ProDoula
CURRENT STATUS: pre-Certified Labor, Postpartum & Infant Care Doula
BUSINESS NAME/AFFILIATION: Swaddle & Pine Doula Care
SERVICES PROVIDED: Labor and Postpartum & Infant Care Support
About
AREAS SERVED: Luxembourg and The Netherlands
CONTACT INFO:
Email: hello@swaddleandpine.com
Website: www.swaddleandpine.com
Meet Your ProDoula
Background/Experience that you think is beneficial to Doula work: I have a Masters degree in Cultural and Medical Anthropology. For my research, I traveled to South Africa, where I worked with the amazing community health workers at Afrika Tikkun, a primary health care NGO that offered access to health care and health education to impoverished communities near Cape Town and Johannesburg. Most notably, I worked with new mothers who were HIV positive and who were part of a nation-wide initiative to analyze the role ART (antiretroviral therapy) played in their lives throughout their pregnancies and within the first 6 months after the birth of their babies. I am also a yoga teacher and am teaching prenatal yoga classes regularly. I love this work so much as well.
What led you to become a Doula?: I have always been interested in maternal health which is why I conducted the research described in the previous question. After withdrawing from a PhD program in which I would have continued my focus in maternal health, I was ready to step out of the research role and into the application of my knowledge. Luckily, I met some inspirational people along the way who helped guide me to doula work specifically.
What are some positive comments made about you by other people?:
That I am the sunshine in their lives, that I light up their days, and that I bring a sunshiny, brightness to any moment no matter the situation. Sunshine and light seem to be the overarching pattern. Overall, people enjoy having me in their lives exactly because of the person, or sunlight, that I am.