Hello! My name is Teresa
(she/her or they/them)
|
I am a Full-Spectrum Doula, Childbirth Educator, Placenta Specialist, Herbalist, and Certified Lactation Educator serving The Greater Boston Area west to Worcester, the Merrimack Valley region, and Southern New Hampshire. I have been attending births since 2005 and have been honored to witness over 340 births to date. I am certified as a Full-Spectrum Doula through Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings. I am certified to teach childbirth education through BACE-NMC and am a Certified Lactation Educator through CAPPA. I identify as Queer/Bi and I am bi-lingual in Spanish. I enjoy supporting families of all different life-styles and expressions, especially those on the margins. I believe in truly trauma-informed, client-centered and controlled, and evidence-based care. My partner of 22 years and I have two daughters, who I nursed for a collective 24 months. I raise a little flock of backyard chickens and enjoy gardening, herbalism, permaculture, and foraging
|
|
In July 2008 I gave birth to my first daughter, Josie. Two years later she was diagnosed with Autism. She doesn't speak, but her smile is contagious! She challenges me to be a better person every day and has taught me to think outside the box. In March 2014 I gave birth to my second daughter, Ramona. She is an ever evolving bundle of energy, and her sister's best friend. In March 2021 Josie transitioned to a group home for kids with special needs. We are so grateful for our Melmark team! Josie has been making great strides with the help of her 24 hour IEP. Living with a child with very high needs for the past 15 years while juggling my marriage, career, raising another- neurotypical child, and maintaining a home has taught me so much about what parents can do, as well as the kinds of supports families need to thrive. It has also made me unflappable in the face of typical stressors. I feel honored to work with families and to share what I have learned through my personal parenting journey.
|
My StoryI discovered my desire to be a birth worker through my role as a midwives' assistant and Spanish medical interpreter in a community health center in 2005. Through that job I was provided an opportunity to train with DONA International and work as an on-call doula for Mount Auburn Hospital, providing support to non-English speaking Latina women during childbirth. After years of working as an on-call doula I decided to become certified so I could expand and serve more families in my community and surrounding areas. I certified with DONA International and started taking private clients in 2012. From 2010-2013 I worked as a Family Planning Counselor across two community health centers serving an array of populations, some privileged, some at-risk, providing education in English, Spanish, and Portuguese on safe sex, pregnancy options, and birth control methods counseling. I left that job in 2013 to work as a medical assistant again, this time for Mount Auburn ob/gyn. In 2014, after giving birth to my second daughter, I resigned from my medical assistant job, started my doula business, and have been a full-time birth worker ever since! As of September 2022 I have attended over 340 births. I have attended pregnant people from all different walks of life, those with low-risk pregnancies, as well as high-risk. I have supported people giving birth in hospitals, at home, and in birth centers. I have supported medicated as well as unmedicated vaginal births, cesareans in the operating room, vbacs, assisted vaginal deliveries, spontaneous labors, inductions, and one twin birth.
Through this work I have developed a deep trust in pregnant and birthing people. I believe that each of us has an innate knowledge of our own bodies. I feel that my role as a doula is to provide resources, information, advocacy, and practice with body conditioning, positioning, comfort measures, as well as relaxation and visualization techniques to help pregnant people to enhance their mind-body connection so they might better see, and thereby achieve their ideal birth experience, whatever that might be. I try to meet each client where they are emotionally and practically in terms of their feelings and preferences surrounding birth and parenting choices. I will provide evidenced-based research to help you develop birth preferences if you are ambivalent, and will support your plan if you are not. I will not impose my personal opinions. I will help pause proceedings during your birth, point out departures from your birth preferences and information deficits, and amplify your voice so that you have time to ask questions and consider all of your options before giving informed consent or refusal. This philosophy of trusting women and queer and non-binary birthing people extends into my work supporting families in the postpartum period. I believe new parents benefit greatly from a little support, nurturing, and time to let their confidence grow. Sometimes they just need someone with a little experience to let them know that it's ok to follow their natural parenting instincts, and to model calm even when a newborn's cry can sound so urgent and concerning. If problems or issues arise I will help you over the bumps and hiccups while encouraging you to take charge, and I can connect you with an expansive network of resources in the community to help with any areas outside of my scope of practice. |
Recent Continuing Education:
*June 9, 2023- FSD-BADT certificate awarded
* February 14, 2023- Lactation Educator Certification awarded by CAPPA
* December 21, 2021- Requirements completed and Re-certification as a Childbirth Educator awarded by BACE-NMC through December 31, 2024
* December 2021- May 2023- completed all reading, writing, observational, and other requirements for BADT FSD certification. May 2023 submitted application.
