Day One | January 19, 2010
Introduction and Childbirth Education
Tonight was exciting and scary.

I was thrilled to be embarking on the transforming journey of becoming a doula and terrified thinking about my graduation into a profession where I am looked towards for so much guidance, support and knowledge. I was humbled tonight with the realization of how much I have to learn. Listening to Jennifer explain the different stages of labor and its effects on the body and psyche blew my mind. I had no idea the placenta had such a bond with the rest of the body (especially the brain) and how many positions a baby could be in while in the uterus and how organs are basically reorganized and rearranged constantly throughout different stages in pregnancy.

I truly feel like my slate has been wiped clean of all my birth misperceptions I had before I walked into Tracy’s home.

I am bare and ready for anything the world has to throw at me but for now I will start by preparing for Thursdays class.

Day Two | January 21, 2010
Intro to Hypnosis 101

Being apart of a woman’s most intimate and intense experience is the biggest honor I can imagine. Using relaxation techniques to control anxiety and fear is labor in essential. Today I learned how to my match my voice with strength and calmness and that skill could be my most powerful tool as a doula. Practicing with my voice tone was an unraveling experience for me. I felt like I was accessing a part of my inner self I had never met before. It made me think about all the things I don’t yet know about myself and all my strengths I have not yet utilized. It is nice to meet you Alta and I am happy you are here.

Day Three | January 22, 2010
Hypnosis for Childbirth

I am taken back by my passion for creating a better birth experience for women. I am fascinated by the techniques used to turn “pain” into “sensation”. By taking fears and tension away, a doula can help confuse pain receptors into reporting pleasure and pressure instead. Tonight, I imagined how it felt to run up a mountain. I imagined my thighs feeling cramped and tired, and my breath deep and purposeful. I imagined reaching the top, taking in a golden sunset view over deep blue water, and then running back down, feeling the wind blowing through my loose hair and feeling my sweat cool and my legs relax. I imagined how good it would felt running down that mountain. The human mind is far more powerful than physical pain. I am going to be a very well trained doula at the end of these classes.

Day Four | January 23, 2010
Doula Training Pt. 1

Taking the Dolphin Doula training has been the best thing I have ever done for myself. It is an absolute honor to be learning from such amazing and knowledgeable women. I realized that being a doula means that you are not only apart of the birth of the baby but also the birth of the mother and partner as well. After giving birth, using the dolphin method, I truly believe the confidence and calm power a woman gains stays with her throughout her entire life. Instilling that confidence and power in women during their labor changes the outcome drastically. While I drove home tonight from an all day class, I felt as light as a cloud. I felt like I could relax myself and have the same effect on another person. I felt like I had the power to transfer my positive energy into another person, creating a different perspective and outcome for that person. Tonight I truly felt confident in myself and that I can be an incredible doula. What a high!

Day Five | January 24, 2010
Doula Training Pt. 2

Along with providing emotional support and helping to facilitate communication between medical staff and the laboring woman, a doula must have physical strength. A doula must be able to endure labor with her client and must be able to give physical comfort by using her body as support. Using our bodies in class today, exploring different acupressure points and positions helped me understand the physicality of this profession. Through physical support and touch, a woman might finally get to feel that someone is there with her in that moment. Taking away that isolation can change the outcome significantly. Developing these skills is key to having an open and trusting relationship with your client. A doula must explain that she has no agenda and that she wants her client to have a safe, happy and healthy experience, what ever she thinks that may be for her. I didn’t understand until today how vulnerable you must be to successfully transfer your energy and really be in the moment with someone who is having a divine experience. I cannot wait for next class.

Day Seven| January 30, 2010
Final day

I didn’t want to go home last night. It was the last day of doula training and I was nervous about leaving the nest. I guess the best way to gain experience and succeed is to dive in feet first. Doula training is over and I am working hard for my clients. Jennifer and Tracy are the best mentors I could have asked for. I don’t know how the two day training from other doula schools could have given me a sliver of the knowledge, skill, and technique I learned from Dolphin. How could you possibly feel prepared for the amount of support and knowledge expected after training for a only two days?!

Confidence is everything and I am so grateful for my education and for the relationships and bonds I’ve created with all the amazing women throughout my training. I can’t wait to solidify my team and get my website going!

Part One:
I have always felt a strong pull towards women’s health, specifically to childbirth. When it came time for me to become a mother, I was excited and yet extremely anxious about what the experience would be like. And now, having experienced the wonders of birth with a doula, I feel nothing but lucky to be going through this doula training.

