Standard Bella Vita Doula Care Package

• Pre-natal Visit.  Meet and get to know the doula (with your partner when applicable). Discuss your priorities, identify and address your fears and concerns, detail any cultural or religious practices of meaning, and create your birth plan. The Doula will work to understand how you experience and respond to pain and stress. When your partner is present, he/she will be engaged in creating the birth plan and understanding his/her own role in its execution. 
• Pregnancy Support.  This is a period of trust and knowledge building. The doula will engage you about your pregnancy and send you information on ‘best evidence care,’ which collates the latest scientific evidence to inform clinical interventions. With doula guidance, you will be educated about labor, birth, and your options. Through emailing articles, lending books, providing meditation exercises, researching answers to questions, and generally responding to your anxious queries with wisdom and calm, the doula will strive to make you feel listened to, understood, and supported throughout your pregnancy. 
• Labor & Birth Support.  ’Go Time’ begins at week 37 of your pregnancy when the doula is on call 24/7. When the time comes, the doula will join your birthing team and support you in executing your birth plan for the duration of labor and delivery. When possible, the environment is transformed to soothe and enable, and the doula will provide you with consistent physical, emotional, and spiritual support. The doula will remain with you in those blissed out post-birth moments to take photos and assist with initial breastfeeding. 
• Post-partum Visit.  The doula will check on you at home within three weeks of birth to download about and review your birth experience and to gush over the little piece of perfection you delivered earthside. 

Extended Post-partum & parenting support

The post-partum and early parenting period come with elation, exhilaration, and a good bit of exhaustion. Whether navigating new motherhood for the first time, or honing your parenting skills for an additional child, your period of post-partum support can be extended for as many months as you like. Use this period to understand your infant’s development and address any topics of concern (eg, feeding and sleeping practices). Overnight visits are especially appreciated by sleep-deprived parents. 

Virtual Pregnancy & Post-partum Support 

For women outside the Bella Vita service area, virtual pregnancy and post-partum support are offered. Develop a relationship of trust via phone, text message, and Skype, and benefit from the same wisdom, concern, and dedication to education and empowerment that in-person clients enjoy.