Meeting with potential clients

I love the opportunity to me with new people. I enjoy answering questions and talking about what the couple/mom wants. I like to have the couple interview me and ask the questions that they want answers to. I want us to be comfortable and trust each other. This is the basis of our relationship. This interview gives all involved chance to see if we will work well together.  I will talk about what I can do for you, my fee, and we can talk about my background. If you would like to set up a meeting please let me know.
801-928-4127
Jessica Nielsen

Support is key

As women we go through a lot of work to get our babies earth side.  From the woman who gets pregnant without meaning to, to the one who has done several rounds of IVF, to the one who opts to use a surrogate, to the one who adopts, we as women have much strength and endurance.
How ever your little bundle of joy makes it into your arms and your heart there is much to say about what we go through.  Our emotions, energy, physical and emotional strength are just the tip of the ice burg.
Having had the opportunity to work with women going through many different scenarios getting their baby here, I have realized that each woman needs a person or persons that are there to love and support them in the choices that they make.
When the the mom is being supported in a way that is making her feel loved and comfortable her labor will go easier and smoother.  Mothers who are supported are in a better place mentally and therefore better able to make the informed decisions that are required of them while in labor.
When dads are supported as well they can better help the mom in labor.  They are less stressed and worried about the woman they care about.
The support starts when the mom is pregnant and we have a couple of prenatal appointments and talk about what the mom wants and what dad wants.  When there is a big difference is the two a Doula is able to help get the expecting parents to talk and come closer to an understanding of what each other is wanting or expecting.  A Doula is there to help work through the fears, worries and expectations of both partners.
The support is there after the birth of the baby as well.  I am there to help process the birth and go over things that have taken place.  If more support is needed than I can offer there are postpartum Doulas that I can put you in touch with.
With the right support a pregnant woman can do anything she wants to do.  You are so much STRONGER than you think!

Testimonials from clients

If you want testimonials about me please go here http://doulamatch.net/profile/6493/jessica-nielsen  to view them.

I seen this post today and felt the need to share it.

http://www.xojane.com/issues/first-trimester-miscarriage-stories

WHY WE SHOULDN'T HAVE TO KEEP PREGNANCY A SECRET FOR THE FIRST TRIMESTER

Staying quiet for 12 weeks while you grow a human being inside of you is nothing short of completely insane.Share on email

Me, happily pregnant, holding my big boy.

 

The nausea had come on strong and swift, even before the results of my first pregnancy test showed positive. Just one day late and I felt a catch in my throat when the scent of garlic wafted into the bedroom from the kitchen. A few hours later, my breasts began to feel heavy and sting. I knew.

 

This little one wanted to make herself known. She announced herself loudly, with no signs of foul play. The symptoms were much more pronounced than with my first pregnancy.

 

With my son Lucas, I fretted for 12 weeks. Every cramp sent my anxiety into overdrive. Every bathroom break was spent fearful of looking into the toilet bowl and seeing red. But this time was different. I had vacillated between ambivalence and desire for a second child for nearly a year. But when I actually became pregnant, I realized how very much I would love this new baby. And as the symptoms strengthened, my love grew.

 

About seven weeks into my second pregnancy, I woke up one morning and could finally stomach a small cup of coffee. I was glad for the short reprieve but a little knot began to form in my gut. I thought the nausea was supposed to get worse. I pushed the anxiety away, but the knot never released. 

 

Turns out, they don't give you a printout of an empty uterus. So here's the tiny bean that became my son.

 

 

A week later I sat in the doctor’s office, eagerly anticipating seeing the little bean and its blinking heartbeat on the ultrasound screen. The doctor moved the wand this way and that, her expression neutral. Seconds stretched into infinity. My palms began to sweat, my heart thumped against my chest and the knot tightened. A small crease formed on the doctor’s brow. She finally turned the screen to me. There was nothing there. 

 

My hormone levels were high, and an amniotic sac and placenta had formed. The doctor postulated: Perhaps it was too early to see an embryo. I would return in a week for further testing. But the knot told me what I already knew. The baby was gone. I returned home, still nauseated, still exhausted, still feeling pregnant. But it was just a cruel trick my body had played on me.