What I have learned thus far has been amazing and the women in my class are special and have created such a diverse group of new doulas. Becoming a doula is more than simply saying the words “You are ok” to a woman in labor. It is more than having the knowledge of childbirth. It is having the ability to create a bubble around a woman and her partner that provides the safe and loving environment so their birth experience can be everything they want it to be.

Today continued our doula support training, use of our voice, pyschology of laboring women, and more detailed use of the relaxation techniques we learned yesterday. Today was the first day we had to actually try these methods on each other. In relatively recent years, I have gained an exterior confidence in the business world. Yet, today I felt the anxiety and fear of my younger years coming back to me as I was asked to go out of my comfort zone and try something new (and in front of others!). Yet, after the first exercise, I realized that my anxiety is actually a reflection of how passionate I am about this new career path and I want nothing more than to be great. Once I acknowledged this as the source of my fear and anxiety, I felt liberated. I was able to approach each following exercise with more confidence and stronger energy than before.

I feel nothing but inspired and extremely lucky to be mentored by such amazing women. More importantly, I look forward to what tomorrow’s training will bring in education, experience, revelation, and to this new life of mine.

Part Two:
The second full day of training came to a close and my excitement of what lays ahead for me is what’s keeping me going. Today we had the opportunity to see first-hand what it is like to meet with a client and go through the crucial first steps as a doula.

I could sympathize with the mother, as I remember having many of the same desires and fears as she did during my first pregnancy. Family, friends, and society only create expectations of childbirth as a horrifically-painful event. So, as someone who wants a natural childbirth, there can be many influences making it difficult to feel confident on a women’s ability to successfully achieve this goal. As I was able to practice some of what we’ve learned in class, it became clear how the importance of a doula support is beyond just the labor and delivery. It begins during the first meeting and I find myself more and more excited to be entering into this world!

The end of our class included discussions of laboring positions and comfort techniques. All of us were able to practice on each other and really experience the comfort and intimacy they can provide to a woman and her partner during labor. This further solidified that a doula doesn’t make a birth experience better just for the woman, but the partner can be an integral part in providing her continuous support and comfort.

I’m still anxiously waiting for my “midnight call” from my mock client…but after today, I feel confident and excited to have someone call me as they go into labor…even if it is only one of my mentors calling!

Part Three:
Tonight’s class focused on a marketing skills and a recap of all we have learned thus far.

The marketing discussions was wonderful to get basics together and ideas on how to self-promote, gain recognition and start a client base. I look forward to developing my identity as a doula.

We also shared our observations after viewing two videos of natural childbirth and discussed the typical fears of a new doula. One of the videos starred our mentor, Jennifer Wolfe, at a natural childbirth from early labor at the woman’s home through delivery at a birthing center. Many of us felt fear that we would not be able to embody what we saw on the video…Jennifer has taught us a lot and yet, we haven’t done 400+ births! While I too am nervous and slightly fearful, I am beyond excited to be following my passion. My feeling deep down inside of me that this is my calling has also given me some unknown confidence. I realize I don’t know everything and its very likley I’ll be calling my mentors to ask for guidance and advice. Yet, I know that my strong desire to support women during such an emotional and pivotal point in their lives will make me succeed.

Tonight is a bit bittersweet, because there is only one more class remaining. I have so thoroughly enjoyed being with these women and learning and discussing childbirth, psychology, and birth support that I will definitely miss it!

Part Four:
Our last day of class was a little sad for me. I’ve had so much fun learning from our amazing mentors and alongside the other women that I didn’t want it to stop. Yet, this means I am now ready to move on to the next phase of my “doula development.” I will now be focusing on completing my remaining requirements for certification in the Dolphin Method, developing my identity as a doula, and eventually gaining my first few clients. Of course, one minor delay with this next phase will be the birth of my own child!

I feel even more excited this time around because I have the same support network from my first birth including: my amazing husband, my mentor and doula (Jennifer Wolfe), my midwives (Melissa French & Susie Graven), and family & friends. In many ways, the birth of my second daughter will mark my own re-birth as a doula. I am excited and confident that I have found my calling and am following my passion.

I look forward to providing the education, physical and emotional support, and empowerment to pregnant women and their partners during such a pivotal and life-changing event.

January 17, 2010
It seems like an eternity since attending the Doula training info night. I have never been so excited about something so new and different since I was expecting my own two children.
I have been a bundle of nerves in anticipation. Would this be the career and life change I’ve been looking for? I’m reading everything I can before classes begin, have attended a Childbirth Prep class and now am enthusiastically awaiting Day 1 of DM training.

