Grace & Growth Doula Services LLC

01/02/2026

Calling all pregnant and postpartum mamas in 2026!

I am still offering birth and postpartum doula services in Eastern Oregon (and yes, I travel). Services are free for EOCCO, PEBB, and OEBB families! I’m also thrilled to report that both United Health and Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon may also be covering doula services this year and both companies have asked me to contract with them.

Whether you’re a first time mama or if you already have a kid (or three) at home, you WANT a doula by your side. Why?

A doula is a trained, non-medical support person who walks beside you on your parenthood journey emotionally, physically, and educationally. We do not replace medical care, we complement it by focusing entirely on YOU.

During pregnancy, a doula:
- answers questions without judgement
- helps you understand your options
- teaches you (and/or your partner if there is one) to advocate for yourself
- supports you as you make informed choices
- provides reassurance, grounding, and a steady presence
- is on your side
- can recommend or connect you to resources that may enhance your quality of life (not just baby related)
- cares about your emotional well-being, not just your medical history

During labor & birth, a doula:
- offers continuous support (no shift changes)
- helps with comfort measures, positioning, breathing, and coping with change
- supports your partner so they can better support YOU
- helps you feel safe, heard, and empowered
- is a calm, anchoring presence in a storm of emotion
- remembers what all those pregnancy books and childbirth education videos said if you forget

During postpartum, a doula:
- helps with recovery and rest
- encourages you to prioritize your own needs and rest above friends/extended family
- offers to process your birth experience with you
- validates what you’re feeling
- helps you adjust to your new (and ever changing) “normal”
- guides you as you navigate whatever joys and challenges come next
- assists with light cleaning and local errands
- can watch over baby while you nap, eat, or shower (but ONLY if that is your preference)
- cares for the whole family, not just the baby

Why hire a doula? Because birth isn’t just a medical event. It’s a monumental, life-changing, human, emotional, transformational experience. Research shows that doula support is associated with:
- shorter labors
- lower rates of intervention
- increased satisfaction with the birth experience
- stronger emotional well-being postpartum

If anything proves that the research is accurate, it’s the increased coverage by insurance companies. Doulas save them money! But beyond the research, having a doula means you’re not doing this alone. It means having someone whose only job is to protect your space, your voice, and your experience. Birth deserves to be held with care, and so do you. As Dr. John H. Kennell stated, "If a doula were a drug, it would be unethical not to use it."

If you’re curious, have questions, or just want to talk, my inbox is open. Happy 2026!

Empowered Birth and Postpartum in Eastern Oregon I am a birth and postpartum doula serving the community of Baker County and surrounding areas. I also provide birth education and other services to local families. I can’t wait to meet you! Meet Shelley! Services I offer packages and services for ev...

12/13/2024

Exciting News for EOCCO/OHP, PEBB, and OEBB Insurance Holders Planning to Expand Their Families!

Great news for expecting parents on OHP: you can now access free birth doula services! This package includes two prenatal visits, support during birth, and two postpartum visits. OHP has recently expanded its offerings to include up to four additional visits, which can be utilized before or after childbirth. PEBB and OEBB are now providing the same coverage!

These extra visits are a fantastic opportunity, especially considering the inadequate postpartum care in our country. They allow for better preparation for the postpartum period and provide additional support after your baby arrives. For anxious mothers like myself, who may feel uncomfortable with the idea of someone coming into your home just to hold your baby, let me assure you that postpartum care can take many forms. It can include running local errands, preparing meals or snacks, light housekeeping, making tea, and sitting down for a chat about your hopes and concerns. And yes, if you need some time for a nap or a shower, a postpartum doula can definitely assist with your baby during that time. The extra visits are optional, but they're available if you want them.

If you’re looking for educational, emotional, or hands-on support before or after labor but prefer not to have an additional person in the delivery room, that’s perfectly fine! I love providing educational support, including teaching your partner how to assist you in various ways. It’s a bonus for me not to be on call.

