| Teresa Howard | Jen Gordon | Patti Schultz |
| Guina Bixler | Alicia Pillsbury | Cedar Anne Spain |
| Persis Bristol | Katy Roe | Renee Wymer |
| Jennifer Fargar | Pam Roe | Apprentice Doula |
The women of love share the same philosophy about birth. The reason we work together so well is because of this shared philosophy. Each of us brings the most important things to a birth, our hearts and hands. Although we don't all have the same experience, we benefit from the more experienced doulas in the group.
Experience is important, but not an absolute essential when we work together as a team. We help each other out when there is something that we need from another doula's experience and expertise. We offer back up to each other as well. We are a team and work together well as such. We do not all charge out at the same fee either. For a more experienced doula you can expect to pay $675 and a less experienced doula charges $475. Our services are the same. Email us to get a copy of the agreement for our services that detail our fees and give you our contact phone numbers for each doula.
When you select your primary doula, that is who you will have with you barring any unusual situation. We do provide apprentice doulas who can also accompany a Labor of Love Doula if you desire. But this is a very rare situation. For example, Teresa has missed less than 3% of the births she has attended over the last ten years. We do provide apprentice doulas who can also accompany a Labor of Love doula if you desire. This is a great way to train a new doula and provide additional support at no additional cost to you.
Take a moment to read our recommendation letters. Click here.
Teresa Howard, CD (DONA), CLD, CLE, CPD, CCCE(CAPPA) , CHBE
Labor Doula, Lactation & Childbirth Educator, Happiest Baby on the Block Certified Educator
I am a birth guide- someone to help you along your mysterious journey- guiding you when you need it, helping you back on the path if you step off, watching in wonder when you don't, and always supporting you.
I began assisting in births in 1992. I've worked with both high-risk births & VBACs. I have doula'd for both home and hospital births. I've enjoyed working with both single moms & couples ranging in age from 17 to 46. I have been a doula for over 385 births as of August 2008. I take three labor doula clients per month and serve women in the metro area of Atlanta and Athens. This is not only my profession, but my calling!
I'm actively involved with pregnant moms and new parents as both a labor doula and a childbirth/parenting educator. I'm certified with Doulas of North America (DONA) and the Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association (CAPPA) as a labor and postpartum doula, childbirth educator and a certified lactation educator. I am also a retired La Leche League leader. I have trained with Pam England in my childbirth preparation based on her book "Birthing from Within" and am also a certified Happiest Baby on the Block instructor.
Married to Dallas since 1977, I'm a mother to three grown children, Julie, John and Jami, born without medication using both the Lamaze & the Bradley methods. Jami had my first grandson, Harrison, in February 2003 (a home birth). And Julie followed three months later with my first granddaughter, Savannah, born in May 2003 with a quick, unmedicated hospital birth. Julie gave birth again in April 2005, unmedicated to her son, Jackson. She is due to have another baby in February 2009! I love being a nana!
As a childbirth educator, I offer parents a new approach in childbirth education that helps to prepare them for parenthood. It begins in pregnancy by learning to bond with their babies, to make decisions based on informed awareness & to give birth in that same awareness, choosing a path that is right for them. I teach Birthing in Awareness childbirth classes, lactation-breastfeeding couple classes, parenting classes including Happiest Baby, C.A.L.M.S and H.U.G.S. combo classes, infant massage and a childbirth refresher class. I love teaching and helping others explore their options as a new family.
As a doula, I meet with the mother or couple to offer assistance with learning their best birth options that fits their needs & desires. I'm available to give reassurance & support as needed during the pregnancy. I offer to come to her home in early labor if she desires or I meet her at the hospital. I'm there throughout labor, offering comfort measures--encouragement, massage, relaxation techniques, and suggestions along the way to aid in helping her to stay comfortable. I offer a follow-up visit with the mom & new baby where I provide mom with photos and a written birth narrative of her special day, and offer breastfeeding help if needed.
I am also a belly caster, providing a lasting memory of the pregnant belly in full bloom!
Contact Teresa for more details at teresa@alaboroflove.org.
Back to topGuina Bixler CLD, (CAPPA), Birthing from Within Mentor
Labor Doula, Childbirth and Lactation Educator
It is with joy that I offer my services to families, giving them something I wish I had been given. I offer the wisdom, love and experience of a woman who has traveled the journey before them.
I have always known that caring for others was my calling. I became certified as a cardiac/pulmonary technologist and for ten years I worked with patients in cardiac cath and pulmonary labs.
After viewing a film titled The Story of Erick I decided two things. One, if I ever had a son I would name him Erick and that my births would be, as the film portrayed, unmedicated. Two years later I gave birth to Erick. Although unmedicated, I was unsupported and frightened. The hospital childbirth class had not prepared me for the intensity of that journey. I also struggled through 3 months of breastfeeding before giving up in frustration. I learned then how lonely motherhood can be for women who are unsupported.