Day One | January 19, 2010
Introduction and Childbirth Education

Finally the first day of class has arrived. I return from class late at night after a long day of playing mother, business professional at my day job and then eager Doula in training. My husband waits up for me as he’s as excited as I am at all there is to learn and what we both expect to be life changing expreriences ahead of me. I share with him the story of that I learned of the Russian Black Sea births and dolphins that protect them; hence the Dolphin name. I also tell him about the “client” I will be assigned as a case study – that I will research and follow her as I would a real client, and warn him of the very real call to expect late at night in the coming week from this client as I practice being on call. I’m not too concerned about late night calls as I still am periodically awoken in the wee small hours of the morning by one or more of my two children (my boy of 16 months and girl of 4 years), not to mention our menagerie of cats and dogs.

January 20, 2010
I awoke this morning to heavy rain, a sleepy child looking for her mommy to cuddle with and too many thoughts floating in my head. I’m feeling a bit stressed over the lack of time I have between our next class and my work plus spending time with my little ones. I wish I would have been able to have called in sick to work today, and just spend all day on my required reading and researching my faux client. Instead, I resigned myself to the fact that I’ll sneek in a bit of research while at the office, and do my homework reading once the kids go to bed (after all I am skipping work on Friday for class). I am now up again working on this blog after having a “nap” from falling asleep finishing my reading for the evening. Curious if my sometimes strange sleeping habits will benefit me when it’s time to be spending hours in the hospital with my real clients?

Day Two | January 21, 2010
Intro to Hypnosis 101

We each got to share our client stories and the research each of us had done on our clients. I was very impressed with everyone in the information they were able to uncover on gestational diabetes, preterm labor, preeclampsia, and VBAC. We also got a taste of what’s to come in our next class as we begin to learn about hypno therapy. I somewhat feel that a reset button has been pressed in my brain and look forward to reeducating myself on everything I’ve ever understood about pain and pain management.

Day Three | January 22, 2010
Hypnosis for Childbirth

Today was truely groundbreaking. We learned techniques on how to assess our clients on how they process. Hilarity at home attempting ice test on my husband. We also had some good discussions on how he had processed pain in the past. Found he’s Auditory and Kinesthetic. Not much time to type, gotta run to the next class.

Day Four | January 23, 2010
Doula Training Pt. 1

This evening my husband asked me what we covered in class today, and I drew a blank. Seems all the classes are starting to meld into one. As I thought a bit more, I remembered we did a lot of “hands on” work today. Learning to find our voice to help our clients relax, practicing how to use touch, and how to look someone straight in the eye to get their attention in a state of panic (such as when the client is going through transition). We discussed the responsibilites of a doula, and what expectations to set for our clients. All and all a lot of information to absorb. Not surprising that I drew a blank at first when reflecting on my day.

Day Five | January 24, 2010
Doula Training Pt. 2

Went home tonight feeling quite emotional after having watched a video of one of the births that Jennifer assisted with. Many thoughts were running through my head such as, “Can I do this? How could I ever be as effective as Jennifer was in that video?” I also had thoughts run through my head about my own births…specifically my daughter who was born 6 weeks early. At first I was upset that I didn’t have some of the options that the woman I watched on the video had. I wasn’t allowed to walk, and was completely bed ridden throughout the whole birth (excepting to use the bathroom). Thankfully they didn’t tell me this until much later…so I didn’t realize how confined I really was. Frusteration, diappointment and anger were all in my head as I drove home. However, once I arrived home to my two smiling children, everything was put into better perspective. Why should I beat myself up about my birth experience? I have two beautiful children, and really a positive outcome with both births. Although I would have loved to have had more options for myself, I realize that I may have a client someday in a similar predicament. I hope I would be able to be there for her, and help her through a tough emotional time and fight the small battles with her for whatever would help make the experience as positive as possible.

January 25, 2010
Back to the usual routine getting kids ready for school/daycare and going into work feels a lot like coming back to earth from another planet after the last 3 days of DM training. Definately the professional working world is a universe apart from the world of a doula. It feels like I’m living a double life…software sales by day, doula in training at night. Thoughts come to mind like, how will I do this? What will my schedule be like? How will I take care of the kids after a long (potentially 24 hour) day at a hospital? Only time will tell, but I sure hope to make it happen. I really believe being doula is important, life changing work, not only for myself but for my (someday soon) client.

It’s the morning before our 3rd Doula Training class and although I feel overwhelmed but accepting of the amount of information that I need to learn about birth I am equally excited about learning the relaxation and other techniques that help a pregnant woman feel more confident about birthing.

We are learning many things in class, but I think the most powerful experience that I had today was learning to use my voice to calm someone. The tone and pace of speaking are very important. I like the fact that conviction or belief must be behind what you say because that means you can play an active role at changing someone’s experience.

