Please note: I currently have birth doula availability for March, June, and July 2025.
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“Jean's support made birth a positive experience and gave us a sense of empowerment and peace that seemed completely out of reach when we first learned we were pregnant.” -Cooper
As your doula, I take the time to learn what is important to you and how you would like to be supported and cared for during your birth. I have experience supporting parents with diverse and unique needs, and I honor your family’s story with care that is customized to your preferences and goals.
If you’re giving birth for the first time, you might be hoping for support that helps you to…
Feel safe and confident in your birth place
Explore your choices for labor and birth
Know what questions to ask, what to expect, and how to prepare
If you’re considering doula care for the birth of your second, third, or subsequent baby, you might already have learned how helpful the calm, continuous presence of an experienced support person can be, no matter how the birth unfolds. Doula care is also wonderful for parents who want to process difficult prior birth experiences and take practical steps to prepare for a positive birth this time around.
Doula care is for partners too. Many non-birthing parents have told me that they felt that my support enabled them to relax and be present with the birth experience, without pressure to be an “expert”. The expertise and experience of a doula helps partners enjoy prenatal preparation and birth as positive points of connection.
All parents can benefit from the individualized prenatal, birth, and postpartum care that a doula provides. At our prenatal meetings we will have time to talk through:
Your hopes and preferences for your baby’s birth
Your fears and concerns, and how to get to a place of ease and confidence
The process of making a birth plan or birth preferences and communicating your wishes to your support team
What to expect from a hospital, home, or birth center birth and how to advocate for your wishes and preferences
Resources for evidence-based information on topics relevant to you and your hopes for your pregnancy and birth experience
Comfort measures, movement, and pain management options for your birth
Working together with your support people to have a positive birth experience
“We are so grateful for Jean’s incredible support. Words fail. She clearly loves her job and being there for the meaningful moments of pregnancy and birth, and with her as our doula, our son’s birth was a transformative and extremely healing experience. It has been a huge gift to have her in our lives.”-Shiri
“Jean brings her whole self to the work, and has so much wisdom to share. Her care comes in many forms: validation, encouragement, sounding board, listening ear, recommender of helpful readings, teacher, healer... all with the uncanny ability to intuitively anticipate the nature of the need, or ask just the right question at just the right moment. She has a wealth of experience, a measured tone, deep interest in the work, and real wisdom about birth and seemingly everything related to it (navigating hospital situations, family dynamics, postpartum challenges, breastfeeding, etc). She also has a great sense of humor! One of her special powers is that she is able to draw on her wealth of experience to help guide and contextualize decision making…I cannot recommend her highly enough.” -Christine
“In some ways I had more concerns about pregnancy than about birth, having suffered an early loss earlier the same year. Jean helped me learn how to ask for what I wanted and advocate for my emotional needs while receiving prenatal care, which was extremely healing for the loss and other prior traumas. I had a strong feeling Jean would be the right fit even before we met. When we met I liked her calm presence and her genuine desire to make the pregnant/birthing person feel supported in whatever choices are made or interventions are or aren’t required. I think this is the most important thing: more than being “nonjudgmental” Jean’s approach is about supporting whatever happens rather than imposing (explicitly or implicitly) an ideological view of how birth “should” be.” -Katherine
“Before I met Jean, [the birth process] was a big, dark unknown. Jean gave me a lot of courage and hope.” -Apala
Curious about my experience?
I provide compassionate, individualized care to all parents. If you would like to learn more about how I have supported families through VBAC, unmedicated birth, epidural supported labor, surrogacy, hypnosis for birth, vaginal and cesarean births of twins, parenting after loss or infertility, or a vision for birth that is similar to your own, be in touch or schedule an interview here. Curious about what doula support looks like for birthing and postpartum parents? Explore my Families Share:Testimonials.
My Approach
As a doula I proudly support parents of all genders, families of all configurations, and all cultural and religious backgrounds. I come to each growing family with an open mind and curiosity about your life experience and how it impacts your hopes, fears, and expectations for your birth. I provide the framework for safe and open communication and trust that you will find the path that is right for you. My role is to be a trusted, steady guide as you prepare to meet your baby.
Service Area
I provide birth doula support for families birthing at Seven Sisters Birth Center, Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, and homebirths within 45 minutes of Northampton.