Doula Services
Pregnancy, Birth and becoming a parent are certainly amongst the most transformative events through adult life. The transformation that a woman’s body goes through to create, nurture and birth life is simply amazing. Even though a desired pregnancy often comes with joy and anticipation, it is also a time of vulnerability, not knowing and stress due to very rapid changes unfolding or upcoming.
As a doula based in Amsterdam, I aim to support you and your partner (or assist you as a single mom) as best I can in this time of change by helping prepare you for this process, being present, guiding and supporting you physically and emotionally where necessary so that birth can unfold as optimally as possible in the circumstances you find yourself in. I seek to provide a calming environment and decrease anxiety and apprehension, while providing reassurance and guidance and empowering you and your partner where I can.
As a mindfulness teacher and mindful childbirth and parenting educator, I can introduce you to a variety of powerful practices and tools to help you towards relaxation, balance and well-being during pregnancy that will prepare your body and mind for birth and prove invaluable during birth itself.
In more detail, below is an overview of what I can offer, depending on your needs/focus:
First Intake
Complimentary consultation (non-binding), to get to know one another, explore needs and wishes and to establish if we feel comfortable with one another
Before Birth
- Be there for you to listen to your wishes and concerns around the pregnancy.
- Do my best to support these wishes and ease your concerns or apprehensions where I can.
- Help you have an optimal mindset for what is to come through a robust mindful birth preparation, physical exercises and my skills as a coach.
- Guide you in knowing your options and clarifying your birth preferences. Also when relevant and needed be your advocate in the birthing room to help these preferences be respected where possible
- Introduce you (and your partner) to powerful relaxation and breathing techniques providing well-being during pregnancy and key to support you during birth
- Teach you mindfulness and pain coping techniques allowing to work optimally with the sensations of birth
- Introduce you to Spinning Babies techniques to encourage an optimal fetal position and facilitate an easier, shorter and more gentle birth
- Relaxation massage as desired: ranging from a 1,5 hour full body to a shorter more focused massage on parts of the body experiencing tension
During Birth
- Nurture a calm, loving environment during your birth experience to help bring you into a more peaceful state throughout labour.
- Assist you and your partner in remaining centred, present and empowered throughout the birthing process as best I can.
- Where helpful using mindfulness, breathing, touch, Rebozo, verbal encouragement and various tools to help you through the birthing process
- Suggesting and assisting with birth positions & comfort measures that enhance your labour progress, conserve your energy
- Assisting with relaxation in between contractions
- Ensure that you and your partner are well nourished for the work of labour and birth
- Ideally, we will have practiced pain coping and mindfulness techniques prior to birth so that these are familiar and can support you most. Even if you haven’t practiced at all, these techniques can be implemented on the spot and they can be of great support.
After the birth
- I will provide non-judgemental support for you and your growing family, I believe in supporting your choices, preferences and hopes for the birth and beyond.
- Provide a postpartum home visit scheduled after the birth to reflect on the birth and support your postpartum transition.
- Offer postpartum massage including a Rebozo closing the bones ritual (not included in standard package)
Doula Package Standard – €975
- Complimentary consultation (non-binding), to get to know one another, explore needs and wishes and to establish if we feel comfortable with one another
- 4 Private Birth Preparation Sessions tailored to your needs (including 1 session with relaxation treatment / massage)
- ONE visit at your midwife during a check up appointment
- Unlimited phone and email counselling
- Continuous birth support from point of contact until 2+hours after birth or as needed (on call 24/7 from 37 weeks until week 42)
- ONE postpartum appointment to process birth, offer any needed support or referral
Additional Prenatal Support Session – €70 for 1.5 hours
Pre and Postnatal massage – €70 for 1.5 hours (relaxation massage – I come to your home)
Rebozo closing ritual – €250 – 2,5 to 3 hours in collaboration with Fleur de Doula
Special Price for Aide Maman Amsterdam Kraamzorg francaise: €230
Testimonials
“It’s been almost a year ago now since our son arrived into this world… Marjorie has a very calming, soothing personality, she has the talent to “erase” panic and pain – by the look in her eyes, by her voice, and by her magic hands. Marjorie showed me how to breath the pain “downwards” (I still remember those techniques and use them whenever I need to calm down or to lift something heavy). She also took over control of the whole room (so that there was silence) and let me concentrate purely on the ritual of birth giving. Despite the enormous emotional and physical tension I have never experienced such peace of mind before – there was no single random thought; there was just a miracle happening – and there were just my husband, me, Marjorie, and, several hours later – a new Person! Thank you, dear Marjorie, for the magic. I highly recommend Marjorie to all mothers-to-be.” – Zhanel, Mark & baby Niels – April 2019
“Je remercie avec tout mon cœur Marjorie de m’avoir accompagné dans la fin de ma grossesse. Nous avons partagé durant plusieurs séances afin de gérer la douleur des contractions lors de l’accouchement. Grâce à des exercices de respirations, des postures à adopter et de la méditation. Elle m’a aussi beaucoup aidé durant mon accouchement sans péridurale avec sa douceur et son apaisement qui m’ont fait surmonter la douleur en particulier lors de la dernière heure. Marjorie est très professionnelle et emphatique. Ses connaissances apportent beaucoup. Les compagnons peuvent mieux imaginer le déroulement d’un accouchement.