Please remember that doula services are covered by OHP/EOCCO, PEBB, and OEBB only if the doula is an OHA-approved Traditional Healthcare Worker (which I am). I also travel to Union and Malheur Counties to provide services, especially now that we no longer have a birth center in our area.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me directly or visit my website:

Empowered Birth and Postpartum in Eastern Oregon I am a birth and postpartum doula serving the community of Baker County and surrounding areas. I also provide birth education and other services to local families. I can’t wait to meet you! Meet Shelley! Services I offer packages and services for ev...

05/27/2024

To OHP Families Considering Doula Services,

A recent turn of events necessitates an explanation of what is happening for a doula behind the scenes when you book them for services. Unfortunately, when someone doesn’t have to pay out of pocket for a service, it may be easier for some people to take this privilege for granted or be unreliable when it comes to keeping appointments and following through on agreements. I’d like to believe that if everyone knew up front the toll this takes on a doula, they’d be more likely to behave ethically. (All of my current clients are gems and this is in no way directed at them.)

Most doulas only take on a certain number of clients per month to increase the likelihood that they will make it to your birth. In my case, I only take two. If you book doula services and don’t use them, not only are you taking a spot away from someone else who would have valued it, but you’re depriving your doula of income they would have had if they’d been working with someone who truly wanted these services. Rural doulas serving Medicaid families are independent contractors, which means if you skip appointments or don’t notify us that you’re in labor, we DO NOT have a salary or even an hourly wage to fall back on like some other service providers you may use.

Rural doulas serving Medicaid (OHP) clients are few and far between, leaving many of us without a backup. Doula’s with no backup can’t go out of town for dates, vacations, or doctor’s appointments. They can’t go anywhere that doesn’t have cell service, like Anthony Lake for example. They postpone necessary appointments and events they look forward to because they are fully committed to being present for you during a potentially LONG on-call period (up to 5 weeks per client, in some cases). That means if you hire a doula and decide not to utilize their services, not only are they losing time and income and opportunities they were looking forward to, but they set aside that time and stayed local, glued to their phone, for absolutely NO reason.

Some doulas, like myself, no longer live in a county that has a local birth center, meaning we must often travel to provide care to our clients. For me this recently this required a rather expensive hotel stay for a mere 6 hours of use before checkout time for reasons that are difficult to explain but were ultimately caused by a former client who did not respect my time and who also never ended up calling when labor actually occurred, resulting in SIGNIFICANT loss of time and income and (in part) prompting this PSA.

This particular incident didn’t happen to me, but it recently happened to a friend of mine and feels worth mentioning here. Birth workers absolutely expect and even want you to interview multiple people before you come to a decision on who to hire. We regularly mention other birth workers to potential clients and give encouragement for you to talk with them because we truly want you to have options! If you decide to work with us we want it to be because you really vibe with us specifically, because you like our style and feel like it meshes well with your own. We genuinely want you to go with whoever makes you the most comfortable. That being said, if you hire a doula, it’s very poor etiquette to continue shopping around and messaging every other doula in the area. The time to do that is before you officially hire someone, doing so after the fact is just bad manners.

It is my genuine hope that this does not intimidate anyone who may desire doula services in the future, either from myself or the other wonderful doula in the area, Elisha Anderson. Birth work is our passion and we absolutely love serving our clients, making memories and often cultivating long-lasting friendships. This is simply to give you a peek into the hearts of the very real humans on the other side of the contract. We are women and mothers with lives and struggles and bills to pay - just like you. Please don’t take advantage of us. We very much look forward to working with families who truly want our services.

Sincerely,
Shelley Payton
Birth & Postpartum Doula

04/27/2024

Activate Doula Mode!

04/26/2024

REMINDER TO EXPECTING MOMS OR MOMS TRYING TO CONCEIVE!

If you're on OHP, birth doula services are free for you. You can utilize some or all services. Not all mama's are interested in labor support and that's fine! You qualify for 2 free prenatal visits and 2 postpartum visits as well!

Here are some of the things I can help with during prenatals:
⭐️Birth planning & educating you on your rights and explaining all the MANY options available to you.
⭐️Answering questions and concerns you amy have about pain relief or what you can expect during an induction.
⭐️Postpartum planning.
⭐️Teaching your partner tips, tricks and techniques to confidently support you and remain involved during labor.
⭐️Beneficial positioning for a more effective labor.
⭐️Much more - just tell me what's important to you!

