What is a Birth & Bereavement Doula and what do they do?
A Certified Birth & Bereavement Doula is a trained, certified, and trusted professional birth coach who guides and supports grieving families facing pregnancy and/or infant loss, and strives to find ways to make the pregnancy, birth, and time with baby as comfortable as possible.
In a nutshell, birth & bereavement doulas provide physical, emotional, and informational support to families experiencing pregnancy or infant loss. It is continuous, one-on-one support for mom and the entire family through the pregnancy, birth, time with baby, and early postpartum periods.
Our Birth & Bereavement Doulas are uniquely qualified to provide support in situations of miscarriage, stillbirth, terminal prenatal diagnosis, carrying to term, NICU care and subsequent infant death.
Our doulas are equally certified to provide comprehensive support in live birth outcomes, including subsequent “rainbow” pregnancies, and can provide labor support in all birth situations. Although, as an organization, we only accept bereavement births and rainbow births of previous IWCY clients.
Due to the nature of the support our doulas provide, it is vital that we are contacted immediately after the family has learned their baby will not survive. Besides providing resources and referrals, there is very little we can provide in terms of support after the pregnancy loss has occured.
“We aim to provide comprehensive, individualized care by uniquely qualified trained individuals with hearts to serve..”
*Although several of our doulas hold professional titles, within this organization we do not practice as healthcare pofessionals in any way and cannot provide any of the following services: mental health counseling, medical treatments, medication prescribing, medical exams, assessments or interventions, medical advice or recommendations, or any other medical, nursing, or healthcare professional duty whatsoever. We are simply support persons that specialize in supporting families through pregnancy and infant loss.
