Charlotte Doula Team

Birth hangover breakfast ( what I mean by a birth hangover 😅)One of my favorite things after a long birth is eating a meal that is not from a hospital cafeteria or a protein bar. Usually my routine after a birth is to shower, sleep, hydrate, eat, and rest. Sounds kind of like what we recommend for early labor for our clients (minus the shower, though that can be a part of an early labor routine too!) Thankful for a slow Monday to come back into my regular life gently.

When you wake up to a bit of a chill in the air and you get all in your feels about cozy holiday births. 🎄🎅🏼🦃

This pic is a setup one of our November clients had for her homebirth last year. It was so beautiful! 🤩 There’s just something so special about a baby born during the holiday season.

We still have some slots available for and doula clients with due dates in and . If you are expecting a holiday baby, we would love to see if we would be a good fit for your support team!

It’s September! Did you know that 9 out if the 10 most popular birthdays in the US are in September!?! 🤯

Both of us actually have a kid with a September birthday. 🥳 We can’t wait to meet some new doula babies this month. 🥰

Let us know in the comments if you:

🌟have a September birthday yourself
🌟have a child born in September
🌟are due this September

What’s a doula to do when she sprains her ankle on the way to a prenatal and is in a ton of pain? Grab her birth bag and pull out her labor combs, of course! We carry lots of tools with us, and labor combs are one of the most common items that we try when we need a fresh comfort measure. Here’s how the “gate control theory of pain” works: Our brains struggle to focus on more than one sensation at a time, so squeezing the combs in your palm can serve as a distraction from other sensations, potentially reducing pain. We love having a variety of things in our toolbelt when we go to births…and sometimes they even come in handy at home too!

Let’s talk about taking photos during your birth! Sometimes when we mention this is something we offer as a part of our services, people give us a funny look- like why would you want pictures of THAT. But over and over again, we are finding our clients are so grateful for the images we are able to capture during their births, and the special moments immediately after baby is born. We ❤️ working with actual birth photographers and highly recommend hiring them if you want to, but if you don’t, we are happy to take some pictures for you. You might be surprised at how much you love them! 💕

What about you? Are you team” take all the photos” or team “no pictures please”? Did you have someone at your birth who took pictures? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!

Postpartum support is not one size fits all! As a postpartum doula, I will meet you where you are and tailor my support to the areas that you are needing the most help with. This spring and summer I had the privilege of working with four different families who all wanted different kinds of support.

✅One mom wanted overnight care of the baby so she and her husband could get a full night’s sleep.
✅Another client wanted me to care for her older two children so she could recover and bond with the baby.
✅Another mom wanted me to care for the baby during the day so she could get some things done around the house.
✅And the final client preferred early morning hours where I was able to take over care of the baby so she could maximize her rest.

What about you? What would your ideal postpartum support look like? Tell us in the comments!

When it’s Monday but you’re still on summer break so you’re sleeping in anyway. Raise your hand if you’re like me and squeezing out every last bit of summer rest because you know the school year is tight around the corner? 🙋‍♀️

Also can we all just take a moment and appreciate Brownie’s approach to life which is- if there is a pillow, lay down on it? 😂

Happy World Breastfeeding Week! We support our clients in whatever feeding goals they have for their babies. Most of our clients choose to at least try to their babies. While breastfeeding is “natural” that doesn’t mean it is easy and support and guidance in the early days and weeks can make a difference in whether or not moms are able to teach their breastfeeding goals. Did you breastfeed your baby? Did you feel like you had adequate support for breastfeeding?

Choosing your provider and birth location is probably the most important decision you will make when it comes to your birth. Asking for OB recommendations from friends or a Facebook group is a common way to try to pick a provider, but it may not be the best way. You may have very different preferences for your birth than your friends or you might just like a different style of care.

As doulas, we love helping our clients choose their provider if they haven’t done so yet. We don’t have just a couple of recommendations at our “preferred” hospitals (we do have some hospitals that we like working at more than others and will let you know that if you ask). Instead we try to get to know who you are and what you value so you can make the decision that is right for you. If you already have chosen a provider and are happy with them, we won’t try to get you to change to someone else. We happily support births at all the Charlotte area hospitals, birth centers, and at home.

