Palace City Doula

09/21/2025

🌾 South Dakota Families Need Your Voice! 🌾

South Dakota has a historic opportunity to shape the future of rural healthcare through the new Rural Health Transformation Program. Right now, the state is accepting public comments to guide how these federal funds will be used.

This is our chance to ensure doulas are recognized as an essential part of improving maternal and infant health—especially in rural and underserved communities. 💜

✅ Advocate for investment in doula workforce development, training, and certification pathways
✅ Support the creation of a statewide doula registry
✅ Recommend resources for professional support and integration of doulas in healthcare systems

📩 Submit your comment by September 22, 2025 to: DSS.Medicaid@state.sd.us

Your perspective matters. Let’s make sure South Dakota families and doulas are part of this transformation! 💪👶

09/20/2025

I recently had the immense honor of attending a birth and was invited to cut the umbilical cord. Despite cutting one of my own babies’ umbilical cords, I’m still in awe over the experience. This photo of me teary eyed after a night of doula-ing, with the doula name tags and coincidentally in one of the same L&D rooms where I gave birth, brought tears to my eyes. I’m very excited to share it with you all!

Doula work is some of the most intense emotional work I have ever done. The closest thing to it, in my opinion, is parenting. This makes sense considering doulas birth mothers. We support and make space to welcome the insanely messy process of matrescence. We tailor our work to meet the needs of whoever is in the birthing room.

I don’t doula to hold babies. I doula to hold mothers and whoever holds them. 🤲

09/20/2025

Monitoring movements is a proven solution to preventable stillbirth and should be standard practice in the third trimester of every pregnancy. Our Count the Kicks app makes it easy!

09/12/2025

09/07/2025

Most doulas give clients a little gift for hiring them. A onsie with their logo for example. My gift is a loaf of sourdough. And if you ask me to come for a postpartum visit on a Sunday morning that’s an hour’s drive away, there’s a good chance I am coming with bread hot out of the oven. 🤣

DM or follow the inquiry link in my bio to begin scheduling birth or postpartum doula services!

08/03/2025

07/27/2025

🌟 Doula Spotlight: Renee Forred 🌟

This week, we’re thrilled to shine a light on Renee Forred, a dedicated and compassionate doula who has been supporting families in the Sioux Falls area for nearly a decade.

Renee lives in Sioux Falls with her husband, Ben, and their four children. Between sports, the arts, volunteering for a local dog rescue, and running a thriving doula practice, Renee and her family stay busy — but her passion for helping others remains at the heart of everything she does.

Her journey into birth work is rooted in a deeply personal realization. After the birth of her third child, Renee returned to her career as a social worker, but something felt missing. She recalls thinking, “I hope when my daughter is grown, she will choose a career that brings her fulfillment and joy.” That thought sparked a moment of clarity — and Renee knew the best way to ensure her daughter followed that path was to live it herself. She signed up for a doula training that very day.

We’re so grateful to have Renee as part of the South Dakota birth community. Her heart for service, passion for families, and commitment to doing meaningful work are exactly what our communities need.they’ve built a strong, collaborative team of professionals offering a wide range of support, including:
✨ Birth & Postpartum Doula Care
🤱 Lactation Support
🌀 HypnoBirthing Classes
👶 Newborn Care Workshops

Renee believes that doula care is essential to building stronger families and communities. “We truly believe that strong family and community foundations begin with birth,” she shares. “When we support families, we give them the space to have their best experience in birth and postpartum — and that creates a ripple effect of well-being for the entire community.”

What makes doula support unique? Renee explains that doulas fill a critical gap in the care experience — offering emotional support, evidence-based resources, and continuity of care that medical teams often can’t provide. And as independent providers, doulas work for the families themselves, not the hospital.

One of the most impactful parts of her work is postpartum support: “We can come in and provide that unbiased emotional and logistical support to help you heal and bond. That kind of care is so needed, and often overlooked.”

Renee is a Medicaid-verified doula provider, making her services more accessible to families across the region.

You can connect with her at:
🔗 transitionsdoulaservices.com
📱 Facebook & Instagram:

We’re so grateful to have Renee as part of the South Dakota birth community. Her heart for service, passion for families, and commitment to doing meaningful work is exactly what our communities need.

Thank you, Renee, for all you do! 💛

07/24/2025

Happy Parent Appreciation Day!

Today, we celebrate the caregivers, guardians, and role models who guide, support, and encourage young minds every day. From bedtime stories to library visits, your involvement in your child’s learning journey makes all the difference.

The South Dakota State Library thanks all parents and caregivers for helping to build strong readers, curious learners, and lifelong library lovers.

Tell us: What’s your favorite book to share with your child?

07/24/2025

Rest and relaxation are so important at the end of pregnancy! ❤️

There has been a growing trend of floating during pregnancy. Here are some suggestions based on experience on how to comfortably float while pregnant.