Congratulations! I am so glad you have found my webpage. If you are looking for a Doula then you are a part of a growing number of women and families who are looking to take back control of birthing in America.

My name is Shanon McKenna and I would love to be your Doula! I am passionate about birth and dedicated to restoring its reputation as a normal and healthy function of a woman's body.

All too often, the wishes and safety of mothers and their unborn babies are put aside in deference to the whims of lawyers and insurance companies. A Doula can help you work within and around these obstacles and give you the tools to birth your baby healthily.

The word "doula" comes from the ancient Greek meaning "a woman who serves" and is now used to refer to a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth; or who provides emotional and practical support during the post partum period.

Studies have shown that when Doula's attend births, labors are shorter with fewer complications, babies are healthier and they breastfeed more easily.

  • Emotional Support by encouragement, reassurance, and continulous physical presence.
  • Informational support by giving assisstance to families in gathering information about the course of their labor and their options, providing explanations and offering non-medical advice.
  • Physical support by means of positioning, massage, breathing, relaxation, and other non-pharmacological pain relief measures.
  • Advocacy by means of interpreting the woman's wishes to hopstial staff.
  • Partner support by rolemodeling, providing encouragement, and reassurance.

  • Recognizes birth as a key experience the mother will remember all her life
  • Understands the physiology of birth and the emotional needs of a woman in labor
  • Assists the woman in preparing for and carrying out her plans for the birth
  • Stays with the woman throughout the labor
  • Provides emotional support, physical compfort measures and an objective viewport, as well, as helping the woman get the information she needs to make informed decisions
  • Facilitates communication between the laboring woman, her partner, and her clinical care providers
  • Perceives her role as nurturing and protecting the woman's memory of the birth experience

  • Allows the woman's partner to participate at his/her comfort level

516-551-4283 or shanonmckenna@gmail.com

 
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