 

Very few people had known that I was pregnant -- my immediate family and my hairdresser (I blurted it out during a routine trim). But now that I had lost the baby, was I supposed to just pretend that it never happened? I had always assumed I would let people know I was pregnant after the first trimester, the same way I did with Lucas. But what was the protocol now?

 

The purpose of keeping the first trimester a secret was to avoid having to announce a miscarriage. But I had no idea how I was going to keep this a secret, when everything inside of me was breaking.

 

I turned to the Internet. I Googled “blighted ovum,” which is the creepy medical term for my particular kind of early pregnancy failure. There was a handful of links with basic information and a smattering of support forums.

 

But as I stumbled my way through the online world of miscarriage and infertility and pregnancy and loss, I discovered a virtual sea of women who were reaching out to someone, something, so as not to drown in their own feelings of isolation and guilt.

 

There were so many women -- so so many women -- who had kept their first trimester pregnancies and subsequent miscarriages a secret, and now felt disconnected from the people in their everyday lives. Some had not told their parents. Others hadn’t even told their spouses or significant others. So they turned to the Internet for a sense of community that they could not achieve with the people they would normally tell anything, from the minutiae of their day to their deepest, darkest indiscretions.

 

I knew how they felt. My life felt like a giant lie. For two weeks while I waited for results and then learned that my baby had never developed properly, I walked among my friends and co-workers as a fairly functioning person. I cracked jokes. I talked pop culture. I attended meetings and managed projects and dropped my son off at pre-school.

 

But a thin veil had been drawn between me and the people who didn’t know, and each time I saw a visibly pregnant woman, or read about a new baby on Facebook, or saw a big brother leaning in to smooch his baby sister, the veil thickened, darkening my view. I wanted to scream, I wanted to stew in sour thoughts.

 

Most of all, despite believing I didn’t want to deal with people’s I’m-sorry-for-your-loss sympathy faces, I just wanted a world where it was OK for me feel this way -- out in the open.

 

I took this picture the day I found out my pregnancy failed. To make myself feel better, I wore Battlestar Galactica double tanks. It helped.

 

 

My pregnancy symptoms began to wane, but they were not disappearing fast enough. Each ache in my breasts or fresh wave of nausea would remind me of my body’s betrayal, its sick, sick insistence on continuing to behave as though a baby were still growing inside me.

 

When my belly began to pucker and swell ever-so-slightly, I knew I couldn’t ride the miscarriage out naturally. I elected to have a D&C and get it over with. More lies. A vague email to co-workers about why I’d be missing work. (I have an appointment. I’m having a procedure done. Something minor, no big whoop.) I made jokes about playing hooky, since the procedure was to take place the day before my five-year wedding anniversary.

 

While talking up romantic weekend plans to my friends, I quietly canceled our dinner reservations. 

 

But with the date set, the finality of it, the dangerous proximity to what should have been a happy event, something in me cracked. I told myself I didn’t care, because if I did start to care then any awful thing that had ever happened to me would gather into a giant ball of misery -- the kind that’s been under the couch mutating from basic lint to possible living organism for the last several years.

 

I knew myself and my track record with holding things in. It didn’t work for me in romance (I would bottle up emotions out of a fear of confrontation and then implode the relationship) and it wasn’t working for me now. So I slowly began to leak the news to close friends and extended family. I braced myself for...I don’t know what. Judgment? Faux sympathy? Well-intentioned but clichéd advice? Stupid nonsense people inevitably say to pregnant women about their bodies? What I didn’t expect, and what I learned I desperately needed, was an outpouring of empathy. 

 

The realities of making a baby are thus: 10 to 20 percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage. Of that number, more than 80 percent occur in the first 12 weeks. And as I shared my story, I learned the numbers don’t lie.

 

Women in my family, friends and acquaintances all came forward with stories of their own. They had gone through it, many of them very alone, and they had come out the other side, changed but not undone. Several had quite plainly moved on. Others admitted they’d always mourn the baby that never was. Still others blocked it out of their memory as a coping mechanism.

 

But all of the talk, ranging from gruesome and gut-wrenching to soulful and enlightening, became my comfort.

 

Most moms love to recount their birthing stories. It’s their badge of honor; proof that they are, in fact, heroes who suffer through great pain to bring new life to the world. But not so many women like to come forward with their other war stories, the ones that don’t have happy endings.