Ok I feel much better after getting to practice the techniques we have been learning.  Having a real pregnant woman come in and actually do the interview process even for a part of it, was so helpful.  Making it real.  I got to see how they the client perceives and that this is their birth. I am coming to appreciate more and more the difference of my classmates and enjoying being able to work with all of them.  I feel relieved to know that I can be flexible and supportive.  I am excited for the next class.

The first full length day and its about hypnosis.   Love it!  So fascinating to see how people react to different stimuli.  Listening to people and seeing if i can hear who they are and discern   what works for them.   Experience the Ice cube!  I am learning about myself and how I process as well as others way of interpreting pain and redirection.. Emphasis on being the doula that empowers the choice of the client and not her own agenda.  Knowing that there will be time to be quite and time to be active.  Perceptions of women and birth, still born, and signs of women who had sexual abuse and how that can affect the labor, how do we handle that???!!  I can only sum up today with words of awe and oh my goodness holy moly golly gee willickers and other words … Going to reread again.

Ok I am so glad to be expanding my knowledge about the birth process!  I may never have my own children and l am learning things I never thought I would ever have access to. The stages of labor (talking about it with women who have had their own and not) the positioning of the baby and the names of those positions and what they mean and choices women actually have and interventions and the impact that has ( possible cascade effects..).  I even have a mock client and I what do i really know!  Apgar score, Medical pain relief, Vaginal exams ( everybody seems to have  fingers in the birthing mother!), assisted birth procedures, labor inductions, Cesarean sections…..

I am so glad to know some options and hospital procedures and how to say things in an empowering respectful way. Goddess! I have got to reread!

It’s as if my entire life’s journey has been in preparation for this chapter on my path. Tonight was the first day of Dolphin Method Doula Training. It was only two days ago that I finished Dolphin Method Prenatal Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training with Jennifer Wolfe, which was incredible. I hung onto every word she said, she spoke with such clarity and wove in all kinds of incredible birthing stories. When I arrived home each day after the training I would excitedly regurgitate all that I had learned. I was hooked on the Dolphin Method and was thrilled to sign up for the Doula Training. Tonight I met a group of fantastic women from all walks of life. We were each given a “Client” profile, we will research our clients and report back to the group. We are now “on call” and will receive a phone call from Jennifer or Tracy of Dolphin acting as our client at anytime over the next week…Most likely in the middle of the night. This is a brilliant way for us to explore what it will actually be like as a Doula.

I am fascinated by our unique nature as humans, and I have for many years been drawn to supporting the environmental health of our mother earth, as well as people during the periods where life, is potentially drawing to an end. Now I enter the next chapter, being a Doula and participating in the miracle of when life begins~

I began to think about who I am, here in this precise moment and how that beautifully translates into how I can honor and support women in giving life, and how that connects to my mission to support the balanced health of our community.

I drove home into the sparkling sea of city lights inspired by the evenings events, knowing that my traits and all of the choices I have made have led me here. For that I am grateful.

In Peace

Talei Loloma

I was very excited to be attending and not at all sure what to expect.  The class consists of 4 students, two main instructors, and visiting doulas and a marketing fela (who will be posting this)  (thank you).  The instructors and the visiting Doula all seem to have this brightness to them when they talk about their experiences as a doula.  They seem happy to be teaching and empowering women.  Its been a long time for me personally to be around women who empower each other.  Most of the last ten years I have been surrounded by people in competition and employers who say the respect employees and rarely do.  Its kind of like reaching an oasis after walking in the desert.  I hope that its for real.  I hope because I feel like I am supposed to be here and cannot put the reason into concrete words yet. How cool is that!  So much info to process.  I saw my first stuffed placenta and vivid discussion about blood, bleeding and cramping and I think I have bad menstrual cramps!  I did get a little queasy.  More tomorrow.

The final day – the culmination of lessons, stories…experience.

We started this evening with an amazing discussion with Jake More about marketing and advertising; I was really pleased to have this information delivered at the end of the course.  There’s so much that we can do for ourselves in terms of stepping out into the community that will enhance our saleability as doulas.  By the end of his talk, I think we were all really excited to get going… my mind was racing with a flurry of website designs, business cards, and fliers, meet the doula nights, doula circles, and demographics.  Ideas, ideas, ideas!

The final bit of training involved a lesson on how to assist with breastfeeding, and then we went on to take our exam…

I felt so good going through and answering all the questions.  I felt confident, competent and compassionate. I’ve learned so much from this course – from the women in this course with me – and I found myself continuing to resound with their goddess frequencies.  In a way that is almost too powerful to relate, becoming a doula has really changed my life!

Thank you Jen and Tracy – my admiration and utmost respect to the other gals in the class with me.
Blessings, and Namaste.