Doulas in Springfield VT/Charlestown NH area?

[alaskaberry]

A friend of mine will be giving birth at Springfield Hospital in January... I was trying to find doulas in the area that I could recommend. Obviously I live in Alaska, but I wanted to help her out as much as I can--she is absolutely *terrified* of giving birth. She has a friend to be her birth partner but personally I feel that a doula could really help her out... all the DONA doulas were in Brattleboro, and she is in Charlestown.

TIA

[EmpoweringBirth]

Yeah there are not too many doulas over that way. (Anyone interested let me know and I can recommend some trainings.) There are several other doula certification organizations you could have checked with. But, again I don't think you would have come up with many...well actually any... real close who live in NH. (I'm not very familiar with locations of Vt doulas and of course I there are new doulas all the time that I may miss getting to know.) I can think of about 4 doulas who are under an hour and a half though. I'll pass a link to this thread onto them and let them contact you if they choose too. I'm a little over 2 hours away and I generally draw my outer line closer to an hour and a half otherwise I would be willing to help your friend out as it does sound that a doula could be a great benefit for her. Let me know if you don't get any responses and I can help you to more actively search for someone.

-Annie

[alaskaberry]

Thanks, I've already gotten one response!\

Oh, I forgot to note that she's low income... I don't know if that makes a difference...

[slymamato3]

Originally Posted by alaskaberry

Thanks, I've already gotten one response!\

Oh, I forgot to note that she's low income... I don't know if that makes a difference...

Hey there~ What a great friend you are, helping her out when you are so far away. Does she ever visit MDC?
I have been through training with ALACE but have had to put certification on hold until it better suits my family to do doula work. I am an hour from Springfield and my sil lives about 2 miles from the hospital there. Maybe I could help her out?

[EmpoweringBirth]

Originally Posted by alaskaberry

Thanks, I've already gotten one response!\

Oh, I forgot to note that she's low income... I don't know if that makes a difference...

Glad to hear it. I sent the notice that someone is searching for a doula in that area out to all the members of the group I moderate, The NH Birth Network. So the majority of the doulas in the state know there is a request and I have gotten contacted to find out more and sent them this link. So hopefully you will get a few responses back so then your friend will be able to choose the doula that is the perfect match for her rather then just the only doula you could locate.

Low income may or may not make a difference, but since that is handled so very differently by each doula I'll just let them contact you to let you know how they handle it.


-Annie

PS. If you are a birth professional in NH and interested in finding out more about the NH Birth Network please pm me.

[ramlita]

What a thread!

I live less than a mile from Springfield Hospital.
If there were nobody else at all, I would be willing to doula at no charge. I went through the ALACE training, but then got busy with my own babes and never got certified.
I've only attended two births, (when I wasn't The Mama ) both homebirths, so I'm not especially in the hospital/current practice groove...
but it sounds like you have some great leads!!!

My biggest question:
Who is her doctor? We have some great ones, and some I would not recommend so much. I know all of them personally, except the two OBs who moved here recently, and I have some second-hand info on them, too. There's still plenty of time to switch if she's with a lame-o. But we should probably talk specific names in Private Messages. :

I recently met a woman who didn't circ her son because she asked a nurse at Spfld about it, and she said,"Eh, they used to think it was necessary, but it's really not." That was enough for them to keep him whole!! : Yay that nurse... I still don't know which one it was, or whether that's a common refrain at the hospital.

Also, I coordinate a Breastfeeding Support Playgroup in Springfield. We meet every Tuesday morning from 10 to 11:30 am at the Parent/Child Center in North Springfield (right off of Rt 106, next to KJ's Bar )
Pregnant women are always welcome- we love new babies and anyone who will have one soon
She should come over and meet us!! We're a close group, but also very friendly with newbies. We've been quieter over the summer (too much to do outside!) but hope to get more consistent now that the weather is changing.
If showing up somewhere alone would be weird for her, you could even PM me her name & number and I'll call her up and befriend her and invite her to my book club and/or bar night
I have a kazillion pregnancy/birth/breastfeeding/parenting books, so I could just have her over for tea sometime and hand her, oh, say, Birthing from Within and maybe an Ina May or two?

Can you tell I'm excited to meet someone new?
I love talking about all of this stuff with anyone who's interested, and new moms are so much fun to talk with!


Hi Anji!
I was a birth buddy for little Ava (not that she ended up needing me around!) at Ellia's birth in January. You came running out of the bathroom to fetch me just as she came out: "Now!"
What a great family they are. I miss them (they moved to Morrisville!)
I want to check out your site, but I can't get your link to work!

[ramlita]

Cool!

Do you have personal experience with the two new OBs?
I hear they came from Gifford, which has a good reputation.
Any thoughts on them that would be reasonable to post in public?

[anjichurch]

Yes, I do

If we are talking about the married couple?
They had 2 home birth themselves, and one of my clients had wonderful results with the Hawaiian energy work the female did with her when we first arrived. I have to say that the nurses and Docs I have worked there with so far have been great...especially for the home birth client I had to bring in...

[ramlita]

Nice! That's so wonderful to hear
I'm so glad they're here

[Mama Coltrane]

The married couple now working at Springfield Hispital used to work at Gifford Birthing Center in randolph. They are both very cool. I am so glad that they are back in the area.
I am a doula too, by the way, but Springfiled is a bit too far. I go about as far south as Dartmouth and as far north as St Johnsbury/Liitleton.

- Kerri

[alaskaberry]

Thanks to everyone who replied, I gave her a nice long list!