Birthwork

What is the role of a Doula?

A doula, or a birthkeeper or birthworker, is a non-medical, trained professional who can provide physical, educational, emotional, and/or spiritual support for birthing, postpartum, abortion, loss & bereavement, or death transitioning experiences, depending on the birthkeeper’s training.

Birthkeepers aim to make sure the client (s) have a clear understanding of the prenatal, labor, delivery, and postpartum process. Birthworkers often have specialized roles in which they primarily offer their services in, such as birth, postpartum, and holistic fertility, and they can assist in a clinic setting, hospital, or at home. A birthkeeeper can specifically have training or solely work as a fertility doula, birth doula, or postpartum doula. An abortion doula is a birthworker who is able to physically, educationally, and emotionally support clients through the abortion process. A bereavement doula is a birthworker who assists families that are experiencing pregnancy loss through miscarriage, stillbirth, or a diagnosis that means the baby (babies) will not live long after being delivered.

A deathkeeper or deathworker assists the client and the client’s family in the preparation of the dying process and end-of-life planning. A death doula is often hired to help guide and educate the dying client and the family during this transition. We keep company with the dying client, and we are usually available for both the pre-death and post-death functions, including end-of-life planning, vigils, terminal plans, some forms of bereavement session, and death anxiety navigation.

I am trained as a full spectrum birthkeeper, which encompasses the full birthing experience from preconception through to postpartum stage.

In addition, I am also a deathkeeper/deathworker, and I primarily offer many of my death doula services through my other platform called Guided Cycles. However, as death is a valid part of Birthwork, pregnancy & infant loss support, abortion care, and grief support are available here at Spiral Birth.

Note: Many birthkeepers and deathkeepers, particularly from People of the Global Majority heritages, prefer not to utilize the term “doula” because of its etymology rooted in meaning “female slave”, and doulas were often the head servant of a household.

I provide in-person birthworker services in Georgia and surrounding areas, and I am also available for virtual birthworker services.

For more information about my Fertility, Birth & Labor, Postpartum, as well as Loss & Termination work, then please see Offerings.

Grief Support Work

What do your grief support bundles consist of?

I provide interactive Grief guidance plans for those that are in bereavement from pregnancy loss, infant loss, or child loss through Pregnancy & Infant Loss Bundles. These are customized to the client’s needs, but standard pregnancy & infant loss bereavement bundles include two postpartum sessions and four bereavement support sessions with the ability to add on additional postpartum education sessions, bereavement support sessions, birth & labor support, basic herbal education, pelvic steam plans, yoga, belly-binding, basic housekeeping, meal delivery, and custom waistbeads.

I also provide general Grief support, which may be ideal and beneficial for those not only experiencing pregnancy loss or infant/child loss, but also abortions, sexual assault, domestic violence, substance addictions, and those managing chronic illnesses. We will work together on a custom bereavement support plan that may include conversation engagement, self-care education, integrative soul work, yoga, crisis response safety plans, herbal education, grief education, and mental wellness.

Please note, as a Birthkeeper, Deathkeeper, and Grief Support Specialist, I do not operate within the scope of a licensed mental health professional or licensed therapist, so please seek out these services, especially if you are in need of emergency mental health care, or you are engaging in suicidal ideation. My services are not designed to replace this vital aspect of healthcare, and I believe that western medicine can be beautifully complementary to holistic medicine with the right licensed professional available to a client. I will also refer out and include mental health therapy resources in our sessions.

Pelvic & Vaginal Steaming

How do I discover which herbs are right for me for vaginal/pelvic steaming?

For steam plans, herbal mixtures are curated based on different conditions, such as shorter or longer menstrual cycles, vaginal dryness or heat flashes, the improvement of blood circulation, the presence of bacterial infections, heavy periods, missing periods, or post-menopause. There are also steam plans which are particularly recommended for those on their pregnancy, postpartum, miscarriage, or sexual trauma experiences, or those managing specific disorders, such as fibroids & endometriosis among other factors.

Men and clients with male genitalia are also welcome. For these clients, steaming may possibly assist with prostate & hemorrhoid support, deeper sleep levels, and healthy blood circulation.

It is highly encouraged to seek a consultation from an experienced pelvic steam facilitator or herbalist prior to purchasing herbal blends. Curating the wrong blend for your body can lead to undesired effects.

Specialized plans that include how often one should steam with length times and on what days are part of the client’s consultation.

It is also not advisable to steam without obtaining a consultation especially if you are experiencing any of the following: active menstruation, active fresh spotting, spontaneous heavy bleeding (two or more periods per month), or within the two-week timeframe after sexual activity or during your insemination period if you are desiring pregnancy.

Other contraindications and specific recommendations may be present on a case-by-case basis, so please schedule a consultation for the most effective pelvic steaming experience.

Events

Can you tell me more about your virtual events?

Classes

I host virtual classes and intensives on a variety of birthwork and reproductive wellness-related topics. These educational sessions often pertain to fertility support, endometriosis, childbirth education, lactation education, perinatal mental health, pregnancy & infant loss, abortion rights, contraception education, African-American birthwork, menopause, and more. Visit the Offerings page for any upcoming virtual classes.

General

Where are you located and where do you service?

I currently work as a traveling birthkeeper based in southwest Georgia, but covering the state of Georgia and surrounding areas; I have and will travel statewide in Georgia and surrounding areas. Birthkeepers are not nearly as common in the Deep South, particularly in rural areas, and I will tend to assist in places that have that lack of accessibility and resources as long as additional transportation and other agreed upon fees are honored. However, being a birthkeeper is not only about being trained and educated in your work, but it is also about advocacy and network building. If I am aware of other knowledgeable doulas and other birthworkers in your area, then I will also assist you with their contact information if a referral would be in your better interest.

How do I find out more information about your services?

I have included detailed information about many of the services under Offerings. However, please do not hesitate to message me if you need further clarification.

What if I am having trouble financial trouble, but I am sincerely interested in these services?

Contact me, so we can discuss all of the options that are available. I do offer payment plans. There may also be partial grant funding available. Please also visit my Financial Assistance page.

I would love for you to be a guest speaker at my event/guest on my podcast/host you for one of your events. How do we set that up?

I’d love to peer into the variety of ways that we may collaborate professionally together. Please visit my Offerings page to see when an available time slot is open that is convenient for you on my schedule so that we can talk further. I very much look forward to speaking with you.