How did you choose your provider? Do you feel like you made the right choice?

Who’s up for a a holistic vendor fair and clothing swap?! 👗 Think Crunchy is turning 2 and we couldn’t be more thrilled to be a part of it. 🥳

If you haven’t heard of yet, where have you been? 😉 The founder, has done an amazing job of creating a community of holistic and natural practitioners and businesses in the greater Charlotte area. We have been a part of Think Crunchy since it was just a few months old and have loved the connections we have made with likeminded local businesses. We can’t wait yo be a part of their birthday celebration in August 10 and hope you can come and see us. Let us know in the comments if you plan to come!

I found this spiderweb in my backyard the other day and I just had to snap a picture of it. I don’t love spiders but the beauty and simplicity of nature always astounds me. This simple creature was able to create something delicate and intricate without even thinking about it, it is just her nature.

It got me thinking about birth because I’m always thinking about birth and seeing it everywhere around me. Women are a little like spiders you know. They can create the most beautiful things with their bodies without the even thinking about it, it is just their nature and their design. Look at you, pregnant mama, just making some kidneys while you sleep and eat and just exist. It’s truly the most miraculous thing.

I also think that sometimes we overthink this birth thing. Yes, things can go wrong and you may need help to give birth. But your body was designed to give birth, just as it was designed to carry and grow your baby. It often can birth with little to no assistance. It is the sweetest pleasure to watch a woman give birth trusting her body and her instincts. She is creating the most beautiful and intricate thing, without even thinking about it much, because it is her nature. 🌈✨🕸️🤰

Let’s talk about this! We often have clients feeling very stressed at the end of pregnancy and start trying “all the things” to make their body go into labor. In general, non-medical induction techniques will only “work” if your body is already ready to go into labor. It is also worth examining why you feel the need to bring on labor instead of waiting for it to happen on its own. Is there an actual reason that you need to have your baby soon, or have you absorbed society’s and the medical system’s belief that a pregnancy that extends beyond 39-40 weeks is somehow dangerous for your baby, even if all signs point to your baby being just fine?

Did you try to take on the responsibility for making labor begin on your own? How did it end up going for you? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Happy Independence Day! How are you celebrating today? Are you going to a parade? A fireworks show? Or just relaxing on your day off? Let us know in the comments.

When your day starts out looking like the first photo, but a few hours later looks like the second photo, you know your postpartum doula was here. 🙌

Can we just give some credit to moms who pump? Whether you are exclusively pumping or just occasionally pumping in addition to other feeding methods, you rock! Pumping is time consuming and it creates a LOT of dirty parts. Does anyone know why pumps have so
many parts? 😫🤦‍♀️😳

Enter your postpartum doula who is basically a cleaning fairy and cleans and sanitizes all your bottles and pump parts while you take a nap. 🧚

Did you pump for your baby? How many months did you pump for? Tell us in the comments!

It’s BLUEBERRY season! One of our favorite June activities is to visit TLC Blueberry farm in Monroe, NC. They are only open on Saturdays so we made sure to be there bright and early this morning. The berries were plentiful and delicious. Now I have to figure out what to do with all these blueberries. 🤪 Tell us your favorite things to make with blueberries in the comments! 🫐

Doulas work weird hours. Sarah captured this gorgeous shot of the skyline when she went to be with a laboring client. Just a few hours after she snapped this photo, I (Andrea) was driving across town to start an overnight postpartum shift. We are constantly coming and going at all hours, and we wouldn’t change it for anything!

I felt so much gratitude when Sarah sent me this photo. Because of our partnership, I was able to serve my postpartum client while also knowing our birth client was being cared for by my favorite . Before we started the partnership, this would have been a stressful moment of trying to shift schedules around, but now it was a moment of peace. If you are a birthworker and you have not explored joining up with another doula in a partnership, here is your sign to go find you and start living your best !

We have the privilege of not only seeing women becoming mothers, but also men becoming fathers. Wishing a happy Father’s Day to our fathers, our husbands, and all of the dads we get to support during the birth of their babies and during the newborn stage. What are your plans to celebrate the dads in your life today?

