Seacoast Doula Group ... Nurturing The Whole Family

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... nurturing the whole family.


Educational & Support Groups
	A New Mother's Tea Enjoy companionship, resources for you and your baby, mother-to-mother conversation and share the joys and challenges of mothering. Build connections for the summer months. For more information, and to register, download this flyer.
	Birthing Classes at Coastal Family Birth Retreat in Stratham ... (for more information, download this brochure or visit the website here).
	Prenatal Yoga Classes at Ocean Spirit Yoga offer mothers an inspiring class to prepare to give birth. Classes will weave classical yoga, breath awareness, relaxation, meditation and childbirth education, offering mothers the space to connect more deeply with their growing babies and changing bodies. For more information, download this brochure.
	Seacoast Postpartum Adjustment Group The postpartum period has unique gifts and unique challenges. For more information about our group, please download this brochure.)
The benefits of having a doula-attended birth are well documented. Currently, one of the most worrisome trends in US birth is the 31.8% Cesarean rate. This alarming statistic cannot be justified by best medical evidence. A study in the June ’08 journal of BIRTH concluded, “For middle class women laboring with the support of their male partner, the continuous presence of a doula during labor significantly reduced the likelihood of cesarean delivery and reduced the need for epidural anesthesia. Women and their male partners were unequivocal in their positive opinions about laboring with the support of a doula”. For more information, see: "Six Care Practices for Normal Birth” at Lamaze.org “What Every Pregnant Woman Needs to Know about Cesarean Section” childbirthconnection.org (Formerly the Maternity Center)

Site last updated on:
June 14 2009

The Seacoast Doula Group is a network of independent doulas that live and work in the seacoast area of New Hampshire and southern Maine. Our doulas are experienced and most are DONA International members.

Even though we are separate business entities, we support and complement each other to provide new mothers and their families a broader set of services and greater coverage and availability.

Please feel free to browse our website and learn more about doulas and how they can help you and your family smooth the transition of bringing a new life into your world.

We would like this website to be a useful resource for all pregnant women and new mothers in the greater seacoast area, so if you don't see something that you'd like to see, or if you have an idea you think would help others, please let us know.

We look forward to hearing from you!

The Seacoast Doula Group

Three things you can do with our brochure:

1. Put one in an envelope with a gift certificate for doula care!
2. Email it to a friend who might want to learn about our services.
3. Tuck one away for your next pregnancy!

[The brochure is in Adobe Acrobat format. If you need a reader, you can get one free from Adobe click here.]

What Is A Doula?

"A doula is a non-medical assistant in prenatal care, childbirth, and during the postpartum period.

Labor doulas are trained and experienced labor support persons who attend to the emotional and physical comfort needs of laboring women to smooth the labor process. They do not do clinical tasks such as heart rate checks, or vaginal exams but rather use massage, aromatherapy, positioning suggestions, etc., to help labor progress as well as possible. A labor support doula joins a laboring woman either at her home or in hospital or birth center and remains with her until a few hours after the birth. In addition to emotional support, doulas work as advocates of their client’s wishes and may assist in communicating with medical staff to obtain information for the client to make informed decisions regarding medical procedures.

Postpartum doulas are trained to offer families evidence-based information and support on infant feeding, emotional and physical recovery from childbirth, infant soothing and coping skills for new parents. They may also help with light housework, fix a meal and help incorporate the older child into this new experience."

Source: Wikipedia contributors (2006). Doula. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03:30, April 18, 2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Doula&oldid=48417033.

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Recent News
	Doulas: Providing support before, during, after childbirth
	What is a doula?

Featured Links
	DONA International
	Postpartum Support International
	Childbirth International
	Lamaze Childbirth
	Childbirth Connection
	Coastal Family Birth Retreat
	Prasada Yoga Center
	New Mothers Resource Guide

CAN I AFFORD A DOULA DURING A TOUGH ECONOMY
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For more information, see:

"Six Care Practices for Normal Birth” at Lamaze.org