The “Four M” Approach to Being a Better Beginnings Client

MEET Your Doula

This first meeting is about creating open space for me to get to know potential clients. We’ll go through what your vision is for labor, birth and immediately following delivery, your hopes, worries and areas you desire more information on for birth. We’ll talk about what you and your partner hope to get from having a doula at your birth and, most importanly, how you want to feel after your birth. If at the end of this meeting we both believe we’re a mutual good fit, I’ll send paperwork your way and we’ll get started on laying out future meetings to prepare for your big day.

MAKE a Birth Blueprint

The power of a birth plan is not in the plan itself, but in the process of becoming educated about all of your options. Therefore, in this meeting we will talk about your preferences for birth — the specific goals and hopes of the birthing person and those of their partner — and make a blueprint. The process of making a birth blueprint is more for preparation and education, rather than a guarantee of outcomes. The only guaranteed aspect of birth is that something unexpected is sure to happen. Whether a positive or negative surprise, the discussion, preparation, and education portion of our meetings will help create a smooth experience for all involved. Plus, the beauty of a blueprint is that it gives vision for where you’d like to end up, but adjustments can be and often are made along the way.

MOVE

Time spent practicing comfort measures before labor begins will help your body and mind get into a helpful rhthym once the contractions begin. Therefore, this session is all about movement. As your doula, I will coach you and your partner through various positions that can aid Momma as she labors, talk through alternate comfort measures, plus discuss the natural progression of labor and what is to be expected in each stage and phase.

MITIGATE Expectations

Another important part of preparing for labor and a satisfying birth experience is to mitigate expectations. Unmet expectations are often the number one reason mothers cite dissatisfaction with their birth experience. In this session we will walk through alternate desires if the “plans” change. I’ll encourage you and your partner through an excercise of making informed choices as a team and how to feel supported and comforted in the midst of the unexpected. We will also talk through apparent or known stressors or trauma, especially if this is a subsequent birth. This preparation can be added on to the Make a Plan or Move meetings, but if time allows can be a stand-alone meeting.