In the quiet hush of the labor & delivery room, where the air is charged with anticipation and the scent of earthiness and birthyness, a new chapter in your life unfolds. The rhythmic cadence of your breath is mirrored by the gentle whispers of your doula, a reassuring presence in this oh so sacred moment. The culmination of nine months… maybe more, leads to this: the first hour with your newborn.
When I was selecting items for my baby registry, it was really important to me to not go overboard. As a doula of 14 years, I’ve seen families get overwhelmed with the amount of stuff in their homes and nurseries and I knew I wanted to keep things on the simpler side. I also wanted to be mindful of the impact on not only the environment, but also my baby’s microbiome - which meant finding a lot of eco-friendly products to keep waste down and keep our home as “low tox” as possible. Here you’ll find some of my favorite sustainable and most useful items that I registered for.
The Doulas of Orange County office phone rings.
I pick up. “Hello! Doulas of Orange County. Lauren speaking.”
A strained voice sounds relieved to hear me, and it sounds like she has been crying. She’s an exhausted new mom of 12-week old twins and a 20-month-old toddler (who won’t let her out of his sight). She’s drained from her twin pregnancy, a difficult birth, and breastfeeding challenges. She struggles to keep up with laundry and wash enough dishes to have plates for the next meal. Her partner has been trying to feed the baby at night, but she’s still waking up to pump for multiples and can’t help but feel guilty about how tired her partner will be at work the next day. She really needs a postpartum doula in Irvine, CA.
“Can you help me, even though my babies are so old?” She asks.
A a veteran doula I get a lot of questions each day about hiring a birth or postpartum doula or other newborn care support. One of the most common questions is “When should I hire someone?”
I know by telling you that you should have hired someone yesterday, that it sounds like it’s too late, but really it’s likely not, so DO NOT PANIC. I simply say “yesterday” to stress the urgency of hiring someone as soon as possible.
Being a mom or dad is a full-time job, and so is starting your own business! We know first hand how hard it can be hard to combine the two. Starting up work again after welcoming a new baby can be challenging when your attention, time, and heart are split! Luckily, there are plenty of resources to help make it easier on you. Today we’re sharing a few of those resource— from doulas in Orange County to business formation services — that you can already start looking into even before the baby arrives to make your life easier further down the road.
A colleague and I talked about soothing babies with colic over iced coffees at Kean Coffee last week. Both of us are currently working with families who have fussy babies, her as a newborn care specialist and me as a postpartum doula. We both noted how much more difficult colic is to cope with in the midst of and in the aftermath of Covid. Parents are having a more challenging time getting support from friends and family.
The pandemic baby boom has hit and it’s safe to say that doulas everywhere are busier than ever! That is certainly the case here at Doulas of Orange County - so much so that we’ve added more doulas and newborn care specialists to our team and are expanding our service area!
So whether you’re looking for overnight support to help you with your new twins or you’re seeking an amazing birth doula to be your guide at your homebirth… or any other scenario in between… basically if you need support through trying to conceive and the childbearing years, we’re here to help!
We can match you with fertility, prenatal, birth or postpartum care throughout Southern California. From San Bernadino to Long Beach, from Santa Clarita to Chula Vista! Our pre-vetted, professional, compassionate team is available to all SoCal families!
Postpartum Doula & Newborn Care Specialists
And if you’re open to a Virtual Doula, we can provide support for you anywhere in the world!
We’re proud to have served Orange County families since 2014 and are even more proud to have the ability to reach more families throughout Los Angeles, San Diego, and the Inland Empire. We believe that everyone deserves the support of a doula and are excited to hear from you!
If you’ve stumbled upon us, but are outside of our immediate service area, visit our parent company National Baby Co. which serves all of the United States. if we don’t have a provider in your area, we’d be happy to help you in your search!
When we first started considering phasing out our agency and transitioning to a doula matching service, we had a lot of questions about how it would work and if it would be sustainable. One of the biggest joys in running our doula agency was having the opportunity to get to know our clients and support them through their entire journey. And while we knew we weren’t the first doula agency to have to pivot after independent contractor laws changed (nor would we be the last!) ultimately it was important to us that we didn’t lose the opportunity to connect with those searching for a doula in Orange County.
One of the biggest things that sets us apart from referral services is that personal connection that makes finding a doula so important. That is why we strive to get to know you, not only because we love hearing about you and what you want out of your birth/postpartum experience, but because it helps us make those matches made in doula heaven. By learning more about you and your care needs we can confidently match you with doulas who’ll you have good chemistry with (‘cause let’s face it, finding a doula is kind of like dating) and who will be able to support you in the ways that you need and want.
