Virago Birth Services

Virago Birth Services Welcome! Please head to my website to learn more!

I'm Samantha, a birth doula + photographer serving the greater Seattle, Washington area through providing physical, emotional, & educational support to individuals and families in the childbearing year.

I’ve only been on a ferry a handful of times in my life but this was one of many for this couple - they’ve celebrated li...
01/24/2025

I’ve only been on a ferry a handful of times in my life but this was one of many for this couple - they’ve celebrated life on ferries- birthdays and memorial - and now, this short season of pregnancy — the anticipation of this beloved 🌈 babe!

Now the question is, what color eyes will little baby have?! 💕

These are all pieces of art my various clients viewed during their birth process: in the L&D lobby, in their hospital ro...
01/07/2025

These are all pieces of art my various clients viewed during their birth process: in the L&D lobby, in their hospital room, at home, framed on a supply cart. Art is everywhere, you’ll see. You may remember from your own birth what was on your walls, the tiles, the blanket patterns, and so forth. Art can be brought from home, be created - watercolored affirmations, pottery, blankets, embroidery. Even a glance at art holds the *strong* ability to point back to connection, peace, safety, tranquility, purposefulness, love, and beauty. Themes that are so so grounding in the furrowed intensities of the labor process.

a lot can happen in a year 🕊️some of you are cradling a little person inside of you, some savor-surviving littles at you...
01/04/2025

a lot can happen in a year 🕊️

some of you are cradling a little person inside of you, some savor-surviving littles at your feet (like myself!), maybe awaiting long-desired conception, and others with unknowns and loss seen and unseen. 2025 holds so much. A swirl of beauty and devastation, but my hopes is more reclaiming of what is beautiful and good for all of us.

2024 was a revitalizing year for me. Unfurling out of a shell, per se! A lot of hard work internally -self and family - and hard work as a doula - this was oddly my most “productive” year of twenty births with more support outside of my clients, and into photography when I wasn’t sure how I would fair with three kids (two under two). Although I’m super proud of that tangible growth, what I’m more grateful for this year is receiving the most organic feedback from clients that was deeply encouraging and impactful when I felt, at times, exhausted and confused of how to continue sustaining this doula-lifestyle and whether my role is really all that I’ve believed it to be. I’ve seen growth and grounded myself in YOUR encouragement, my dear clients. Thank you for letting me hold and foster space, trusting me to be your anchoring voice and hand, your advocate, friend. You’ve brought nourishment to my practice and clarified the hope that this beautifully engaging, vulnerable, and intimate work does change lives (for all of us and generations to come).

(Plus research also has our back on that! 🥰)

Thank you thank you!

Another year of having the best clients ever. 💗💗💗

We are forever changed by these little lives. Too short, too precious, too remarkable. Visions of what should and could ...
10/15/2024

We are forever changed by these little lives. Too short, too precious, too remarkable. Visions of what should and could be. Wailing what’s unbearable to carry inside a parent’s heart; the weighty, petitioning yearn to protect, to repair, and summon what should rightfully be. What humanity lackadaisically can take for granted - breaths, beats, blinks. There is an awareness of how remarkable it is to live, to hold memories captive, to see the sun shine, to hold close a body, for your heart to break over, and over, and over. Life is so beautiful, I can see it now. But not as beautiful without you, but because of you. It’s so devastating it hurts, and wakes us up to a new shade of living. Thank you for these little lives. Too short, too precious, too remarkable.

his pose says it all. he was such a chill little dude!
10/13/2024

his pose says it all. he was such a chill little dude!

VERNIX. it's baby's all-natural moisturizer; you can try it too! It has the consistency of cocoa butter and will absorb ...
10/12/2024

VERNIX.

it's baby's all-natural moisturizer; you can try it too! It has the consistency of cocoa butter and will absorb on its own. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommend waiting to bathe baby until at least 24hours post birth (although you do you), so this is a welcomed substances to hang out on baby's skin!

I've been absent from posting but still present in this space! Here is a beautiful birth of a little boy born earlier th...
10/11/2024

I've been absent from posting but still present in this space! Here is a beautiful birth of a little boy born earlier this year. This couple had their room set up (anyone know what that astronaut does?! ) ,beautiful support team (check out nurse in slide three) tools (combs, peppermint, cub, oh my!), and then baby came determined to arrive on a holiday(!!)

This darling baby had the most vernix I have ever seen. To be continued..

>I’m seeking breastfeeding models for an opportunity to make feeding education accessible to those who otherwise might n...
06/19/2024

>

I’m seeking breastfeeding models for an opportunity to make feeding education accessible to those who otherwise might not have resources in our local communities. So amazing.

Must meet this criteria:
~ recently postpartum (1 day-4weeks)
~Sign consent/release form

Open to images of:
~feeding positions
~latch demonstration

Bonus if have:
Mastitis/clogged duct
Engorgement
Thrush
Newborn stool diaper

If you or someone you know meets this criteria AND wants a complimentary newborn session, please connect us! And share 💗

a love story for the ages 🕊️ so thankful for this couple and the story that is unfolding for their family, through the a...
02/28/2024

a love story for the ages 🕊️
so thankful for this couple and the story that is unfolding for their family, through the addition of their sweet baby boy. He is the most precious little guy and I can’t wait to see him again for his newborn photos! ✨

Hi baby! It is such a privilege to be at your birth. Especially in a time of history where the importance of having supp...
02/28/2024

Hi baby!

It is such a privilege to be at your birth. Especially in a time of history where the importance of having support is recognized, including while in the OR! Your birth remains as important and as powerful as the births happening down the hall.

growing in love and through love. ✨don’t forget to be present today. As the day closes in, work hours end (or before the...
01/31/2024

growing in love and through love. ✨

don’t forget to be present today. As the day closes in, work hours end (or before they begin), look at your Person and see how far you’ve come, be eager to know the nooks and crannies of their heart and mind:

how are they experiencing motherhood/fatherhood today?
what is filling or draining their cup?
what simple joy did you or they notice today?
Delight in WHO your person is, lay down the tensions and hardships for a moment and savor the person before you.

I’m not sure who will benefit from that reminder but I hope it’s clear that you a and your partner are worth investing in even in the simple and yet so-sustaining everyday connections. ✨

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Renton, WA
98056

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Samantha Leininger, BA, CD(DONA)

Samantha is a certified birth doula through DONA International. She provides holistic support to families in their birth story primarily focusing on prenatal, labor, and immediate postpartum support. A birth doula does not replace the partner nor medical professionals, rather, proves as a key component of continuous birth support to the mother, partner, and birth team.