 

These stories are important, too. Important because, when you’re going through a miscarriage, you can look to other women and know that you will survive.

 

The D&C was every bit as awful as I thought it would be. I was not put under general anesthesia, nor was I given any drugs for anxiety or sedation. A nurse pricked me with a needle full of super-Motrin and left me alone and naked from the waist down for 45 minutes waiting for the doctor.

 

He came in, took one last ultrasound for good measure, and matter-of-factly began the procedure that sucked the life out of me. I felt everything. I heard everything. I shook violently on the table and groaned as a nurse clutched my hand and patted my head. I stared up at her as she openly wept.

 

When it was all over, she brought me a blanket and held me for a long time. I remember thinking that she was the best nurse I had ever had, better than those in labor and delivery, so compassionate and so kind. Now I wonder if she, too, had gone through a miscarriage and never said a word, instead having to relive it daily on her job.

 

Some time has passed and now most people know about the miscarriage. Sharing with friends and family (and Internet strangers) has allowed me to heal, to sit comfortably with what happened and begin to accept it. But I can’t help but feel angry, too.

 

I’m angry that we live in a world where talking about miscarriage and first trimester pregnancy is still taboo. Where a woman must go to great lengths to hide her fatigue, nausea, sudden diet changes and pain, both emotional and physical, just to be polite.

 

Staying quiet for 12 weeks while you grow a human being inside of you is nothing short of completely insane.

 

Thanks in large part to social media, people have no problem opening up about personal details to those they might not have shared with in the past. The curtain of privacy has been pulled back, yet this one life-changing event remains shrouded until you reach a certain threshold. 

 

I respect any woman’s decision to keep her pregnancy or miscarriage a secret, but I don't think we should feel ashamed if we decide to share the news with whomever we choose, whenever we choose.

 

Take a look around you. Chances are, if you’re sitting in a room with five women of childbearing age, one of them has had (or will have) a miscarriage. And if you’re one of them, don’t be afraid to open up. You just might find comfort in the arms of a nurse, in the knowing nod of a trusted friend, or in kind words of an Internet stranger -- the war stories of unlikely heroes.

Side-lying Release

This is a good read and something I am going to try to remember more often.  

http://spinningbabies.com/techniques/activities-for-fetal-positioning/side-lying-release

Davis County Breast Feeding Open House!

VBAC's

I recently had the opportunity to help a Mom achieve her goal of a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After a Cesarean section).  She had done so much in making sure she was educated about all of her options.  She had it in her mind that if for some reason she ended up back in surgery that she would have done everything in her power to prevent that.  She was a peace with knowing that she could end up back there.  She pushed those thoughts out of her head though and focused on getting her baby here vaginally.  After just over a day of labor she was able to welcome her baby into this world with a vaginal birth!  Both her and her husband were so happy and excited to have their baby here.  It was one of the most empowering births that I have attended.  I felt like I could go and do anything after witnessing it.  Mom was able to have immediate skin to skin and nurse her baby minutes after birth. Both Mom and he baby are doing well.

   

Stay on your feet

I thought that this post was a good one to read.  I hope you enjoy it.
http://www.normalfed.com/Starting/stayonfeet.html   

Pictures from Birthdays!

Helping Families welcoming brand new babies into the world is the most wonderful thing I have had the privilege to be a part of.  I love the tender moments when mom and dad are almost ready to welcome their baby into the world.

Breastfeeding and the American LDS culture

I found this to be interesting.  May it shed some light.

http://whoopscoop.blogspot.com/2013/09/breastfeeding-and-lds-culture.html

July......

My goodness July has flown by and I have sure been busy!  Between family get together's, meeting new clients, clients going into labor, and helping out a few other Doulas I have spent about half the month on maternity wards!  I have loved every minute of it.
Helping families be born is such a passion of mine.  I believe that every woman should be given the opportunity to be educated on the different ways that babies can enter the world, and decide for themselves how they want to approach this wonderful time in their lives.

Traveling

People often wonder how far are doulas willing to travel?  Every doula is different.  As for me I am pretty much willing to go from Ogden down to South Salt Lake areas.  If you are close to those areas but not in them I am still willing to meet with you to see if that would be a possibility for me to take you on as a client.  I hope that this helps to know the areas that I serve.

