About Me...
Hi! I
am a mother, a caretaker, a family advocate, and a woman passionate about
preserving the integrity and memory of the birth process.
I am a DONA International
certified Birth Doula, a natural childbirth educator, and a La Leche
League certified breastfeeding counselor, expert, and mentor. There's nothing I love more than watching mom and baby nurse happily!
Some notes about me taken from the blog of a mother who took my birth class and hired me as her doula:
"I've met the most wonderful woman (our instructor and doula) - Colleen - who has been not just a wealth of information, but a strong emotional support for us (well, mostly me when I go batty over something). She introduced us to a great provider and I will never look back on deciding to leave our previous OB and go with a midwife. There is so much to be said for women helping women during pregnancy and birth - for women empowering other women. And Dad too!"-- KMB
I
spent over ten years in the natural health care field before having my
son. This was how I realized what a need there is for mothers to
have satisfying and empowering births, as well as for fathers to have
dignified, fear-free experiences.
My goal is to support the whole family and to provide uncompromising, unequaled care to my clients. For
thousands of years women have been helping one another give birth with
joy and love, and I am here to continue this tradition.
Today, as well as taking private clients and teaching classes; I work as part of the staff and care team at Obstetrics, Midwifery, and Gynecology Women's Health in Hinsdale, IL. I am honored to be working with such a talented and compassionate group of people, and am truly honored to have been given such a unique opportunity. I am hopeful that our co-managed approach to care will be noted by others, and affect change when it comes to the routines and standards of care for women in the future.
With this group, I am on the call schedule to provide professional labor and birth support as a doula, as well as teaching prenatal education, childbirth, and breastfeeding classes. I also work in the office to support expecting women with information and resources (when working on a birth plan), as well as supporting new mothers.
In my routine Well Mother visits, I help to ease the mothers' emotional transition into parenthood by giving mother to mother support, information/access to resources, and simple face to face encouragement. I spend a lot of time helping to establish a good breastfeeding relationship with baby, and when necessary, giving hands-on instruction and explanations.
I also work to help the mother learn how to trust her parental instincts, and discuss and facilitate activities that help her to 'get to know' her baby. I work with new parents to increase bonding with the child, and to increase new parents' and siblings' confidence.
I also seek to improve breastfeeding success rates, to promote good communication between family members, and to suggest practical products and solutions (when necessary) that will make early parenthood go a bit more smoothly. These are all services that I already offer to my private clients, but it's very exciting to be able to help to so many more new families!
All in all, this has been a wonderful thing for the staff and patients at OMGWH, and all of us are very happy and proud to be able to offer this added value to their already respected, and dignified model of care.
For far too many women pregnancy and birth is something that happens to them rather than something they set out consciously and joyfully to do to themselves. ~ Sheila Kitzinger
I
can be reached at DivaDoula@gmail.com or at 708-351-0935. I strive to
return calls within a few hours, but please be patient. I give my
laboring moms all the time they need, and will return your call or
email as soon as I can. 
