Compassionate Childbirth Doula and Photography Services

DID YOU KNOW? ‼️🔔

If you are pregnant and experiencing domestic violence— you can go to First Choice in Muncie and ask them to connect you with free doula services.
They not only can connect you with resources such as shelter placement and things that you may need— but with a referral from First Choice, I waive fees for doula support. We are honored to be of the many resources that they have on standby.

As a survivor of Domestic Violence, I am committed to aiding survivors in our local community. I understand that sounding the alarm can be very scary— but it is important that you know that First Choice will not make a police report on your behalf and your privacy is of utmost importance. Everything that you share remains confidential. If you need support, do not be ashamed to seek it! We are here for you.

We love you. 💜

✨Introducing our Handfasting Ceremonial Oil! 💍

Our handfasting ceremonial oil is handcrafted with tumbled rose quartz and an enchanting blend of herbs to promote unity, love, protection, emotional stability, fertility, and passion. Notes of vanilla, rose, and marshmallow essential oil will sweeten your special day, your ritual, or your sacred space.

Love’s Knot is the perfect wedding gift for the witch getting hitched in your life! Use this oil to annoint the cords, candles, yourself, or even a relaxing bath with your loved one on your honeymoon.

Handfasting Ceremony Oil - Etsy This Altars, Shrines & Tools item is sold by CompassionatelyBirth. Ships from Muncie, IN. Listed on Jul 10, 2024

It's here, our 2023 year end review! A gentle reminder that you are not a number to us and no one particular outcome is more successful than another, this is just for transparency and to show that midwifery care is safe as well as sacred. We are honored to be able to serve you in the hard and the "easy", the laughter and the tears. Thank you for your continued trust in us.

theres just something about the aura in the room in the first hours after a birth 😍

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night 🎄

I hope everyone has a safe and warm Christmas Eve 🎄❤️

😱 when you realize its almost Christmas

Sometimes you plan to photograph a birth, but baby has other plans 😅 prayers for a quick delivery were certainly answered! 😂🙏🏼❤️

Let us help you celebrate your most precious gift this holiday season ❤️🎄

my motto for December is “if I’m not at a birth..” 🎄

IU Health Ball named a 2024 Best Hospital for maternity care by U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report has named Indiana University Health Ball Memorial Hospital as a 2024 High Performing hospital for Maternity Care. This is the highest award a hospital can earn for U.S. News’ Best Hospitals for Maternity Care.

IU Health Ball earned a High Performing designation in recognition of maternity care as measured by several factors, including:

• Minimizing early scheduled deliveries
• Minimizing avoidable C-sections
• Minimizing newborn complications
• Fostering breastfeeding during the hospital stay at a rate exceeding the average in the Southern U.S.
• Routinely offering to support vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC)
• Minimizing episiotomy rates
• Meeting criteria for recognition as Birthing-Friendly (focused on patient safety practices to optimize maternal outcomes)
• Tracking race and ethnicity-specific performance on all performance measures

“Being recognized among the nation’s best hospitals is a testament to IU Health Ball’s dedication to delivering exceptional care for mothers and their newborns,” said Beth McIntire MSN, WHNP-BC, service line leader, women’s and children’s services. “We are honored to have earned this prestigious distinction. Committed to our values of excellence, team, purpose and compassion, our team provides the highest quality maternal and newborn care Indiana’s East Central Region.”

Fewer than half – 46% – of all hospitals that offer maternity care and were evaluated in the survey received a High Performing designation. IU Health Ball one of only six hospitals in Indiana to be recognized as High Performing in Maternity Care.

“Hospitals that receive a High Performing designation as part of Best Hospitals for Maternity Care meet a high standard in caring for parents with uncomplicated pregnancies,” said Jennifer Winston, health data scientist at U.S. News. “These hospitals have C-section rates that are 26% lower, and newborn complication rates that are 37% lower than unrecognized hospitals. Parents-to-be can research their local hospitals’ performance metrics for free at health.usnews.com to help them choose where to have their baby.”

For the first time this year, U.S. News also gave special recognition to 73 Maternity Care Access hospitals, including IU Health Ball, who serve communities that depend on them entirely for access to maternity care. These facilities provide care in areas that wouldn’t otherwise have access to maternity care.

For more information, visit https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/hospital-ratings/maternity.

With my postpartum care package on Be Her Village, you can cross “a postpartum doula” off the new mother in your life’s Christmas wishlist this year! 🎄❤️

Giving The Gift of Postpartum Doula Services To New Mothers — Compassionate Childbirth At Compassionate Childbirth, we believe that every new mother deserves to be celebrated and supported through every phase of her journey into motherhood. As a birth doula and photographer, my passion lies in ensuring that this transition is not only beautifully captured but also tenderly supported.