Happy Father's Day

To all the father's out there I hope you have had a wonderful day!  Fathers are a wonderful support to the mother's of children. Thanks to all the great dads out there!

Honey Bump Maternity Layton, Utah

Honey Bump Maternity is hosting this wonderful event here in Layton!  It's a great way to meet more than one Doula at a time.  I hope to meet some of you there!

Meet the Doulas Q&A Saturday, June 1st, 12:00-1:30 p.m. Come and meet some local Doulas! Learn how you can have a better birth. Ask questions and get answers. What is a Doula and how can you benefit from having one present at your birth? Come and find out!

Honey Bump Maternity

1155 N. Main Street, Layton, Utah 84014

View Map · Get Directions

Emotions of a birth

I can usually keep  me emotions in check while attending a birth.  Though sometimes I get caught up in the wonderful moment of seeing a family be born.  One of my most recent births did this to me.  The pure joy that was in the room once baby got earth side, and seeing my clients become parents together.

It is interesting looking back at the births I have attended and recognizing all the emotions going on in the room.  It always amazes me that a mental road block can cause labor or progress to stop.  I love being able to help moms work through those road blocks and to take in the positive and release the negative.  Or that one person in the room can put mom on edge or calm her down.

I believe that maintaining a clam and relaxed environment is a big key to helping mom stay in the zone.  Being in tune with her and following her lead on what she needs and wants.  It is important to be as constant and continuously changing with what the mother needs.  Not a task I take lightly.  I want to do the best I can to support the families I am privileged to work for, and make their birth the best it can be.

On Call

As my clients are getting closer to their guess dates and excitement hits the bursting point.  I am on call for them 24/7 until the arrival of their baby.  Mammas aren't the only one getting ready for the big day.  I too am getting ready.  I put my kids sitter on call.  (She rocks! And is willing to take them at a moments notice for how ever long she needs to!  Couldn't do this with out her!)  I go through my doula bag and make sure I have restocked from my last birth.  I make sure that I have my snacks and energy drinks.  I make sure that my scrubs are clean and ready to go, and that my spare outfit is also ready.  I make sure that me birth ball has been re-inflated and is ready to go, with the pump put back in the bag.

I go through kind of a nesting phase as well.  I try to make sure my house stays clean, at least dishes and laundry done.  I don't want to leave them with out things to eat and clean clothes to wear.  I try to pick up the toys every chance I get, but my boys are right behind me getting them back out.  Oh well for that part.  My dear husband just laughs and reminds me to let him know when the time comes, so he knows where the boys are.  It is so much fun to be waiting for new life to come into this world.  And then to be able to help families be born!

Dads and the Doula

I have had several people wonder why get a doula when their husband is going to be there?  Here is some great information concerning this.

When it comes to pregnancy, birth, and parenting, today's father may want to share everything with his partner. He may want to be actively involved; ease his partner’s labor pain, welcome his baby at the moment of birth and help care for his newborn at home. A birth doula can help a father experience this special time with confidence.

Studies show that when doulas are present at birth, women have shorter labors, fewer medical interventions, fewer cesareans and healthier babies. Recent evidence also suggests that when a doula provides labor support, women are more satisfied with their experience and the mother-infant interaction is enhanced as long as two months after the birth. With doula support, fathers tend to stay more involved with their partner rather than pull away in times of stress.

Today, a father's participation in birth preparation classes or his presence at prenatal visits and in the birth suite is a familiar occurrence. Yet, we sometimes forget that the expectations of his role as a labor coach may be difficult to fulfill. Sometimes it is also culturally inappropriate for an expectant father to be so intimately involved in the process of labor and birth.

The father-to-be is expected, among other things, to become familiar with the process and language of birth, to understand medical procedures and hospital protocols and to advocate for his partner in an environment and culture he may be unfamiliar with. A doula can provide the information to help parents make appropriate decisions and facilitate communication between the birthing woman, her partner and medical care providers.

At times a father may not understand a woman’s instinctive behavior during birth and may react anxiously to what a doula knows to be the normal process of birth. He may witness his partner in pain and understandably become distressed. The doula can be reassuring and skillfully help the mother to cope with labor pain in her unique way. The father-to-be may be asked to accompany his partner during surgery should a cesarean become necessary. Not all fathers can realistically be expected to coach at this intense level.

