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Heart and Hands Doula Services is Nicole
VanWoudenberg.
I have been married since September 1995 to my wonderful husband Martin
and we've been growing closer ever since. Our marriage has been blessed
with the births of four children.
Our first daughter Alanna was born in September 1996 - a hospital birth
with a family physician. I had no idea of doulas and midwives were not
covered by MSP yet. It wasn't a great birth - but she was born vaginally
and has been a joy ever since!
Our second child, Braden was born June 1998 also in the hospital, also
with our family physician. This labour was induced - tough, but shorter
than our first.
When I got pregnant with our third child, Danielle, our family doctor
told us that he wasn't delivering babies any more. I was devastated!
He told me that he would handle most of the prenatal care, and then
at week 32 would hand me over to one of the local obstetricians. Well,
that I didn't want. I got to doing some research and ended up going
with a midwifery group (they have been covered since January 2000) in
Langley, BC.
Well what a difference! The prenatal care was more holistic - they truly
cared about us and our baby! Both previous labours were managed with
epidurals, and that was one thing I wanted to avoid. Our midwives had
full confidence in my ability to birth this baby naturally and convinced
me to believe it as well. Instead of inducing me, they did the less
invasive procedure of stretching the membranes at around my due date.
I went into labour naturally and 12 hours later with no medication and
no epidural, delivered a healthy baby girl on February 8, 2001.
I was hooked! Becoming a midwife was out of the question - so I was
introduced to the profession of a doula. I researched it and signed
up for the doula training to take place in April 2002.
I completed that training at Douglas College, did 5 subsequent births
(all natural!) and became DONA certified in April of 2003. DONA is Doulas
of North America - the premier doula organization globally. They hold
a high standard of care and code of ethics.
 If
you are interested in reading DONA's mission statement, their Code of
Ethics or their Standards of Practice, please see the links to the left.
I am also a member of the DSA (Doula Services Association of BC). DSA's
purpose is the advancement and promotion of labour support as an option
for childbearing families in BC by educating the general public and
the medical community as to the role of labour support, the provision
of a referral service to individuals seeking labour support and the
provision of continuing education for members of the society. Their
website link is also on the left.
I've also had the opportunity to complete the Breastfeeding Counsellor
Certificate Course through Douglas College. I am fully certified as
a Breastfeeding Counsellor to help you with your breastfeeding needs
during the postpartum period, as well as with prenatal education around
breastfeeding.
Since completing my training and working
as a doula for 2 years, my husband and I have had a fourth child – another
son.
We used the services of midwives again
– same as last time, and once again thoroughly enjoyed the experience
and the care. This time, with all the education I’d received and all
the reading about birth I’d done, I knew I wanted something different
this time. After much discussion, research and more discussion, we opted
to plan for a home – water birth. And that’s what we got!
Again, I went for two treatments of stripping
of the membranes – went into labour and after 2 hours of intense labour,
most of which was spent in the pool we’d set up in our livingroom –
Ethan was born into the water on May 21, 2004! What an empowering and
beautiful experience it was!
This time, we used a doula as well – Anne
Demers was just awesome. We’ve since decided that no one should give
birth without a doula!
Since the beginning of 2007, I've also
been working as a childbirth educator. I received my training through
Lamaze International, and upon successfully completing the exam in the
spring, I now claim the title, Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator.
Currently I work for Douglas College as one of their prenatal educators,
and as well I co-own a prenatal business with my colleague and friend
Anne Demers. Heart and Hands Perinatal Services offers Lamaze childbirth
education classes in the Lower Mainland. Please follow this link: www.hhperinatal.com
To know more about my services, and what I offer as a birth doula, please
view the Services page.
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