Katia Birth and Postpartum Doula
2280 Vine St V6K 3K4 Vancouver, BC, Canada

It takes a village. Especially for a twin home birth. When you're an experienced natural birther of 2 boys, you may decide to stay home to birth baby # 3. And ...that's what this one Mom did when she found out she was pregnant. She ran to hire her favorite home birth midwife! But little did she know... she was expecting TWINS, not a singleton! I had the greatest honor to be a part of her birth team. Witnessing everyone at the birth doing their jobs like busy worker bees was indescribable. Words cannot summarize the amount of joy, happiness, support and love felt in the room that morning. This was one of the most incredible experiences I've witnessed to date. A twin home birth - baby B was breech. ***Video shows actual births and nudity. *** this was a planned twin home birth. Primary Midwife Teri Mitchell BundleBorn Midwifery & Pediatrics Assistant Midwife Emily Jenkins Sloan Student Midwife Nikki Carter Knowles Doula Shelly Thrift-Brittain Birth Assistant Laura Perkins Birth Without Fear Empowered Birth Project

When I was pregnant with Emma, my dream was for Kate to see her sister being born. But birth is literally unplanable. Families can and should educate themselves... leading up to birth to make informed decisions and good birth-team choices, and birth should be (besides the outcome of healthy mom and baby) also a positive and warm experience, so birth preferences are a must! Ultimately, Kate couldn't see her baby sister being born because we were in the operating room 3 and a half years ago for Emma's birth. But her birth experiences planted a seed in my artist of a heart. I was determined to one day not only document an older sibling present at a birth, but an older sibling catching the baby. Enter Catherine. This was on the list for her and her 10 year old daughter's birth preferences for baby #3. For Kayla to catch her baby sister Everly. We did not know what to expect, because birth is so unpredictable. We all knew it may not work out. But what was magical was hearing midwife Laurie Gibbon's words about how this was her patient's birth. Mom and baby were completely safe and healthy during this delivery, and big sister Kayla caught her baby sister Everly with a rainbow of emotions. I know in my heart that the two traumatic births I experienced with my children were for a reason, because if it had not been for my births and my daughters, I would not be a birth documentarian today. Thank you to this beautiful family, the amazing and best labor and delivery staff at Boca Regional and to the entire team at Women's Health Partners especially midwife Laurie for making this dream come true, for my client Catherine, for me, and for every woman out there who knows that children can be present and involved in birth. See more

It takes a village. Especially for a twin home birth. When you're an experienced natural birther of 2 boys, you may decide to stay home to birth baby # 3. And ...that's what this one Mom did when she found out she was pregnant. She ran to hire her favorite home birth midwife! But little did she know... she was expecting TWINS, not a singleton! I had the greatest honor to be a part of her birth team. Witnessing everyone at the birth doing their jobs like busy worker bees was indescribable. Words cannot summarize the amount of joy, happiness, support and love felt in the room that morning. This was one of the most incredible experiences I've witnessed to date. A twin home birth - baby B was breech. ***Video shows actual births and nudity. *** this was a planned twin home birth. Primary Midwife Teri Mitchell BundleBorn Midwifery & Pediatrics Assistant Midwife Emily Jenkins Sloan Student Midwife Nikki Carter Knowles Doula Shelly Thrift-Brittain Birth Assistant Laura Perkins Birth Without Fear Empowered Birth Project

Contrary to popular assumption, the safest place to plan to give birth is almost always at home (you can always leave and go to the hospital *if there is a reas...on to* to during birth, and true medical reasons for going in are RARE). Many people plan to birth in hospitals because they *think* it’s safer to do so and just in case something happens. In reality, research shows healthy outcomes happen MORE often when people plan to birth at home than in hospitals: Outcomes of planned hospital birth vs planned home birth attended by a registered midwife was associated with very low and comparable rates of perinatal death and reduced rates of obstetric interventions and other adverse perinatal outcomes compared with planned hospital birth attended by a midwife or physician. (Janssen et al, 2009) Compared with women who planned a hospital birth with a midwife or physician in attendance, those who planned a home birth were significantly less likely to experience any of the obstetric interventions we assessed, including electronic fetal monitoring, augmentation of labour, assisted vaginal delivery, cesarean delivery and episiotomy. (Janssen et al, 2009) Newborns whose mothers planned a home birth were at similar or reduced risk of fetal and neonatal morbidity compared with newborns whose mothers planned a hospital birth (Janssen et al, 2009) Women and their partners should be advised that the risk of PPH is higher among births planned to take place in hospital compared to births planned to take place at home (Nove et al, 2012) Low risk women in primary care at the onset of labour with planned home birth had lower rates of severe acute maternal morbidity, postpartum haemorrhage, and manual removal of placenta than those with planned hospital birth. (de Jonge et al, 2013) http://www.birthtakesavillage.com/home-birth-safety/

The most recent testimonial I’ve received from a family makes my heart so warm! What a beautiful and strong family. I know they could have done it without me, but it’s warming to hear that my presence was special to them! When I first met Katia, I knew immediately that she was the right doula for us. Her eyes spoke of a calm and gentle person, and I didn’t realize how true it was until she helped attend the birth of our daughter. she supported me so well in all the prenata...l duration from her excellent knowldge of psychology. The birth I wanted did not go the way I planned at all, and unfortunately was full of unforeseeable interventions. Katia, however, stood by my husband and me doing everything she could to make the process just a bit more bearable. She remained level-headed and encouraged us throughout the process, and we know we could not have done it without her! We are so grateful to have had Katia be a part of our birth experience. Once home, she went above and beyond to help us. She came over to assist us and kept checking on us many times...We so sincerely appreciate all of the knowledge, caring and dedication that she presented as well as her genuine nature and positive attitude. Thanks Katia!! https://doulamatch.net/profile/15398/katia-haslam

Seth tells the dramatic story of how the newest addition to the Meyers family came into the world.