*June 2021- January 2023 completed reading, writing, observational and other requirements for CAPPA Lactation Educator certification. January 2023 submitted application.
*January 2022- Navigating Grief in Pregnancy and Infant Loss: 5 day workshop by Grief Soul Work
*September-December 2021 (10 wk course) Full-Spectrum Doula training with Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings
*June 2021- CAPPA, repeated the 3 day/ 24 hrs Lactation Educator Training
* April 10th & 11th, 2021- 6 hour training by BALC: Foundations of Lactation for Perinatal Health Workers
*April 3, 2021 Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings: Crisis Response for Birth Workers 4 hr training.
*March 2021 Lamaze Webinar: The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Six Healthy Birth Practices. 1 hour.
*April 2019 GOLD Lactation Online Conference
*March 2019- Well Pregnancy 3.5 hr. Breastfeeding basics review for birth professionals
*May 2018- Partners in Perinatal Health Conference
*March- May 2017- 10 week BACE-NMC Childbirth Educator Training
*February 2017- Spinning Babies workshop with Lorenza Holt.
*August 2016- CAPPA 3 day/24 hour Lactation Educator Training, the
first step in becoming a Certified Lactation Educator.
*September 2015- 3 day- 27 hour DONA approved postpartum Doula
workshop.
* August 2015- 1 day Gena Kirby Rebozo workshop on Rebozo for
pregnancy and birth called, Rebozo: Make the Partner Do It.
*April 2015- 18 hour Indigo Doulas advanced birth doula workshop:
Using Intuition in the Birthing Room
* February 14, 2023- Lactation Educator Certification awarded by CAPPA
* December 21, 2021- Requirements completed and Re-certification as a Childbirth Educator awarded by BACE-NMC through December 31, 2024
* December 2021- May 2023- completed all reading, writing, observational, and other requirements for BADT FSD certification. May 2023 submitted application.
*June 2021- January 2023 completed reading, writing, observational and other requirements for CAPPA Lactation Educator certification. January 2023 submitted application.
*January 2022- Navigating Grief in Pregnancy and Infant Loss: 5 day workshop by Grief Soul Work
*September-December 2021 (10 wk course) Full-Spectrum Doula training with Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings
*June 2021- CAPPA, repeated the 3 day/ 24 hrs Lactation Educator Training
* April 10th & 11th, 2021- 6 hour training by BALC: Foundations of Lactation for Perinatal Health Workers
*April 3, 2021 Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings: Crisis Response for Birth Workers 4 hr training.
*March 2021 Lamaze Webinar: The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Six Healthy Birth Practices. 1 hour.
*April 2019 GOLD Lactation Online Conference
*March 2019- Well Pregnancy 3.5 hr. Breastfeeding basics review for birth professionals
*May 2018- Partners in Perinatal Health Conference
*March- May 2017- 10 week BACE-NMC Childbirth Educator Training
*February 2017- Spinning Babies workshop with Lorenza Holt.
*August 2016- CAPPA 3 day/24 hour Lactation Educator Training, the
first step in becoming a Certified Lactation Educator.
*September 2015- 3 day- 27 hour DONA approved postpartum Doula
workshop.
* August 2015- 1 day Gena Kirby Rebozo workshop on Rebozo for
pregnancy and birth called, Rebozo: Make the Partner Do It.
*April 2015- 18 hour Indigo Doulas advanced birth doula workshop:
Using Intuition in the Birthing Room
