ProDoula
CURRENT STATUS: Certified Labor, Postpartum & Infant Care Doula
BUSINESS NAME/AFFILIATION: Birthing Gently
SERVICES PROVIDED: Prenatal, Labor, Delivery, Postpartum and Infant Care
About
AREAS SERVED: Massachusetts
CONTACT INFO:
Email: erinronderneves@gmail.com
Phone: (978) 712-8265
Website: https://www.birthinggently.com/erin-neves
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/BirthingGently
Meet Your ProDoula
Background/Experience that you think is beneficial to Doula work: I am a Birth CD(DONA) and a Postpartum CD-ICS with ProDoula. Additionally, I am a Yoga Alliance certified RYT 200 yoga instructor. I use a variety of physical and hands-on methods and positions to help bring mobility, flexibility and energy to the body throughout pregnancy, delivery and postpartum care. I have my M.A. in Educational Theatre from NYU and my B.A. from Mount Holyoke College. I am also a New York State certified theater teacher, grades K-12. I am currently an Arts Inclusion Specialist in the Boston and Greater Boston Area that focuses on working with the neurodiverse community. I approach this inclusion work and my doula practice the same way in the fact that I honor every birthing person, baby and support persons as individuals with unique needs that need to be assessed, acknowledged and supported. The most important and relevant experience I have is that I am the mother of two beautiful girls. My pregnancy journeys, birth stories and postpartum struggles allow me to connect with birthing persons and new families of all abilities on a deep level that creates solidarity and trust.
What led you to become a Doula?: Across all cultures and colors of humanity, women have traditionally been surrounded by other women throughout pregnancy, labor, delivery and postpartum. A birthing person would be supported by grandmothers, mothers, aunts, female cousins and neighbors all of whom would be attending to any physical and emotional needs. This collection of female minds, bodies, and spirits are what enabled a birthing person to focus on the new life they were bringing into the world while feeling safe, loved and validated. Furthermore, this community of feminine energy respected the sanctity of birth, as well as its physically demanding obligations, intense emotional peaks and valleys, and unsettling vulnerable moments before, during and after the baby's birth. As a birth and postpartum doula, I seek to fulfill this role for birthing persons and their families by providing support, validation, evidence based information and resources to create a network of safety and security. I believe a doula should be an essential team member of maternity and postpartum care teams. I could not have gone through my two pregnancies without the support of my birth and postpartum doulas. I chose to become a birth and postpartum doula because I feel a personal need to pay it forward and honor all the birthing persons experiencing this divine superpower called birth.
What are some positive comments made about you by other people?:
“I couldn’t have done it without her!”
“Her presence allowed me the space to focus on my breath, body and intuition.”
“Erin was able to help us create sustainable feeding and sleeping routines for our newborn.”