Many fathers are eager to be involved during labor and birth. Others, no less loving or committed to their partners' well being, find it difficult to navigate in uncharted waters. With a doula, a father can share in the birth at level at which he feels most comfortable. The doula’s skills and knowledge can help him to feel more relaxed. If the father wants to provide physical comfort, such as back massage and change of positions, and help his partner to stay focused during contractions, the doula can provide that guidance and make suggestions for what may work best.

So how is a doula different from a labor and delivery nurse or partner/spouse?

The most important thing a woman needs during labor is continuous support. This means that you have someone by your side continuously from start to finish. A doula never leaves your side. Nurses have many other responsibilities other than you. Aside from helping care for you, the nurse is communicating with your care provider, taking care of other patients, documenting care, taking breaks, and taking care of other responsibilities. A nurse’s support ends when her shift does. The doula only has one obligation the whole time she is with you—and that is YOU!  Sometimes people think that they don’t need a doula because their partner will be with them continuously throughout labor. Your partner is an essential support person for you to have by your side. However, your partner will need to eat and use the bathroom at times. Also, most partners have limited knowledge about birth, medical procedures, or what goes on in a hospital.Doulas and partners can work together to make up a labor support team. To read a husband’s perspective on hiring a doula, read this article from Bloom in Spokane, Washington.  http://www.bloomspokane.com/2009/07/05/hiring-a-doula-a-husbands-perspective/  

I hope that this helps you on your path in choosing what is best for you and your family.

Info taken from these sites, they have more information on this topic as well.  

http://evidencebasedbirth.com/the-evidence-for-doulas/

http://www.dona.org/mothers/dads_and_doulas.php

C-Section Experience

I have been asked if doulas are even necessary when a c-section is going to take place.  My answer is yes!  I believe that the mother needs even more support when a c-section is going to happen.  Many people look over the fact that it is major abdominal surgery!  It you were having any other surgery you would have lots of support through that.  I believe that the same is more true for moms having to go through this too.  After surgery is very important for support as well.  They are recovering from surgery and have a new baby to care for.
My first experience with a c-section was very interesting for me.  I was called by labor and deliver to come help them with this patient.  I go there and was informed of what was going on.  Unplanned c-section due to several unfavorable factors.  Mom wanted to have as natural an experience as possible, so this was not in her game plan at all.  Both her and her husband were very nervous about this.  I was allowed to go back into the OR with mom while she got her spinal and was prepared for surgery.  They started, and then brought dad in.  Mom was nauseated and throwing up a little.  She wanted to know what was going on the whole time.  The Dr did a great job of telling her what he was doing.  Dad kept peeking over the screen and telling mom as well.  I was holding her hand and reassuring her that things were going well.  The Dr lowered the screen for the birth of the baby.  Mom was so excited to see her baby.
Dad went with the baby to the nursery unit.  The Dr's then went about stitching mom back up.  I was able to see the baby from where I was standing.  I told mom everything that they were doing from taking babies temperature, to the pediatrician listening to babies heart and lungs.  She was very glad to be able to know what was going on with her baby.  Dad brought baby back over to mom shortly after they were done checking baby out.  Mom was then able to give kisses and loves to her new baby.
We headed to recovery where mom was able to breastfeed with some help.  It was amazing to see the love this family had for their new baby.  I left them once they were ready to rest.
I had a chance to run into the Dr shortly after that and he informed me that it was wonderful to have a support person there to help keep mom calm and informed of everything that was going on during delivery and shortly after.  He told me that it meant a lot to the mom to have someone telling her what was going on with her baby.
I loved being able to help this mom and dad out during this very important time in their lives.

Meet the Doulas Night!!!

This will be a great opportunity to meet several Doulas and help you find the right Doula for you!  I look forward to meeting you and hope to see you there!  Please feel free to pass the word along.

Delayed Cord Clamping

There seems to have been an increase of conversations on delayed cord clamping lately.  I am very excited about this.  Here is a wonderful link that has about a 5 min video to help explain this.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=W3RywNup2CM&noredirect=1#!

This is also a good site, it gives the references an all the answers to the questions asked. http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=5730

I hope that this information is helpful and gets you thinking and asking more questions about this.
If you have questions please feel free to contact me.  Have a great day!
fjnielsen2007@gmail.com