Seven years later I had a cesarean birth due to a breech presentation. I felt hugely disappointed at the loss of my 'dream birth' with my husband by my side but, we had a beautiful nursing relationship thanks to the support I received from La Leche League and the books I read before her birth.
Our third child was born via VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) and it was a wonderfully empowering experience. It was through her birth that I learned what a doula is and how she brings her heart and hands to birth. My Children are now 32, 24 and 17 and we have 2 granddaughters. I am excited to now be a woman who is there for others. I am also grateful now, for my cesarean birth. Without it I would not be on this path as a doula.
I am certified with CAPPA as a labor doula and am trained as a childbirth educator, a post partum doula and a lactation educator. I have infant CPR training.
I have been trained by Gail Tully in learning about optimal fetal positioning techniques (www.spinningbabies.com). I lead Line Up Your Baby for Birth workshops and I am currently a Birthing From Within mentor Level I. I will be completing Level II in November 08. I teach private and group Birthing From Within classes.
I look forward to 'mothering the mothers' and supporting the partners of new and expectant families.
Contact Teresa for more details at teresa@alaboroflove.org.
Back to topPersis Bristol, CLD (CAPPA), CD (DONA)
Labor Doula
"As
a doula I love to assist in restoring women to their rightful place
as warriors."
Persis has always been in awe with the gift of giving life. It is only natural that she would be drawn to be a part of one of the most significant moments in ones' life. With a belief that the body and spirit has all it needs to meet life's challenges, Persis delights in the opportunity to be a part of that discovery. The birth process is one of the events in life that call for inner peace, safety, security, and love. Parenting starts at conception and as in all things it is the strong who survive. Persis works to allow that strength to be realized from the very beginning. She has been blessed with the desire and ability to be among the "women who love the women". Persis is also blessed to have a wonderful husband who supports these endeavors.
Being a certified sign language interpreter, Persis became a doula from a unique path. Interpreting is a human service profession that mediates language barriers by conveying meaning, feeling, and attitude. She came in contact with people of all walks of life in various situations on a daily basis. From those associations she longed for an opportunity to provide support that was not limited to language facilitation. With a natural disposition to nurture and encourage along with a history of advocacy, labor support came as a logical step.
She started mothering mothers in 2002 and earned certification the following year. Although her life experience will not include a personal birth experience, she has been blessed with the heart and hands that will serve as the anchor for women and men as they experience life's most blessed event.
Contact Teresa for more details at teresa@alaboroflove.org.
Back to topJennifer Fargar, CD (ALACE)
Postpartum Doula, Educator
I have been a birth enthusiast for almost 10 years. I believe birth can be an empowering, exhilarating time for a woman when she is educated and committed to following her birthing instincts. I am an ALACE certified birth doula. I apprenticed with Labor of Love Doulas and audited a series of Birthing in Awareness classes offered by LOL. Four years ago I gave birth to my son drug-free and he was born underwater in his own time after less than 12 hours of fierce labor and I felt on top of the world! As the Chair of Georgia Friends of Midwives, I am active in local birth politics and am helping to facilitate change in the status of Certified Professional Midwives and to influence change in the current maternity care system. I became a Trust Birth facilitator, a woman-to-woman support group whose goal is to tell the truth about birth: Birth is safe. Interference is risky. I believe that pregnancy, labor and birth are normal physiological events and should be allowed to unfold in their own time.
As a Doula, I am passionate about helping moms allow the process of normal birth to work in its own time and to its own rhythm. Because I am a full time certified Music Together teacher (music classes for moms & babies), I cannot currently attend births as a birth doula. But I can still help new moms in their transition into motherhood. As a LOL post partum doula, I help new moms find their confidence in their new roles by encouraging them to follow their instincts when it comes to caring for their newborns. I offer breastfeeding support, lifestyle transition support and many tips to ease the new baby into the family. I teach I'm Pregnant, Now What?- an early pregnancy informational class designed to help you get your pregnancy off to a healthy start. I also teach Home or Hospital?- What's the right location for you? Get the facts and education so you can make an informed choice.
Contact Teresa for more details at teresa@alaboroflove.org.
Back to topJen Gordon, CLD (CAPPA), CHBE
I come from a line of women in the business of birthing babies. My grandmother was a L&D nurse, as was my mother. I've had an interest in birth since I was a child. And while the women in my family had a more medical view of birth, I found myself fascinated by the more primal aspects of it. I studied drawing and painting in college and found myself time and time again fascinated with the pregnant female form. It was the primary subject of my drawings and paintings. After college I began working for a woman who had a doula attend her birth. It was the first I had heard of such a thing! After learning what a doula did, I knew it was exactly what I wanted to be. I read Pam England's book: Birthing From Within and felt that it embodied everything I believed about birth and the mystery of womanhood. I immediately pursued certification and have been assisting women in birth for years now. I'm certified through CAPPA and currently working towards dual certification with DONA as well.I am also certified with The Happiest Baby on the Block educator program.
