After I had my son, I went back to my corporate job at 4 months postpartum. During this difficult transition a postpartum doula came to support me 1 day a week as part of our childcare coverage and it was wonderfully supportive. Our thoughtful conversations led me to seriously consider doula work and I took my comprehensive Lactation Training the Summer of 2023, and then my Postpartum Doula Training during the Fall of that same year. I quit my job and started taking doula clients in January of 2024 and never looked back!

I am up to date on my TDAP vaccine, and every fall I receive the flu and covid vaccines. I wear a mask to all postpartum visits and practice frequent handwashing.

If I am sick, or if my son is sick and I need to stay home to care for him, I will contact you to either reschedule the visit or I will try my best to send a colleague in my place. I work and collaborate with several wonderful doulas in NYC! If we reschedule, we can still talk on the phone or video to check-in.

During daytime visits, my priority is rest and recovery for the birthing parent and then also the partner, assessing the needs of the household and family, pitching in where I can in the moment and making outside referrals if necessary. I am there to help with lactation and infant feeding, help you understand your baby in general and how to care for them, offer strategies for coping with nighttime parenting, education and support of recovery of the birthing parent… I will pitch in to keep the kitchen tidy, prep meals and snacks and occasionally run a vaccuum or fold baby clothes. If you have older children I will love to talk to them about what is happening, about what the baby is doing etc… For housecleaning and regular care of older children, I suggest hiring professionals in those areas for these support roles, which will also be a better use of your budget.

During overnights my priority is for everyone to get more rest, and this means the lights will be kept low and the house will be quiet. I will tend to your baby, help with lactation, and clean bottle and pump parts, but no other household tasks will be performed during these sleepy hours.

This varies! I usually have 2 - 5 families who are actively postpartum in a given week. It depends on how robust the support is required for each family. When you hire me, we will have an idea in mind of the frequency of visits you’d like to have and during what time period. And since I only do 1 or 2 overnights a week, if overnight clients overlap it is doable for me to do more during that overlap period. If I notice a scheduling conflict coming up, I will enlist another wonderful doula to partner with so that all my clients are well supported. This does not often happen though.

Daytime shifts occur M-F sometime between 9:30am and 4:30pm and are usually 3 or 4 hours long.

Overnight shifts are from 10pm - 6am, are available Sunday through Thursday nights and I preferably don’t do 2 in a row.

I hope to see each client at least once within 3-5 days of having given birth. So if a client has just given birth I will visit outside of these parameters if necessary, or shift other client visits to prioritize that important early postpartum visit!