It is such an honour to a part of someone's birth journey and I am so grateful to be able to combine my doula skills with my photography work.
Here are testimonials and images from a lovely couple whose birth I was able to support a few weeks ago.
"Josie attended the birth of our daughter Aria Rain as a Doula and also for the purpose of taking pictures during and after the birth. It has been such a gift to have Josie as a support person during labour. Her experience and calm and empathic way of communicating enabled us to have a successful home birth. Josie had a key role in the experience and without her we would probably have ended up in hospital. Due to her kind and ongoing support we managed to turn the baby during labour which led to a successful birth in the end. She allowed me to take a rest as needed and was with my partner during her most intense moments of labour. On top of her excellent supportive skills around the birth she is also an amazing photographer who captured the very special experience so that we can always remember the journey we embarked on as a family to welcome our daughter into our arms. Thank you Josie for all the wonderful and amazing work. " Martin (Dad)
“Josie was an absolute godsend during my labour experience. I was well prepared, I had learned lots of stuff, dedicatedly practiced hypnobirthing, processed a lot of my fears around what could happen and prepared my body well. But labour went as labour does - not to any kind of plan or projection. Totally unexpectedly, my experience turned out to be an absolute marathon - 42 hours, two nights no sleep and a babe who had turned posterior. From the moment Josie arrived she showed up as such solid and natural support. We had planned and prepared for a home, water birth. Posterior babe meant labour was an intense experience. At some point late on my second night when things were feeling particularly intense and I was trying to rest unsuccessfully, I reached a point where I thought “I can’t do this, I need to make peace with going to hospital”. When I told Josie that I didn’t think I could do it, she reflected back that I could do it and I was doing it, but she was there in absolute support of whatever I chose to do moving forward. First though, she said, let’s try some things to see if we can get this babe to move into a more effective position. Josie supported me to walk up and down steps and lopsidedly on garden sleepers, and then suggested a Spinning Babies side lying release. I knew it was going to be uncomfortable, but with Josie’s gentle support and knowledge I was open to trying. Thank goodness I did, as after the sidelying release I flew up off the couch and there was a noticeable change. Shortly after our midwife arrived and sure enough, baby was close. The ecstasy of this moment was amazing - knowing that after thirty something hours all that hard work we had put in had paid off. After the challenge of early labour, emotionally and physically, I felt incredible gratitude, excitement and joy coming into active labour. Jumping in the pool at this point felt like an incredible relief and treat! Josie sat on the side of the birth pool as I squeezed her hands, gently reminding me to breathe baby down and visualise myself opening wide to bring her into the world. To be held either side by her and my partner was just perfect. After a few hours in the pool, which felt like minutes, our beautiful daughter was birthed. What a moment! When I look back at my whole birth experience, with our unexpected posterior babe, I feel I would have been challenged to continue on and birth at home without Josie’s support. Yes, my partner was incredible and supported me in such a beautiful way. But with a labour that long, having Josie there meant he could rest. Having Josie there also made him feel more confident and safe, allowing him to be in a more relaxed space, which made me feel safe. Josie’s knowledge and capacity to hold such grounded, gentle and empowering space was such a gift. She ran the marathon with me, supporting me physically. But much more than that she was a solid emotional and energetic support. She helped me see in moments I lost sight. I felt safe in her presence and encouraged to show up exactly as I needed to for my birth experience. As a bonus, to have outside reflections from Josie of what an amazing job I did post birth has been incredibly empowering and helpful in processing my birth experience. I am forever grateful to have had Josie in our birth circle!” — Samantha (Mum)
コメント