I have given birth to three very spirited children. My first was a planned homebirth that ended up being a natural hospital birth. My second baby came 2 years later in a very smooth hospital birth. With my third baby I gave birth very gently in the water. A very redemptive and satisfying birth. I was a doula before I had my children and was even more passionate about being a doula after the birth of my children. Helping women trust their bodies through pregnancy and birth is one of the most rewarding experiences I can have. There's no "right" way to give birth and every woman and birth is so different.
As a doula my goal is to help you find your own birth path. Each path is different. Some are up hill, some are bumpy, some are short and smooth, and some come with unexpected detours. You never know which path you get until you're already on the journey. I help you find your way. It's a joy to be a part of each woman's journey through birth.
Contact Teresa for more details at teresa@alaboroflove.org.
Back to topAlicia Pillsbury, CLD (CAPPA)
Labor and Postpartum Doula
I am many things, but my greatest identity is found in being a wife, a mother, a teacher, and a nurturer. I married my husband, Charles, in 1996, and quickly settled down to start a family. I obtained a degree in Early Childhood Education, and while I still teach in a classroom one day a week, I have chosen to focus my teaching gifts on homeschooling my three priceless children: Jake (1997), Sam (2003) and Grace (2005). Our personal childrearing practice has included breastfeeding, attachment parenting, co-sleeping and vegetarian nutrition.
My passion for birthing has been growing within me for many years. With my first child, I desired and received a fully medicated birth, but I felt unprepared and thus unfulfilled in my experience. It was during a 6-year struggle with infertility that I began to research and implement natural methods of conception, and that led very naturally into an interest in healthy, natural pregnancy and childbirth. I began to realize that birth can be much more than an event, but a journey that can be embraced and experienced; and I went on to have two confident, empowering births. While my own births have included both medicated and natural, I have learned that a wonderful birth is not defined by what path it takes, as much as how it is experienced. It is my belief that the emotional components of birth are just as strong as the physical, and that women should be understood and supported in all aspects of their birthing experience. I consider it my privilege to work with women to help them find their own voice and assist them in achieving the birth that they feel called to.
I am a trained labor doula with CAPPA, and am working on completing my certification as a childbirth educator. In my spare time, I enjoy reading, logic puzzles, and scrapbooking, and I am an avid collector of all things Pepsi.
Contact Teresa for more details at teresa@alaboroflove.org.
Back to topKaty Roe, Pending CPD (CAPPA)
Postpartum Doula
Although I have no children of my own yet, I’ve never been far from birthing, babies, and children. I was homeschooled until college which left plenty of time to accompany my mother to her La Leche League meetings and to help other mothers with their new babies- and even assist them with breastfeeding. I have been interested in helping with babies from a very early age. I graduated in May of 2009 with an A.B. from the University of Georgia. I’m a CAPPA trained postpartum doula, soon to be certified. Babies have always been a passion of mine and I love the idea of helping babies and their mothers get a wonderful start to a beautiful relationship.
Contact Teresa for more details at teresa@alaboroflove.org.
Back to topPam Roe, CLD, CCCE (CAPPA), CD(DONA), Birthing from Within Mentor, CHBE
Labor Doula, Childbirth, Lactation & Parenting Educator, Happiest Baby on the Block certified Educator
I am proud to offer labor doula support with Labor of Love. I also teach a variety of classes, including group and private childbirth preparation, breastfeeding, VBAC (vaginal birth after a cesarean), toddler parenting, and a baby soothing class that includes Happiest Baby on the Block, CALMS and The Hug training. I am certified with Doulas of North America (DONA) as a labor doula, with Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association (CAPPA) as both a labor doula and a childbirth educator, with Birthing from Within as a mentor and am a certified Happiest Baby Educator, as well.
Dick and I have been married since 1978 and have three children. Richard, born in 1982, and Kate, born in 1986, both arrived via unplanned caesarian births. In 1988, Emily's birth was a VBAC (vaginal birth after a cesarean). We used the Bradley and Lamaze childbirth techniques with the first two births and a less-structured approach based on the writings of Dr. Michel Odent and Janet Balaskas, with the last. I learned so much from each of our birth experiences. I now see birth as a threshold experience, an opportunity for a woman to step into the courage and strength that she will call upon throughout motherhood.
