
Couples wonder about the difference between doulas and midwives. Our roles are distinctly different. As a doula I provide emotional, physical and informational support from early on in labor. In most cases I am present at your home before the midwife arrives. As the primary care provider, your midwife tends to you and your baby's well being, ie. monitors baby's heart rate, your blood pressure, assesses labor progress and makes recommendations of a medical nature. They bring necessary medical equipment with them.
Numerous benefits of doula care are widely known. In the home birth setting a doula is particularly helpful as pharmacological pain medications are not available. To quote John Kennell, MD., "If a doula were a drug, it would be unethical not to use it."
As a doula, my support is non-medical, focused on your well being also, yet my 'tools of the trade' include massage aids, hot/cold packs, TENS machine, rebozo & aromatherapy oils. My role is to comfort the birthing mother by providing continuous support. For example: relaxation techniques, hypnosis, breath awareness, visualizations & affirmations, suggestions for positions, hands on skills such as massage & acupressure and positive encouragement & calm reassurance. I support partners too.
Both midwife and doula care for a laboring woman with their unique skill sets that complement each other. Both view birth as a normal healthy experience, have trust in women's bodies and believe in their ability. Midwives offer comfort, yet their support includes medical care, whereas that's outside the scope of a doula's practice.
“Debra was absolutely indispensable. Not only did she keep us sane, calm, and well rested, but she made our experience more intimate and romantic. For me, natural birth turned out to be an empowering and PLEASURABLE experience.” Christine