Hello and welcome to my blog!

A few words about the services I offer.

I am a Labour Doula and Childbirth Educator in Toronto, Ontario.  As a doula,  I offer labour support to birthing women and their partners, helping them to have an empowering and positive birth experience. This can include pain management techniques and coping strategies, including breathing exercises, labour positions, massage and acupressure. In addition, I provide one-on-one, continuous emotional support throughout labour until after your baby is born. I also help you to understand the birth process and facilitate communication between you and your health care practitioners. A doula can help you to build self-esteem, self-confidence and trust in your own natural abilities and instincts. All of these things will encourage you to be a greater self-advocate, ensuring that your birth is a positive and empowering experience in which you take an active role and make informed decisions.

As a Childbirth Educator I teach prenatal classes to pregnant women and their partners, in either private sessions or group settings. I can come directly to your home to teach and can customize the curriculum to meet your specific needs. Prenatal education is the first step towards having a birth experience that is empowering and guided by informed decision-making. Topics may include (but are not limited to) pain management and coping strategies; understanding the labour process; pain medications, their risks and benefits; breastfeeding and how to care for your newborn.

I am offering reduced rates for my doula services (a sliding scale is also available) and hourly rates for prenatal education classes. When I have group classes coming up I will post information with location, dates, cost and availability. I don’t have any scheduled at the moment, but if you would like to participate in one, let me know and I can probably set something up relatively quickly if there is demand. A preliminary doula interview does not obligate you in any way, so feel free to set one up with me if you are interested in having a doula and want to see if I am the right fit for you. I was trained by CAPPA Canada, an internationally recognized organization. You can check them out at http://www.cappacanada.ca/

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the services that I offer! You can get in touch here, or via email at heathersusanneville (at) gmail (dot) com