These cards looked so lovely over our clients’ birth tub. But they weren’t just there to look nice! They were also a tool for self-coaching during the most intense parts of her labor. At one point, she looked up and at the one in the second photo and read it out loud “I will meet my baby soon.” It was more than just a reminder or a feel good saying. It was a declaration of truth and a comfort to KNOW that this pain, this intensity, would fade and she would soon be holding her baby in her arms. 💫

Did you use birth affirmations during your labor?
What were your favorites?

Today is International Homebirth Day. We love supporting births wherever they happen and have a special place in our hearts for our courageous homebirth mamas! It is always such an honor to be invited into the sacred and intimate homebirth space. If you had your baby at home, tell us about your experience. ❤️

Doulas do not replace your partner. But sometimes labor support can be a two person job! So often our clients’ partners find our services to be just as impactful as our clients do.

We serve partners by:

🌟helping prepare them for the birth experience
🌟being present so they can take breaks and care for themselves
🌟providing additional hands on support if needed
🌟explaining what is happening, especially if medical staff is otherwise occupied
🌟modeling calm, so they can stay calm
🌟giving them guidance and suggestions on how they can best support the laboring mom

If you had a doula, did she benefit your partner too? In what ways did your partner benefit from support? Tell us your thoughts!
📸 and

We’ve noticed that glass bottles are becoming more popular with a lot of our moms. Here are some of the pros and cons of using glass baby bottles.

PROS:
✅ durable
✅ will not leach chemicals into milk
✅ don’t scratch easily

CONS:
❌ heavy
❌ might break
❌ may be more expensive than plastic bottles

What about you? Did you use glass bottles or do you plan to? Why or why not? Tell us in the comments! 👶🍼

New moms and younger moms, I hope you can offer us older/experienced moms some grace the next few weeks. You see, it is cap-and-gown season. So you might see us watching you misty-eyed as you struggle with your stroller, with the milk stains on your shirt and your littles squalling in the car, wailing for snacks.

We might just whisper to you as we pass by, “It all goes so fast.” Or “Blink and you’ll miss it.” Or “The days are long but the years are short.”

Forgive us, we know you are in the thick of it now, and these trite phrases will bounce off of your exhausted shoulders and not stick. Nothing feels fast or short to you right now. We understand. The older moms said these things to us too and we looked at them with bewildered smiles. We couldn’t understand then.

Try to understand we are in the thick of it too right now as the nostalgia lies heavy on our chests. They are asking us for pictures of our graduates when they were small so we are poring over old photos and crying our eyes out, because those days are gone and we miss it so bad it hurts.

Please indulge us because soon this season will also be past us. Maybe you will remember us 10 or 15 or 18 years down the road when you are in your own cap-and-gown season and you can’t believe it went so fast because they were little just yesterday but now they are walking across a stage and receiving their diploma.

Please let us wear our rose colored glasses for a little while because we have earned them. Graduate moms - we did it! I’m so proud of us! 🌹🎓❤️

It’s so important when you are interviewing doulas that you find someone (or 2 someones!) that get you and understand your goals for your birth and who you are as an individual. We often have clients who are looking to have a low intervention birth experience in the hospital. Real medical needs can mean this isn’t always possible for everyone BUT we can help you navigate your options in real time and still achieve many of your birthing goals. This is advocacy in action, with ADVOCACY being one of our core values as doulas.

Some of the other things we bring to the table:

✨EXPERIENCE: Sarah has been a doula for 20+ years and Andrea has over 10 years experience. We have received so much valuable knowledge during our years of service and witnessing many births.
✨KNOWLEDGE: Our experience has greatly enhanced our knowledge, as have our trainings. We understand physiological birth and how to support it AND we also understand that interventions may sometimes be needed or desired to reach your birth goals.
✨BIRTH PHILOSOPHY: We believe that birth is a natural process that sometimes needs medical help to result in the best outcome. We also believe that you and your partner are the experts on what you need to have a positive birth experience and we will support you 💯 in your choices for your birth.
✨BUILT IN BACKUP: When you hire us, you get two doulas for the price of one! By getting to know both of us during prenatal visits and through communication throughout your pregnancy, you will have the peace of mind that you will most likely have one of YOUR doulas with you when you give birth.