I have been involved with La Leche League since 1986, becoming a leader in 1990 and am now a retired leader. As a stay-at-home mother, I wore many hats. I did accounting work for small businesses, ran two food co-ops, helped create and operate a support network of more than 100 families, and worked with a midwife/herbalist.
I cherish the time I spend with families before, during, and after births. I continually update and broaden my knowledge to better assist them. Mothers, fathers, babies and birth have been my passion for as long as I can remember and it is an honor to support families during these special events in their lives.
Contact Teresa for more details at teresa@alaboroflove.org.
Back to topPatti Schultz, CLD (CAPPA)
Postpartum Doula
I am thrilled to be back with Labor of Love after spending almost 4 years in Minnesota. I am a certified labor doula with CAPPA and a post-partum doula. Currently, I am available for post-partum services. I have been married to my husband Kevin since 1996 and am the proud mother of Bob who is almost nine years old.
As long as I can remember I have been fascinated by babies. After attending my sister's birth to my niece, I knew I had found my calling and became a labor doula which then led to me offering post-partum services. I was blessed to have my sister and mother encourage and guide me during the first precious days of my son's life. I remember my sister supporting me while I was learning to nurse my son and the euphoria I felt when we finally were successful. They taught me to listen to my instincts in addition to practical knowledge on how to soothe my baby. It brings me great joy to help and nurture a family while they bond with their baby. I believe getting to know your new baby is one of the most special times in a parent's life. I feel honored to assist families in this process.
Contact Teresa for more details at teresa@alaboroflove.org.
Back to topCedar Anne Spain, CLD (CAPPA)
Labor and Postpartum Doula
My
name is Cedar Anne Spain and I would like to share some tidbits about
who I am. I am a mother to 6 beautiful children who I had the wonderful
experience of having naturally. I was raised in Maryland, but have
lived in Georgia for many years. My husband and I helped form a foundation
in Mexico to help underprivileged children. We have done disaster relief,
counseling, and distribution of supplies, to help better the lives
of hundreds of children and families. Because of my time in Mexico,
I speak Spanish.
A large part of my life has been dedicated to serving and helping children and families, but the one thing that has brought the greatest joy and satisfaction in my life has been attending to new mothers during childbirth Since I can remember it has always been a dream of mine to be doula or midwife assistant. My husband and I are settled here in Atlanta now, so I have the opportunity to make this dream a reality.
I am a certified labor doula with CAPPA. Besides the experiences I had birthing my own six children, I assisted a midwife for a brief time in Maryland, and have either assisted or attended many other births. I plan to continue my training as a doula, as it is an ongoing process.
There is nothing more incredible to me than being a part in the miracle of life. My goal is to be a help and support to women and their partners during this extraordinary time in their lives-the birth of their little ones When I am not attending births, I am a stay-at-home mom, soccer, football, and school room mom, etc. I love (trying) to be a gourmet cook, scrapbooking, camping with my kids, reading books, and doing yoga. My most important job is to be a mother to my growing kids; I always want to be there for them. My husband and children are fascinated that I am a doula and they are very supportive of my job.
I am providing postpartum doula services only at this time and the occasional Spanish speaking client who needs a doula to be able to communicate with her family.
Contact Teresa for more details at teresa@alaboroflove.org.
Back to topRenee Wymer,certification pending (DONA) labor doula
Labor Doula
I first came to Labor of Love as a student in the Birthing in Awareness series and immediately found myself passionate about pregnancy and birth. The amazing birth of my daughter inspired me to help women achieve the same thing- not a birth like mine, but the birth they want. Women have the power to grow life, give birth, and meet our babies most basic needs. I wanted to support women during these life-changing times. I began my journey by pursuing trainings with DONA and CAPPA and an apprenticeship with Labor of Love.
In addition to being a DONA trained labor doula and CAPPA trained educator, I am the mother of a spunky toddler and wife to a wonderful and supportive husband. We are expecting our second baby in September.
Raising my family in a way that is healthy for us and our environment is a priority for me. I feel like this is not only better for our well-being, but also teaches a respect for ourselves and our planet. I'm very excited to share my enthusiasm in Labor of Love's newest class- Growing Green Families: Creating a smaller carbon footprint.
Contact Teresa for more details at teresa@alaboroflove.org.
Back to topApprentice Doula Program
Labor of Love offers an opportunity to newly trained doulas to be mentored by a seasoned doula in our apprentice program. Apprentices attend as an assistant to our labor doulas once they have completed their certification training. They are included in our childbirth and parenting education program as well. For more information contact Teresa.
Parents can invite an apprentice doula to accompany their Labor of Love doula during their labor and birth. This is a way to provide hands on training and enables them to be even more supported with an extra pair of hands at no additional cost to them.
Click here to find out more.
Back to topAnnouncements
We have a new blog spot. Check it out at www.alaborofloveblog.org