The Hippo Doula

01/02/2024

What a great year 2023 was! Over 20 families served and so many memories made.
I’ve got some changes coming for 2024, to include upping my doula social media presence.
Stay tuned!!

03/06/2023

♥️♥️♥️
This!! I’m here to support my clients. Baby holding comes after. 😉

“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

02/12/2023

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02/07/2023

Get your jiggle on!

What is The Jiggle?⁠
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The Jiggle can relax muscles and activate feelings of deep calm. The Jiggle can also be a part of easier pushing! Whether it’s tight muscles or stiff joints, the Jiggle technique allows the pelvis to function.⁠
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When pushing is happening, the buttocks can be Jiggled for several minutes to relax the muscles clutching the bones and even the baby. We can enhance a pure performance of the piriformis (disclaimer, anatomy nerd joke). The sacrum can be held in by this muscle and its neighbors, and they all relax a notable bit when the entire buttocks is given a moderate shake.⁠
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The idea is you are making a rhythm like an oscillation that travels through the body. The more the tissue can resound with a fluid vibration, the more effective this will be.⁠
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Have you done The Jiggle? Comment below!⁠⁠⁠

02/06/2023

It’s been a busy year.
What kinds of things would you like to know more about? I need to get this page going a tad more!

05/05/2022

Preeclampsia is so important to watch out for! Awareness helps prevent many complications.

💜 Know the signs and symptoms!

Need support with your current pregnancy? Thinking about getting pregnant again? Join our global support group:
➡️ Preeclampsia, Eclampsia & HELLP Syndrome Survivors Global Support Network

Join our activities for Preeclampsia Awareness Month:
➡️ endpreeclampsia.org/awareness-month

Share your story with us for a chance to be featured in our social media:
➡️ endpreeclampsia.org/faces

Follow us on Instagram:
➡️ instagram.com/endpreeclampsia

🌸

03/31/2022

Ready for a water birth today! I absolutely love working with GALS (Giving Austin Labor Support) and helping these families bring new life into this world.
I seriously get all the feels when doing this work!!

03/30/2022

♥️

Woo! “What is a Doula?” was an answer on tonight’s Jeopardy!

03/03/2022

03/03/2022

This program is absolutely amazing!! If you can find it in your heart to donate, helping to fund GALS helps to provide essential doula care and more at no cost to those who really need it.
That’s right, doula care is ESSENTIAL!

02/18/2022

If you use formula, might be a good time to make sure that it’s not on this list!

Abbott Nutrition is recalling three types of infant formula after four babies became sick with bacteria infections after consuming the products.

02/04/2022

Amazing!! More and more companies are finally understanding how important doulas can be!

02/02/2022

This!

Repost from

01/30/2022

How very interesting!

12/01/2021

Let me tell you, November was such a busy month for me as a doula! Three births happened, two within a few days of each other (hello snowpocalypse babies!).
December is shaping up to be just as busy!
Today we are starting out with a lunch webinar going over what preeclampsia is and how to help my clients as a doula when it comes to recognizing the symptoms.
What an informative session with the Preeclampsia Foundation

10/30/2021

I’ll be there volunteering my time as I’ve recently joined up with this group to help families in the Austin area. Such a great group to be a part of!!

It’s time for our community baby shower once again! This time we are going to be located at Lifeworks Austin East from 10am to 4pm. All are welcome! The first hour we are also accepting gently used baby, pregnancy, and postpartum items.

09/22/2021

How my Monday started vs Tuesday evening.
Doing what I know I’m meant to do is such a blessing, but being there to witness a family bring life into this world, best feeling in the world!!
This is part of what a doula does, and the perks are so snuggly and warm.
I still can’t put into words how in awe I am of this mom who just delivered Monday night/Tuesday morning. She totally rocked it, and this family will forever be a part of my heart now for they were my first official family to deliver under me officially becoming a doula.
Why did I ever wait so long to become official?? 😂

06/24/2021

Website is live!!!
https://www.thehippodoula.com/

The Hippo Doula, offering Birth, postpartum and epi doula services.