If this sounds like what you are looking for in a doula, contact us today to set up your free consultation to learn more! If you had a doula for your birth, what qualities led you to hire them?

Wishing all who are celebrating today a Happy Mother’s Day! We truly know the strength of mothers because we get to witness it over and over again. The resilience and surrender required to carry a baby for 9 months, birth that baby through blood and sweat, and then the years of mothering that follow - full of challenges and indescribable love. 💗

We also know that this day is a difficult one for many; those who have lost children or lost their mothers. Those who wanted to be mothers but were not able to have children. Those who are raising special needs and medically complex children. Those who are supporting their own mothers through illness and aging. Those who have complicated relationships with their mothers. It can be a painful day for many. 💔

So we recognize all of those things at once because that is the essence of motherhood. Taking the good with the bad and showing up anyway. We hope you have a blessed and peaceful day, and no matter where you are in your motherhood journey, we celebrate you!

Raise your hand if you’ve ever felt personally victimized by the TOILET when you were in labor? 🙋‍♀️🚽

Or maybe you felt victimized by your doula because she told you to go sit on the toilet “and maybe just stay there for one contraction”? (Our clients know exactly what this means and we are sorry/not sorry.) 😜😅😘

Look, we get that at the time, sitting on the toilet during labor can feel like torture, or at least like your baby is going to fall out in there (spoiler alert: they probably won’t.) But the toilet is too good of a tool not to use it during your birthing time! Why do doulas love the toilet so much?

1. It’s so important to empty your bladder often during labor so that baby has room to move down and so that your uterus can contract efficiently after the birth. Since you should also be drinking a lot during labor to stay hydrated, try to get up and p*e every hour or so.

2. There is a reason birthworkers call the toilet the ! We are used to relaxing our pelvic floor when we sit on the toilet. We also assume a nice open supported squat when we sit there- it’s amazing for labor progress! 🙌

So why do so many women hate sitting on the toilet during labor? Because the surges you have while sitting there usually fell VERY intense! That can be scary, and you may want to hop back up as quick as you can, but if you are able to stay there for a while, it could help you get closer to meeting your baby! 🎉🥳

Tell us in the comments how you felt about the toilet during labor. Was it love ❤️ or hate🙅‍♀️? Or maybe a little bit of both?

Did you know that in addition to our birth doula services, Andrea also offers postpartum doula care? Postpartum doulas “mother the mother” and help facilitate a smooth postpartum transition whether it is your first baby or your fifth! Inquire today to see if postpartum support is right for you. 👶❤️😊

“No one even mentioned it - in 9 whole months, not one person said, ‘You’re about to meet someone entirely new. And it’s not your baby, it’s going to be you.’”
-quote from

Becoming a mother is a profound shift in our identity as a woman. It can be disorienting at first as we try to figure out the new version of ourselves and sometimes we have to grieve the woman we were before. There will be times you will miss the old version of yourself and you may try to go back or hold onto the previous version of you- the maiden. Don’t hold on too tightly to your past self. This new version of you will unfold and grow in ways you couldn’t have predicted ahead of time, as will your love for your baby. Motherhood is a journey and a transformation. Allow it to shape you, you are becoming someone new. 🦋

We are so excited to be participating in this doula sp*ed dating event on May 18 at in Mooresville! If you have been considering hiring a doula and would like to meet several at one time, this is a great opportunity for you. 🫶🏻

*eddating

It’s May! We love supporting moms so we decided to celebrate them all month long instead of for just one day. First, we have a 🌟special offer 🌟that anyone who books one of our birth doula packages will get an extra prenatal or postpartum visit for FREE! Send a dm or visit our website (charlottedoulateam.com) to set up a consultation to learn more.

Also, we plan to focus on motherhood topics for our content this month. What topics would you like so see us cover? Let us know in the comments!

Witnessing a woman who had a previous traumatic birth go on to have a redemptive birth experience is everything. We are so honored you entrusted us to be a part of your journey. 🥹💕