The Doula Effect

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The Doula Effect

I am a birth & bereveament Doula as well as a Professional Postpartum Care Provider (PPCP). I offer pregnancy & birth support.

Holistic postpartum care for mothers and babies & bereavement support for pregnancy & baby loss

06/02/2025

💚 J.A.N.U.A.R.Y 💚

Subhanallah, my first and last FULL month of service for 2025 has left my heart absolutely bursting with gratitude;

For this vocation - from the most heatbreaking to the most exquisite parts of it

For my incredibly strong & inspirational clients who advocate for their right to be in charge of their bodies and their birth stories

For my friends & colleagues and how they show up for themselves & each other, the call for support & safe space never goes unanswered here

And ALWAYS for death & life and the teachings each one brings while reaffirming one golden piece of wisdom we all should hold onto whenever we are invited to share in this magical space...

Every single one is sacred.

02/01/2025

2025
First act of service
A sacred honour

This morning at 08h37 a beloved, gorgeous little baby boy was born sleeping at +/- 33 weeks gestation.

He had the most gorgeous curls, he was so tall and looked so much like his dad but definitely had his mamas nose and lots of birthday frosting.

This little boys parents. Wow...!
His mum is the definition of strength
His father embodies the definition of unwavering presence
Their grief will take them on a journey
It may shape them in new ways that they may not have expected but it will not break these two incredibly resilient souls.

Sweet baby Lithemba gave us all a valuble reminder to surrender & flow with the process because we plan & God plans & ultimately He is the best planner.

Little Lithemba also gave his parents STUNNING hand prints - which is such a rare treat- and ofcourse really cute foot prints to go with them.

This post would not be complete without making mention of this families truly wonderful Doctor, she holds her bereaved families with such compassion, grace and dignity as they navigate the most daunting waters. It's always an honour to work with her.

And ofcourse a shout out to the staff on duty at maternity ward today, especially a certain Sr who went above & beyond, thank you for welcoming me so warmly and for supporting this beautiful family with kindess & excellent care.

#2025

04/12/2024

*IMPORTANT NOTICE - 2025*

03/11/2024

☀OCTOBER☀

Just a small snippet into the beauty that was captured this month.
All my birth clients (including the ones supported virtually) were first time mothers. There was so much new wonder and delight, discoveries of their strengths and thresholds and ofcourse, reflections. So many reflections and insights.
Parents who birth their subsequent babies tend to compare and reflect in the aftermath. But, for first time parents, there is no comparison, so their reflections are pretty deep as some pre-conceived notions around labour & birth are either completely shattered, altered or solidified and you witness in real time how beliefs around birth are shaped for them. It's deeply fascinating.

A new first time dad & I reflected recently on how wild labour & birth was...
Like a 'familiar alien' we called it in the end. A mind blowing, other-worldly type of experience, yet not unnatural or foreign in feeling.

It was a converstaion that stuck with me, because birth and death processes, when respected and left alone can teach us all so much.. if we slow down enough, stay quiet enough and open enough to learn & receive the teachings & wisdoms in it.

02/10/2024

☘️SEPTEMBER☘️

A month largely dedicated to looking after myself, ofcourse I had a sprinkling of postpartum & preganacy sessions with existing clients as well as a commitment to feature as a guest speaker in a module on grief & loss. I also continued to make my herbal teas & blends for orders (which never feel like work.)

No booked births for anyone due in September.
No new postpartum undertakings.
No unscheduled online consultations
Just for one month...

And so I filled my cup by saying yes to the slow life, yes to coffees & suppers with friends, yes to all the opportunities to spend extra time in nature & hitting my step count targets and yes a quick weekend getaway with my family to breathe in the addictive, rain soaked mountain air!

Alhamdulillah, I feel ready to take on what is going to be the busiest quater of the year. Starting with the newborn tsunami thats been brewing & due to make landfall this October...

Bismillah. Let's do this!

02/09/2024

🍃AUGUST🍃

Chaos. The good kind. The bad kind.

There was an abundance of the good kind...

The weather was SO epic & insanely icy as the Cape of Storms lived up to her name. My winter loving soul thrived.
A beautiful, healthy, sweet rainbow baby came safely Earthside alhamdulillah.
Postpartum visits in the farmlands.
Open hearted, dynamic life conversations about intentional living, normalizing death, life changes, communication & boundaries.
Two special pregnancy announcements.
My first birth experience where I had to dash from elsewhere with no scrubs, no gear and no car to support a mother as her healthy baby born born at home on her bed.
Cheering on postpartum mothers as they find their feet & their own way of doing things.
Vee Steaming & Closing of the Bones for a special friend & client.
Friends who hold space.

It was an intense month, am intentionally slowing down this September Inshaa Allah because let me tell ya....October is gonna be WILD!

I dunno what was happening in January this year but between that and Valentines... theres a birth tsunami heading our way!

01/08/2024

♥️JULY♥️

A month that held so much for me both in a personal & professional capacity. So much much duality.

The largest amount of travelling done in a single month so far for 2024
No planned births, just facilitating holistic prenatal, bereavement & postpartum consultations with clients & peers.
Special dates like my anniversary & my daughters still-birthday.
Leaning on a good friend to help me with something thats been on my heart, while she held space for me to to fall apart.
The honour of being invited as guest speaker on Perinatal Grief in a really special space.
Learning new things & expanding offerings.
Making new connections & jumping into new spaces within my community.
Actioning long planned events to break taboos & start conversations out loud.
Greeting new pregnancies with old friends who I've walked with before.
Holding space from afar for a mother who lost her baby & did not get to meet that baby the way she wanted to either.
Holding space in person for a mother as we wait for her much loved rainbow baby.
Seeing a seasoned mum embrace life with a special baby.
Watching a new mother & new baby thrive.
Saying yes to taking more breaks.

Taking in all the rain, all the sunshine, embracing all the laughter & tears & remembering & reflecting on so much while enjoying every single moment of this beautiful season of the year & this beautiful time of life itself.

02/07/2024

💫 JUNE 💫

Undoubtedly a baby boom month, many birth workers will testify to just how crazy its been in South Africa.

For me it started off with a couple of postpartum clients, a Birthday Preparation workshops and usual client consultations. Then I attended a beautiful home birth for a first time mother who was so amazing, and we welcomed her baby in time.for breakfast. My month then peaked with supporting my badass friend for her 3rd VBAC - a footling breech birth ! The highlight of my year! Then it was onto being on call as back up for a colleague as she was in a birth tsunami of her own, as well as supporting more space postpartum as my client & her beautiful baby, who was born with a bilateral cleft lip rocked their breastfeeding journey with a little help from a local IBCLC. I still had a birth trauma debriefing for someone who didn't birth with me on the cards & then another postpartum client had her baby aswell!
All in all I have infused more herbal sitz baths preparations & brewed more nourishing postpartum teas & bathed more babies in June than any other month so far (and loved every minute of it!)

The month finished off beautifully with launching the Push Comes to Shove screening event with my colleague, something were bith very passionate about & finally supporting an amazing young woman who is pregnant with her first baby in her quest to change care provider and hospital to another that aligns better with the vision she has for her birth... At 37weeks! Love it!

13/06/2024

Services Offered at The Doula Effect

Services are offered in person & online, locally & internationally.

Address

Cape Town
7764

Website

http://www.thedoulaeffect.co.za/

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