about
dou·la | noun \ ˈdü-lə
: a person trained to provide physical, emotional and informational support to a mother before, during, and just after childbirth
In the time of our ancestors, birth was a sacred passage wrapped in ceremony, ritual & nourishment, held by wise mothers, grandmothers, sisters and aunties. In the recent past, as birth has been institutionalized, we have lost the sacred art of nurturing the new parent. As a birth worker, I seek to provide a solution for the deep need of community around the threshold of birth.
A doula is a physical, emotional & informational support person. We are there to make sure you feel empowered, accomplished and satisfied with your birth experience. The way I see it, the midwife tends to the physical body, while the doula looks after the emotional and spiritual bodies of the birthing person.
Satisfaction in childbirth is less related to the degree of pain the birthing person feels and more related to the amount of participation they have in their choices.
Laney is a birth & postpartum doula in sonoma county, calif. She is also a trained lactation specialist, yogi and a student of folk herbalism. Birth work is her soul’s true calling. After owning a sustainable clothing line in los(t) angeles for 10 years, she & her partner uprooted from their home and previous careers in search of a more holistic, community-centric life closer to the land in sonoma county. Now based in sebastopol, ca. Laney has had the opportunity, and deep honor, to support a variety of different birth and postpartum experiences which all started with her sister and the birth of her first nephew in 2018. She supports the whole family as a sibling doula and nanny.
I believe that birth is a normal, healthy, physiological human experience. I believe in the wisdom of women and womens’ bodies. I believe in the power of community to create a safe place for humans to be humans, and pregnant people and new parents to be supported.
I’m so grateful to be here.
• postpartum doula training with Carriage House Birth, los angeles, february 2020
• birth doula training with Connie Sultana, santa rosa birth center, november 2022
• lactation specialist program with Rosanne Gephart, santa rosa birth center, november 2022
• physiologic baby care course, Innate Traditions, Rachelle Garcia Seliga, january 2024
• vaginal steaming 101 with Keli Garza of Steamy Chick, january 2024
• volunteer doula & lactation specialist with Better Beginnings, sonoma county, november 2022 - present
