Sibling care during birth
If you know me personally, you know that I am an Early childhood specialist.
I am working for over 20 years with young children and infants. Children are easy for me. I love spending time with them, working with them makes me happy and warms my heart.
The past few years, I spent a lot of professional time with infants and babies, I focused on the latest research in terms of development and understanding behaviour.
This here, is where my love for pedagogy and child development meets my love for birthwork.
The special, intimate moments of birth, extended to the whole family.
A family that remains whole while welcoming a new member. Mothers who can relax because they know their child is taken care of. Partners who can be present at birth because their child is in good, safe hands. Children who are calm, safe and prepared to meet their sibling.
Here I present the “family package”.
A doula support for every member of the family, with love and inclusion.
How will this support take place?
A family doula is NOT a nanny or babysitter.
I feel a lot of child care work is highly unappreciated and underrated. Your child carer should be a person you trust above all. Someone who will make sure your child is taken care of, is safe, feels safe and is stimulated in many aspects.
Nanny care around birth is, in my opinion, not enough. The carer a family needs in this special moment is someone who, not only is experienced in child care, child development and child first aid, is also someone who is familiar with the processes and timings of birth, post partum and the dynamics these processes will bring into the delicate and very personal family balance. A family doula is present to ensure the family needs are met as much as possible. A family doula ensures continuity in the life and rhythm of the children, ensuring a safe and calm environment.
A family doula is all of this. My family doula package is designed to ease the transition to “siblinghood”, to prepare the parents for a new parenthood and to provide a comfortable, calm and safe environment for all.
On the practical side, we will meet several times, at least 2-3 times after the first get-to-know meeting.
We will discuss your needs, priorities, expectations. We will talk about your family dynamics, your family preferences, plans and family philosophy.
Furthermore, we will talk about the siblings and their specific needs, schedules, hobbies, information, wishes and preferences. Moreover, we will decide on a fairly detailed planning.
We will also have a detailed intake with all important practical information (doctors, insurance..)
We will plan 1-2 day when I will spend some time alone with the children.
- Just like every doula, I will be On call 24/7 from week 37 until 42.
- I’m always available by texts and calls
- Of course, I’ll support children during labor: the kind of support will vary according to what has been discussed and agreed on in the prenatal meetings.
- I can support parents during labor: this kind of support is depending on what has been agreed on
- I’ll take care of light Household tasks (meal preparation, grocery, tidying up..), depending on what has been agreed on.
- Your family pet needs of course attention too. This will also be discussed in the prenatal meetings, if applicable to your situation.
- 2 post-partum meetings.
When hired as a family doula, I am on-call and prepared to provide trusted, reliable care to brothers and sisters so parents can fully focus on bringing baby into the world.
Would you like to know more and learn about your options? Don’t hesitate to contact me for a free consultation.