Here are some of the things I can help with during postpartum visits:
⭐️Light housekeeping (think dishes, folding laundry, sweeping, cleaning bottles ect).
⭐️Preparing snacks or meals.
⭐️Running local errands.
⭐️Be an educated, professional and empathetic ear to help you process your birth experience and postpartum emotions
⭐️Connect you with local resources.
⭐️Care for baby and/or older children while you nap or shower. (NOTE: I will NEVER touch/hold your baby unless you ASK me to! And I'll never ask if I can. Your baby is YOUR baby unless you desire my help with them.)
⭐️Much more, just tell me what you need in the moment.

Currently providing both in person and virtual services to Baker, Union, Wallowa, and Malheur Counties. Please feel free to screen shot and/or share with pregnant friends/family in these counties.

www.graceandgrowthdoula.com

04/26/2024

ABOUT THIS BOOK:

"What you need to know to have the best birth experience for you.

Drawing upon her thirty-plus years of experience, Ina May Gaskin, the nation’s leading midwife, shares the benefits and joys of natural childbirth by showing women how to trust in the ancient wisdom of their bodies for a healthy and fulfilling birthing experience. Based on the female-centered Midwifery Model of Care, Ina May’s Guide to Natural Childbirth gives expectant mothers comprehensive information on everything from the all-important mind-body connection to how to give birth without technological intervention.

Filled with inspiring birth stories and practical advice, this invaluable resource includes:

• Reducing the pain of labor without drugs--and the miraculous roles touch and massage play
• What really happens during labor
• Or****ic birth--making birth pleasurable
• Episiotomy--is it really necessary?
• Common methods of inducing labor--and which to avoid at all costs
• Tips for maximizing your chances of an unmedicated labor and birth
• How to avoid postpartum bleeding--and depression
• The risks of anesthesia and cesareans--what your doctor
doesn’t necessarily tell you
• The best ways to work with doctors and/or birth care providers
• How to create a safe, comfortable environment for
birth in any setting, including a hospital
• And much more

Ina May’s Guide to Natural Childbirth takes the fear out of childbirth by restoring women’s faith in their own natural power to give birth with more ease, less pain, and less medical intervention."

04/26/2024

Padsicle Recipe

Ingredients:
5-10 large, extra absorbent maxi pads
1 bottle unscented, alcohol free witch hazel (T.N. Dickinson’s brand works well)
1 bottle unscented, alcohol free, pure, 100% aloe vera gel (Fruit of the Earth brand is one option)
1 bottle lavender essential oil (I recommend Plant Therapy or Rocky Mountain Oils)
1 gallon size zip-lock freezer bag

Instructions:
1. Partially unwrap your pads. Don’t take the pad off of the plastic that it’s wrapped in or remove the paper that covers the sticky part. Just unfold them so the absorbent top of the pad is exposed.
2. Sq**rt a generous amount of witch hazel all over the pad.
3. Now smear some aloe vera gel all over the top of the pad. This likely won’t absorb since it’s not a liquid and because the pad has already absorbed the witch hazel.
4. Add 5-10 drops of lavender essential oil to the pad.
5. Re-fold the pads, put them into the zip-lock bag and into the freezer.
6. After the baby is born, take one out, thaw for a few minutes before use, and enjoy the soothing coolness and herbal healing on your sore perineum. Make sure you’re wearing an adult diaper or sitting/laying on a protective, absorbent pad. As the liquid in the pad thaws and mixes with your lochia, it could make a bit of a mess.

For my mamas having a hospital birth I am happy to report that our local hospital in Baker City now provides a soothing ice pack for your perineum after the birth, but I still highly recommend making a few with the ingredients listed above to hasten the healing process once you get home.

04/26/2024

Options, support, and respect. That's everything your doula wants for you on the day you bring your baby (or babies) earthside. Things don't always go according to plan, but putting time into exploring your options and deciding what feels best to you will help set the tone for a positive birth experience.

Did your care team follow your birth plan?

If you're a pregnant mama who isn't sure yet what the ideal birth plan for you is - send me a message and lets chat about it together.