Lily Birth

09/22/2022

Tomorrow is North Texas Giving Day! Please support Labor of Hope by donating so we can continue to serve our sweet families.

https://www.northtexasgivingday.org/organization/labor-of-hope

06/02/2022

What people are saying about us...

05/22/2022

“I Won’t Hold Your Baby

…unless you ask me to, in which case, I will snuggle and cuddle your baby as much as you want me to.

I never ask my clients if I can hold their baby. In fact, I rarely ever touch my client’s baby if I can help it. Sounds sort of like the opposite of what you might picture of a doula, right? We must all be birth crazy, baby obsessed women who just want to cover babies in kisses and love and get an emotional high from attending births?

Not this doula.

I LOVE attending births. Call me crazy, but getting those middle of the night calls is one of my favorite parts of this job. I get to listen to someone at their most vulnerable times - the excitement, the hesitation, the nervousness of the unknown. Being able to provide some comfort, reassurance and continuity of care to the people I work with is so important to me (and them!)

Rushing off in the night, quietly getting myself ready, getting in the car and heading off to their home or hospital makes me feel like I’m on a secret birth mission that nobody around me knows about. When I arrive I fall as seamlessly as I can into the rhythm of the birth and start supporting my clients in whatever way they need most.

When the baby arrives I step aside and leave room for the new parents to discover their baby. I try and grab some photos (I’m not a birth photographer though, so keep your expectations in check!) and then I only step in if my client needs me for some reason.

Why does that matter? Why won’t I ask to hold your baby? Simply because: they are yours, not mine. I want you to be able to hold your baby as close as you want, for as long as you want without anyone interrupting that time. There will be enough people coming along in the next few hours and weeks who need to take that baby out of your arms for whatever reason, and tons of friends and family who will offer help by “holding the baby”.

Instead, I want to hold you, whether that’s in my arms, in my heart or my thoughts. By supporting and “holding” you, I don’t need to hold your baby. But if you ask me to, I would LOVE to.”

Written by

05/16/2022

This. Right. Here. ⬇️

https://www.lovewhatmatters.com/doula-psa-new-moms-need-love-and-support-not-flowers/?fbclid=IwAR14Mcc6HfzRZV87aiFPub0bkMQnViDbLVJWg9jFETyqB8U9hZX-TImO8ns

"The house was full of cards and bunches of flowers...dead ones. When I mentioned all of the gifts she said, 'Yes, people have been so kind.' 'Hmmm,' I thought. 'They might have been kind, but they've also been completely thoughtless.'"

05/15/2022

05/07/2022

It's official, Ryley Chestnut is joining the Lily Birth team! I am so excited to partner with my dear friend and see what this next chapter has in store!!

www.lilybirth.com

05/05/2022

Just a reminder that we will be in Denton this weekend representing Labor of Hope. We have a great raffle prize, so make sure to stop by and say hello!

Address: 1111 Cordell Street Denton, TX 76201

05/05/2022

Something big is happening! Can't wait to share the news later this week!

05/02/2022

Ryley and I got the chance to chat with Ashley from Bridget’s Cradles, on her Podcast. This was such a wonderful opportunity to share Labor of Hope’s mission.

Click below to listen.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cradled-in-hope/id1572324745?i=1000559229327

05/02/2022

Labor of Hope will be setting up a booth at the Labor of Love Fair in Denton this Saturday. Please stop by and say hi! We will be spreading LoH’s awareness and their mission with families and other birth workers.

https://laboroflovedenton.com/labor-of-love-fair-2022