Caring Hands Doula Services

08/01/2025

We lose too many moms to something that’s treatable 💔.
Mental health is not a weakness—it’s part of your health.
Let’s build a community where moms feel safe, heard, and supported.

08/01/2025

It’s World Breastfeeding Week.

To the mama who’s cluster feeding through the night…

To the mama pumping at work while eating lunch with one hand and emailing with the other…

To the mama nursing in a public restroom because she’s still too scared of the stares…

To the mama combo feeding, donor milk feeding, exclusive pumping, triple feeding, dry nursing, SNS-ing, crying in her car because it shouldn’t be this hard…

To the mama whose ni***es are cracked, whose patience is thin, whose body feels foreign, but whose baby looks up at her like she’s the entire world…

🤱 You are doing incredible things.

Breastfeeding isn’t just feeding. It’s healing, bonding, comforting, sacrificing, fighting, and mothering all rolled into one.

Let’s give it up for the milk makers, the warriors, the ones who kept going even when they didn’t think they could.

Happy World Breastfeeding Week to every kind of breastfeeding mama. You are SEEN. You are STRONG. You are MAGIC.

11/16/2024

10/25/2024

Long births are the name of the game in doula work. We intentionally try to minimize the risk by high quality education, offering support from a distance until active labor commences, and putting clauses in our contracts. But somehow, we still hit those births that last 24+ hours.

That's incredibly high demand for continuous support! That's incredibly more than what the human body was wired for or capable of.

Honestly, when we pull an all-nighter (especially after an already long day), our ability to focus and concentrate is significantly minimized. Our bodies go into a stress state as we have relied of adrenaline (and or caffeine) to keep us awake, inflammation is overshooting, and even our metabolism doesn't know what to do because we have completely confused its circadian rhythms.

Anyone ever experience birth hangover?

Here are some ideas on how to recover:
* Think Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - physical first, then safety, then relationships, then mental processing, and finally creativity and individuality.
* When you get home, have a plan to nourish your body (food and water - think protein, complex carbs, and something that makes you smile). Shower if it's helpful.
* Prepare in advance for your need for extra sleep (kids to grandmas, someone to take care of your dog for the day, etc.) Make sure your space is conducive to sleep (room darkening curtains, good temperature, quite/white noise, etc.)
* If you're feeling wired, you have to ground first. Meditate. Breathe deeply. Use essential Oils (Lavender and Vetiver are my favorites for sleep)
* Sleep a minimum of three hours, and longer if you can
* Once you wake, expose your body to sunshine. Eat again. Reorient your body to time and space
* Be sure that you are not on call the day after a long birth - I highly recommend a partnership model, backup doula, or spacing your due dates further apart to decrease the risk of being called. Turn your phone off if you can. Your body needs to find safety at home or in your personal space knowing that you are not going to demand more of it (if not, you're risking mental stress that can lead to mental health struggles)
* Find your people, connect, re-engage, meet your needs for connection whether that's debriefs with birth friends or hugs with your kids.
* Once you're rested and connected, find a way to process what you've experienced - go for a walk or run, journal, pray, talk to a friend or loved one

Finally, you can begin to make plans for supporting more mamas in the days to come, your creativity is renewed and your body feels ready to give again.

10/18/2024

Register Now!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/pwP88X493baCyTB5/?mibextid=WC7FNe

10/18/2024

October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month

Do you know what to do if a friend loses a child?

Loss can take on so many forms!
* Miscarriage
* Still Birth
* Loss of young baby
* Adoption that fell through
* Surrogate loss
* Infertility/inability to obtain or sustain a pregnancy

Over the next few days, I would love to offer a series that sheds some light on supporting those who walk this journey of loss! Over this week, I am going to offer four helpful tips that will guide you as you interact with your family and friends who may be hurting.

If you know someone who has recently experienced a loss, stay tuned.

If you don't know anyone who has experienced loss, save this post - it's likely you will encounter one.

If you are a friend of a friend suffering loss, share this post series with them!

Loss affects at leas 1:4 women in the world (and likely more than that as miscarriages are underreported, and failed adoptions and infertility don't typically get counted in this number).

This content is compiled from my own personal experience with loss (we lost our first baby - Sam Azrial - to Miscarriage in 2008), from my interactions with those who have lost children (miscarriages, failed adoptions, infertility journeys, stillbirths, and young infant losses), and from my education in mental health, grief and loss.

Here's what we are going to address:
1. Your own emotional state and feelings about the loss and how your emotional state can significantly affect your ability to be present with your friend.
2. How honesty is best (even if it feels clunky and awkward).
3. What compassion can look like and how compassionate presence can start a healing process.
4. Mistakes to avoid when interacting with your friend who has suffered loss.
If these posts bring up deep feelings of your own losses or unhealed wounds, feel free to reach out. I'd love to be able to connect you with resources local to you in order to help you find the support and healing you need. And if nothing else, I'm always happy to be a compassionate listening ear.

10/17/2024

10/17/2024

Babywearing is a tradition has been around for thousands of years, and for a good reason! Learn about the 21 benefits of babywearing.

08/03/2024

🌟 Happy World Breastfeeding Week! 🌟

This week, we celebrate the incredible bond created through breastfeeding, highlighting its importance for a healthy start in life. Breastfeeding provides essential nutrients, strengthens immunity, and fosters a unique connection.

Let's support and empower everyone on their breastfeeding journey. Share your stories, offer a helping hand, and spread awareness. Together, we can create a nurturing environment for all families.