I get asked a lot: what exactly does a doula do? My latest blog post explains what we do, and what we *don’t* do.

Doula Dos and Don’ts — Compassionate Childbirth One of the most frequently asked questions about birth doula’s is simple: what do they do? Are they like midwives? Unlike midwives, a doula’s role is not clinical. The big difference between the two is that midwives provide medical care, while the doula’s role is to offer physical and emotiona...

Its Small Business Saturday! To celebrate, and to thank everyone who has supported me since I've launched, our entire shop is 25% off through the weekend!

Happy Holidays everybody :)

compassionatelybirth.etsy.com

Anyone else scrambling to get those last minute ingredients you didn’t realize you ran out of? 🤪 happy holidays

Just a reminder that all photo sessions are $75 through November! 📸🤎 you can view my work below ⬇️

Photography — Compassionate Childbirth

I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself, and talk about Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep and the work that we do.

My name is Alexis Hammond. I am the photographer and doula behind Compassionate Childbirth— but outside of my own personal practice, I volunteer on behalf of NILMDTS, an organization that provides the free gift of remembrance photography to families that are grieving in the event of an infant loss. I know firsthand that capturing these short moments can bring comfort for years to come as grief comes and goes, or stays steadfast. I am honored to be able to serve these families.

If you experience a loss at IU Ball Memorial, they will likely explain NILMDTS to you and give me a call. I am currently the only active volunteer in Muncie, so I wanted parents delivering at places other than Ball to know that this program exists. If you experience an infant loss and NILMDTS isn’t mentioned by your care provider, you can request that they look at the local directory for my contact information.

If you are interested in volunteering with NILMDTS, they are always accepting applications for volunteer photographers, retouchers, and dispatch. Feel free to shoot me a message if you have any questions or want to chat about NILMDTS.

Any time somebody tells me that they are interested in becoming a doula, I recommend Madriella Doulas! I did a lot of research before signing up, and this program has one of the lowest costs with the best value, giving you endless opportunities to get into birth work AND a supportive network that helps you grow along the way. I’ve been a Madriella member for 4 years now, and I can’t express enough how grateful I am for all of the guidance their program has offered me!

I am so excited to be an affiliate and to help other doulas-to-be save a little bit of money on their training with my coupon code “compassionate” ! I am not a sales person, but I am however a person with endless good things to say about this program. If you are interested in becoming a doula and have more questions, I’d be happy to meet and chat with you 🙂

My Journey Into The World of Birth Work — Compassionate Childbirth Learn how you can kick-start your career in birth work and save thousands of dollars on training.

I will share more details later, but I’m so excited to start offering birth art classes!! These classes or private guided sessions are perfect for ANYONE who want to explore their thoughts and feelings on birth! Whether you are TTC, expecting, postpartum, or even if it has been a long time since you’ve given birth yourself— this exercise will help you grow more in tune with your birth journey, process or honor any past experiences, or dissect your true feelings about birth. I will be offering spots for a classroom setting soon- but as of right now I do offer private in-home sessions for $75, for a party it is an additional $5 per person to cover the cost of canvas & materials.

It is important to note that while this is a therapeutic exercise, I am not a licensed therapist. My role as a doula and childbirth educator is to hold that space for you to express those feelings or experiences and discuss them with you. If a traumatic experience has caused lingering unresolved feelings and you are seeking more intensive support, I am always happy to assist in finding local resources.

COMING SOON: Birth Art Classes — Compassionate Childbirth Human experience is the root of all art forms. Some of the greatest pieces of art have been inspired by sadness, joy, grief, love, and every human emotion in between. People create art to cope with death, to express love, and to reflect on experiences that shaped them or made an impact on their life

happy Sunday from my sweet girl ☀️

F A M I L Y ☀️🍂

Todays little moments become tomorrows precious memories 😇🩷

I wanted to share just a little bit about my experience as a volunteer photographer for NILMDTS, and a little bit about my "why." If you are considering volunteering photography or retouching services, feel free to reach out to me for questions and/or support!

Why I Volunteer For Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS) — Compassionate Childbirth After a long period of consideration, this year I made the decision to begin volunteering my photography services on behalf of an organization called Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. NILMDTS provides bereaved families with remembrance photography at no cost, capturing the few but precious moments that th

Fun fact: one teaspoon of mama's milk contains over 3 million germ killing cells.

One teaspoon of artificial human milk substitute (aka 'formula') has none.

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https://kellymom.com/nutrition/milk/immunefactors/

Absolutely in love with this newborn session from last week!