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Who is Laura?

I am a woman, a daughter, a mother, and a grandmother

with a passion for how women experience their entry into motherhood.

What happens during pregnancy, labour, birth, and those early postpartum hours and days is so, so important.

 

The first time that I supported a woman in labour was over four decades ago, just before I had my own baby.

My one baby became two, then three, then four and, eventually, eleven grandchildren appeared!

I stepped in and out of doula work for years as my life's needs dictated, and now,

I am so thrilled to be back doing what I love most!

 

 

 

Who am I as a Doula?

I am passionate about birth AND, I am passionate about:

  • Women having the closest experience possible to the birth that they want.

  • Women having confidence in their bodies, in who they are as a gestating human, in how they labour, birth, and feed their babies. 

  • Normalizing the normal experience of growing into motherhood, about the no-going-back nature of what they have embraced, and sometimes that is hard!

  • Lending perspective on the mess that life can feel like, and about the underlying love and internal strength that keeps us going.

  • The big picture, the whole picture, the hard stuff, the shitty diapers that overflow, the sleeplessness, and the glittering moments of awe and joy – often most unexpected.

 

Why I am a doula?

I want every women that I work with to have the best experience possible.

I have spoken with many women and have heard about both very good and truly bad experiences.

No birth needs to be a bad experience!

Even if you want to labour and birth vaginally but there is a definite need for a surgical birth,

it can still be a good experience!!

 

Here are some examples of how I can help you to have a good birth!

By being well informed on things that matter to you

You may not want any pain relief, or maybe you want to start with pain relief as early as possible!

Some find having that getting an IV is so hard.

Some want to limit how many people are in the room. 

You may feel strongly about the use of Pitocin at the point of delivery ... or not.

During our time together, I will learn what is important to you suggest how you can approach that matter.

Understanding that there is a psychological process that parallels the physical elements of labour and birth is SO helpful!

There is too much to say about this on a website! 

But there is a lot that can be done to make this part of labour work for you and to understand why labour seems to slow down or even stop when you go to the hospital.

If you need a Cesarean Section there are ways to make it a positive experience.

We will create a birth plan than includes pre-birth, the time in surgery, and postpartum.

Recently, I was speaking with a woman who was upset about having to have another Cesarean birth. I suggested to her that, "Perhaps you can try to come to peace with understanding that this is how your body gives birth." This allowed her to stop feeling like a failure and to feel this giving birth, however it happens, is a success story!

 

 

Credentials

  • Citizen Development, Manager and Director.  (What I wrote to explain work history "gaps" The truth? There were no gaps!)           " By seeking to clearly identify and support of the unique qualities of four citizens (my children), I devised and held to the         long-term goal of developing each into independent and robust contributors to the social and economic base of our               society. Following the loss of the company co-founder, we endured fiscal, resource, and schedule challenges. Rallying as a team, via regular group meetings, combined with the development of individual visioning and strategizing, we realized the successful launch of four thriving and independently functioning citizens, now managing their own branches of Citizen Development. 1984-2007"           

  • B.A. Sociology, York University, 2013

  • Infant Mental Health Community Training Institute - 15 part series, presented by Infant Mental Health Promotion (IMHP),             and the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, 2016
  • The Brain Story Certification, Alberta Family Wellness Initiative, 2019
  • Certified Birth & Postpartum Doula/ Maternal Support Practitioner, Bebo Mia Inc., 2019 
  • Chain of Transmission & Risk Assessment Certificate, Public Health Ontario, 2023
  •  CPR/AED Level C, Canadian Red Cross, 2023
  • Registered Member of The Association of Ontario Doulas, current

  • Workshop: The Art of Nurtured Parenting and How Doulas Can Support New Families,

         Greer Kirshenbaum PhD, Author, Neuroscientist, Doula and Infant and Family Sleep Specialist 2023

 

 

One final "credential"

 

I am a survivor of early trauma.

I (unexpectedly) raised four children on my own while I was, as yet,

undiagnosed with C-PTSD, depression, and anxiety.

For decades, I just did my best and struggled on without being able to clearly identify why life felt so hard. 

As a result of identifying the underlying causes of C-PTSD, depression, and anxiety, and having had help,

I can better understand the impact that negative life experiences can bring to an individual.

 

More importantly, I appreciate and value how those experiences can affect us during pregnancy, birth, and as a parent.

 

My own life story and understandings have generated a passion

for positive birth experiences,

for supported transition into parenthood, and

for parenting with confidence.