Nina Isabella - Daylesford Doula
I have found attending births is a natural extension of sharing Yoga for Pregnancy and Birth. Honouring each woman's unique birthing experience, bringing wholehearted presence to the exquisite intensity of childbirth deeply informs the way I teach yoga; for me these roles are intimately and inexorably entwined.
Based in Daylesford, on beautiful, fertile Dja Dja Wurrung Country of Central Victoria, I am available for traditional in-person birth support for clients birthing between Bendigo and Ballarat. Virtual birth support packages are available for clients birthing Virtually EVERYWHERE else.
In over 20 years of birth attendance, I have undertaken extensive training for this role and am committed to deepening my knowledge with continuing professional development. I draw upon my knowledge and experience to potently hold space for you and your birth. I will support you with energetic, emotional, physical comfort and as needed, assistance to communicate with your birthing team to Ensure You Feel Safe At ALL Times and able to make informed choices through pregnancy and birth.
I can provide reassurance and perspective to you and your partner, offer suggestions for labour progress and help with relaxation, massage, positioning and other techniques for comfort. I am independent and self-employed. As your birth attendant, I am working entirely for you, not your medical caregivers.
I support birthing women and their partners with empathy, warmth and confidence.
- My soul agenda -
to help you claim your sovereignty in birth,
to birth with dignity and grace in any setting.
If you are looking for soulful birth preparation and compassionate and professional birth support, let's co-create a birth package that's just right for you!
Birth Attendant
Soulful Compassionate, Experienced Birth Support
Choosing professional birth support is incredibly personal
Each birth attendant brings her own unique qualities, skills and requirements to enable her to fulfill this role. It's important that you feel entirely comfortable and able to invest your trust in your birth attendant.
So when it comes to finding your birthing team, I encourage you to take your time!
Mamashanti Birth Support Packages
I am currently taking a study break from attending births as I complete my Master of Counselling & Psychotherapy. Through the remainder of 2022 and into 2023, I'll be available for birth preparation via my Continuity of Care Package and postnatal support through my Nourished Matrescence Package; and of course through Birthing Partners Sessions, Breathe for Birth Online Immersion and Active Birth Clinic private sessions.
Continuity of Care Package
Experiencing continuous care from a known, experienced and caring doula throughout your pregnancy can significantly increase your confidence in your own unique body, your baby, your pregnancy and your birth; enhancing your experience of birth and early motherhood.
This care package may suit you best if you want to consciously prepare for birth, would like to dive deeper into mamashanti birth preparation and/or know you cannot have a doula present at your birth.
No Obligation Discovery Conversation - in-person, via Zoom or phone call.
Full access to Mamashanti's Breathe for Birth - Online fully embodied birth preparation course.
Three Prenatal Meetings - with you and your partner of around two hours each. Held at your place or via Zoom where we can take time to share the full content of my Birthing Partners Sessions.
Throughout Your Pregnancy - resources and information to help you make informed choices for your pregnancy, labour, birth and early parenting.
Post-Birth Debrief - when you’re ready, usually a week or two after your baby arrives. A session of around two hours to formally debrief your birth experience and access postnatal resources.
Birth Preparation Extras
Can be added at any time to your chosen birth support package ay any time during your pregnancy:
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Additional Prenatal and Postnatal Doula Visits.
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Labour Snacks & First Meal Post Birth - It’s a lot to remember to pack refreshment to keep you going through labour. All snacks and beverages prepared by me and made to suit your dietary preferences. Available to women living within 40km of Daylesford.
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Mamashanti Handmade Organic Cotton Umbilical Cord Tie.
Nourished Matrescence Package
Postnatal Doula support is the perfect way to focus on your own healing and bonding with your baby. Your fourth trimester - the first 40 days after childbirth, is a time in traditional cultures that respects the life-altering transition women make in birthing their children. Embracing the healing practices of the fourth trimester can give you a frame to feel grounded and confident in your mothering and help you establish solid foundations for your physical, emotional and energetic recovery.
Honouring this time pushes back on the dominant paradigm that abandons modern mothers to face the physical and emotional challenges of this new stage of their lives and expects them to prematurely "bounce back" after birthing their babies.
Postnatal doula support can begin from your first week at home when rest and recuperation are essential to your wellbeing and bonding experience. This support can come in many forms and explored to suit your needs as they arise:
Emotional - warm, empathic conversations to help you reflect upon your transition to motherhood.
Physical and energetic - postnatal/ mother and baby yoga sessions; postnatal acupressure.
Practical - I can whip up nourishing replenishing meals and snacks that suit your dietary preference.
Informational - support for breastfeeding, sleep, or general baby care; referrals to allied health professionals.
Ritual - can be offered to help create closure to life altering experience of pregnancy and birth.
Postnatal packages may be single visits over a number of weeks or a series of visits in a shorter time frame. It's your matrescence, it's your choice.
Nourished Matrescence Packages are available to women living within 40km of Daylesford, greater distances can be considered with additional travel costs included.
All About Doulas
Birth attendants, birthing companions, doulas accompany women in labour to contribute to their safe and satisfying birth experience. Doulas compliment your birthing team by offering continuity of support to you wherever you choose to birth, be it in your home, maternity hospital or birthing centre. Support can be provided in-person and virtually via phone or video call.
Engaging a doula has been demonstrated across the globe to improve birth outcomes for mothers and babies:
- decrease in the risk of Cesarean birth;
- increased likelihood of a spontaneous vaginal birth;
- decrease in the use of any medications for pain relief;
- shorter labour;
- decrease in the baby’s risk of a low five minute Apgar score;
- decreased likelihood of mothers’ feeling dissatisfied with their birth experience.
The role of the doula is truly heart centred work. It is incredibly subtle in its nature and very much about being present and entirely committed to supporting the birthing woman and her partner.