Un immense MERCI “ – Pauline, Vincent & baby Samuel – June 2019
“At our second birth we wanted to get ready (unlike our first unpleasant experience). I was introduced to Marjorie and chose her as my doula. Marjorie taught us mindful birthing. By learning from her I was able to have the best birth I can imagine. I was focused on everything she taught us and my husband knew better how to support me. Thank you Marjorie for making my birth dream come true. I’m now feeling empowered and have this beautiful memory for life.” – Jasmine, Oren & baby Amitay – February 2020
I truly wish every woman could have Marjorie as her doula. I found working with her to be life changing and hiring her to see me through my second pregnancy and birth experience was one if the best decisions I have made. She is extremely knowledgeable about mindfulness, evidence based birth, positive birth, rebozo, acupressure, massage, aromatherapy, and has many other skills in her toolbox too. Most importantly she’s a deeply compassionate, calm, and non judgmental person. I recommend her wholeheartedly. I had a difficult first birth where I did not feel optimally supported. Because of this, late in my second pregnancy, I made what seemed at the time to be the difficult decision to hire a doula. I interviewed a few but felt immediately comfortable with Marjorie. She is a very calm, thoughtful, and non judgmental person in a world that tends to prefer to rush. Working with her prior to the birth was amazing. Through mindfulness, I came to feel more connected to my unborn child and also to my husband. She also completely changed my perspective on birth and helped me to see that it’s okay to want more out of a birth experience than just a healthy child. We all deserve a good birth experience. When my water broke before contractions began,Marjorie came to my home. She spent several hours doing a combination of acupressure, massage, and rebozo. I credit this time both with bringing on contractions and with the fact that my birth after contractions began progressed extremely quickly. After the birth Marjorie was such a great presence. She even went so far as to feed me dinner while I breastfed my second for the first time. She also preformed a closing the bones ritual for me some weeks after the birth. This was a deeply moving experience that I’d also recommend to everyone. Now, 3 months after the birth, I continue to benefit daily from her mindfulness training. I’m incredibly grateful I found her! – Katherine, Ben & baby Seraphine – July 2020
”Nous avons une gratitude infinie pour Marjorie qui s’est beaucoup investie pour rendre possible la naissance que je souhaitais. Elle fut disponible, attentive et respectueuse envers nos souhaits. Elle nous a suggéré des pistes et des outils pour que mon mari et moi nous préparions à l’accouchement. Marjorie nous a accompagné avec une sincère bienveillance.Le jour de l’accouchement, Marjorie fut à nos côtés pendant tout le travail, de 7h du matin à minuit ! Elle se montra dévouée, présente, calme, apaisante, professionnelle, discrète… toutes les qualités qui ont permis de créer une atmosphère propice au lâcher prise. Toutes les clés que Marjorie nous avait montré pendant la préparation se sont montrées très utiles et précieuses le jour J. Elle nous a bien coaché, mon mari et moi. Elle a su trouver les mots juste pour me redonner courage et motivation dans les moments les plus difficiles. Je suis persuadée que c’est grâce à ses gestes attentionnés et sa chaleur humaine que j’ai eu une naissance aussi positive. Mon mari avait peur de ne pas pouvoir jouer son rôle en présence d’une doula mais Marjorie a su lui laisser toute la place qu’il souhaitait prendre. Deux paires de mains, ce n’est pas de trop pendant certaines contractions! Finalement, certains outils de « mindfulness » se révèlent aussi très utile pour surmonter certaines épreuves de jeunes parents, pour se ressourcer et apprécier les moments avec bébé même quand c’est intense. Je la recommande vivement, d’ailleurs, Marjorie, nous te recontacterons sans hésiter une seconde si nous avons un autre bébé! .” – Suzanne, Mark & baby Henry – September 2020
It was great having Marjorie by our side during the birth of our son.
Marjorie coached us for the most intense and incredible experience of our life. 4 months before birth, I thought about giving birth in a hospital, with an epidural. There was no other way possible for me at that stage. Marjorie came to teach us about mindfulness, birth stages and pain management exercises. I slowly started to change my mind.. She introduced us to the benefit of meditation and yoga to prepare for birth. I’ve never done any of these before but I started to train everyday. And I felt more and more confident over time. She taught my husband ways to support me during birth. 2 months before the due date, our baby was breech. Marjorie taught us positions and exercises to turn her. Our daughter had her head down a few days later. She helped us write our birth plan, which also became very important during birth. When the D day came, I was prepared. I wasn’t scared. I recognised the sensations Marjorie described during our sessions. My husband was a great support as soon as the contractions started. Marjorie supported me to cope with pain all day long, offering new poses, rebozo and emotional support in my native language. Thanks to Marjorie, the midwife knew she shouldn’t tell me how many centimeters I was dilated, as we wrote in our birth plan. Not knowing any cm really helped me stay focused and not being discouraged when the progression became slower.. Marjorie worked closely with the midwife to find solutions so my baby could continue her way down. When the pain became intense, Marjorie told me I was in “transition” which I knew meant being very close to meet my baby. During the pushing phase, Marjorie, the midwife, the kraamzorg and my husband all worked together. I felt so supported after each contraction by all of them. I felt empowered and my strengths were duplicated. My baby girl was born quickly, healthy and strong. 30 minutes after birth, the placenta wasn’t coming down. I started losing a lot of blood. Marjorie stayed by my side while my husband was taking care of our baby. The midwife had to call the ambulance, which arrived a few minutes later. Marjorie helped me stand so I could reach the stretcher. The placenta came in the hospital without needing surgery. My husband and daughter joined me quickly after. Despite this rare and heavy complication, both me and my husband think about this day as the most incredible and positive experience of our lives. He would have never thought he would be so important during this process. And I would have never thought I could do it at home, without any pain killers. For all this, Marjorie, we want to thank you. All those memories are priceless. – Agathe, Rezvan & baby Alma – Feb 2021