Dina the Doula offers Death Doula and Pregnancy/Infant Loss Doula Support in the Kingston, Ontario area and Everywhere else Online. In-person vigiling.
Stillbirthday Doulas (SBD® Doulas) can support families experiencing:
Pregnancy, Labour, Birth, and Postpartum support
Pregnancy and Infant Loss
Termination of Pregnancy for any reason
Difficult Fetal and Infant diagnosis
Supporting clients anywhere on the spectrum of birth and loss
Birth in any trimester and with any outcome
Unconventional loss, which may include adoption or surrogacy
Abortions
NICU care
Live births after pregnancy/infant loss (ie: rainbow babies)
Death Doulas can:
Support any point after a difficult or life-limiting diagnosis. Provide emotional, physical comfort measures and an objective viewpoint. Support in the weeks and days leading up to the death. Planning for rituals and care of the body post-death. Helping facilitate conversations between family and friends with the dying. Planning legacy projects
Help planning for and attending death vigils and end of life concerns.
20/12/2024
Pet loss can be so hard. Some people need time to grieve before they can bring another pet into their lives. When I lost my boxer, BeBe, it was only a month before I knew that I needed another pup. It was still many months before we found our Octavia. Her energy, love, and silliness have been such a balm for my broken heart.
She has allowed me to grieve with shared happy stories and memories. It gives us the ability to talk about BeBe and remember the joy. We are able point out the ways they are similar and so very different and smile about it. How long after your pet loss were you ready for another pet?
26/11/2024
As I closed my eyes to sleep that night
I did not know I would wake up in the morning
and you would not
As I closed my eyes to sleep that night
I did not know you would take your last breath
and your beautiful heart would stop beating
As I closed my eyes to sleep that night
I did not know that the truth of that
day had eluded me,
and I lived that day with a profound
unawareness of the irreversible life
shattering change that was about
to take place
As I closed my eyes to sleep that night
I did not know the sun had set on your last day
As I closed my eyes to sleep that night
I did not know
Louise Reed
Artist Credit: Unknown via Pinterest
25/11/2024
25/11/2024
Have you ever noticed that grief shows up even during the most joyful moments? How do you experience that? How do you honor the grief and the joy?
Loss, the feelings of loss, are not linear. They do not start big and overwhelming and then taper off into nothingness over time.Loss is a heartbeat or the waves of the oceans. It comes and goes. Sometimes there is stillness and then sometimes something blows in like the wind and the waves grow larg...
23/10/2024
"When we're in grief, the past can haunt us.
People often ask why some people find their way to healing more quickly than others after a devastating loss.
We may have developed unhelpful beliefs based on our old wounds."
Join David Kessler for a free online discussion on:
The Old Wounds That Keep Us Stuck in Grief
Tuesday, November 5th, 2024
12 pm PT / 3 pm ET
Join us for this free live event with David Kessler - Dealing with the Emotional Wounds of Yesterday
17/10/2024
I work almost exclusively in death and loss as a doula. I know people think that sounds like a very sad experience, but it isn't always. Not completely. Death is just one part of dying. Life is a bigger part and it can be beautiful, even as a person moves towards their final breath.
Send a message to learn more
20/09/2024
"Imagine having every ounce of your fertility controlled by doctors. No. It doesn’t work the old fashioned way, as much as your friends just hope that it will happen for you. Imagine friends getting pregnant on their first try."
Maybe imagining would bring more compassion. Maybe imagining would bring more empathy. Maybe imagining would bring more understanding.
02/09/2024
Picture a wave. In the ocean. You can see it, measure it, its height, the way the sunlight refracts when it passes through. And it's there. And you can see it, you know what it is. It's a wave.
And then it crashes in the shore and it's gone. But the water is still there. The wave was just a different way for the water to be, for a little while. You know it's one conception of death for Buddhists: the wave returns to the ocean, where it came from and where it's supposed to be.
-The Good Place
31/08/2024
October is fast approaching along with Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month. The Loss Doula Store, just dropped a line of shirts and merch for PAIL awareness. All sales from that line will go towards providing loss support to people and families that cannot otherwise afford it.
Visit www.thelossdoulastore.com to get your PAIL Awareness merch, and other loss doula merch, and let's bring awareness to this cause together!
01/08/2024
I've been working as a doula for years and focusing almost entirely on loss for just as long. Something that just gets me is that there are so many doula merch shops, but rarely do they have items for loss and death doulas.
I've started my own shop to fill the gap! The Loss Doula Store is full of merch just for us death workers, because we deserve cute merch too! Because I love the death work community, I am offering a 10% discount code (LAUNCH10) until August 8th. Visit at www.thelossdoulastore.com!
I'll be adding more in the future, so keep checking back! Don't see something you would love? Let me know and it just might be our next merch drop!
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So what is a Doula anyways? A Doula is someone that supports you through pregnancy, birth, and beyond emotionally; physically; and informationally. A Birth Doula might help you prepare for birth, help you during birth, and in the hours after birth. A Postpartum Doula might help you adjust to having a new baby, provide relief from basic chores, watch the baby so that you can get a quick nap in, or help you navigate breastfeeding.
There are also other kinds of Doulas for things like adoption, bereavement, fertility, and other life events that can be overwhelming. I am a Full-Spectrum Doula, which means that I support clients through birth experiences that may include the loss of a pregnancy, the loss of an infant, or in cases of termination.
Now onto some facts!
A Birth Doula:
• Recognizes birth as a key experience the client will remember all their life.
• Understands the physiology of birth and the emotional needs of a person in labour.
• Assists the client in preparing for and carrying out their plans for birth.
• Stays with the client throughout the labour
• Provides emotional support, physical comfort measures and an objective viewpoint, as well as helping the client get the information they need to make informed decision.
• Facilitates communication between the labouring person, their partner and their clinical care providers.
• Perceives their role as nurturing and protecting the client’s memory of the birth experience.
• Allows the partner to participate at his/her comfort level.
(This information was adapted from the DONA International Website - www.DONA.org )
Doula Support Can:
• Shorten first-time labour by an average of 2 hours
• Reduce the need for pain medication by 36%
• Reduce rates of instrumental delivery by 57%
• Reduce the use of caesarean section by 51%
• Increase your success in initiating breastfeeding/chestfeeding
• Increase satisfaction with the birth for both you and your partner
(from Mothering the Mother by Klaus, Kennell & Klaus, 1993)
