Naomi Voosen

***I'm not currently taking on new clients. Please contact one of the many talented doulas in our area. Thank you!***

Services.

Here is some of what I offer:

• 2 prenatal visits to assess your needs and desires for birth, define and understand our expectations of one another, and provide you with useful tools for labor and birth
• Birth plan assistance to help you clarify your preferences for birth and explain the options that are available to you
• Access to my lending library of books about pregnancy, birth and baby care, to support your learning
• Continuous physical, emotional, and informational support for you and your partner for the duration of labor and birth, to help you hold and move towards the vision you created for your baby's birth
• 1 postpartum follow-up visit to celebrate the birth of your baby and answer any questions you have during the early postpartum period
• Unlimited phone and e-mail support to answer your questions and offer suggestions and support throughout pregnancy and early labor

These are my basic services, however, each woman is unique and has specific needs and desires. Please contact me to discuss your ideal birth experience.

About Naomi.

I believe in birth and I believe in women. Put these two together and amazing things happen. Childbirth is a transformative experience and women have the strength to surrender to this transformation. It is not something to just get through but instead to embrace.

I am a long-time Davis resident who has been talking about and attending births for over 10 years. I am DONA-trained and follow their code of ethics. I have also attended the Heart & Hands midwifery intensives: beginning and advanced sessions. Some day I would like to attend the National Midwifery Institute and become a home birth midwife. I advocate natural childbirth, home birth and breast feeding but I will help any woman create the birth experience that is right for her regardless of my own beliefs.

My fascination with childbirth began when I was a young girl. I was born with the help of a nurse midwife in a rural hospital and as a child I never tired of hearing my mom tell my birth story. When I was 19 I witnessed my friend and housemate give birth to a beautiful baby boy in our apartment attended by midwife Tosi Marceline of Birthstream midwifery here in Davis. From that point on I knew that I wanted to help women feel empowered in childbirth. What I saw that night in my home was so different from how the modern media portrays birth. In movies you see women held down in a hospital bed and often they are screaming or cursing. What I saw at that homebirth was my friend totally at peace. She labored in the dark with her partner by her side. She made deep primal noises that had power in them. When it got closer to the time to push, she entered the tub and her baby was born under the water with her partner supporting her. It was incredible. Ever since then, I have been committed to helping women feel empowered during their birth experience. There is no one right way to give birth but couples should feel that they have some choice in how they want to enter the birthing space.

I graduated from UC Davis where I majored in Women & Gender Studies and Latin American Studies. I love biking, reading and crafting. I knit whenever I have spare time and I am always wishing for more space for my quilting projects. I believe that love makes a family and do not judge regardless of family structure. I support the right of everyone to make a family.

Please contact me for a free interview!

I do not discriminate on the basis of Age, Education, Race, Marital Status, Sex, Sexual Orientation, Religion, Gender Identity, National Origin, HIV Status, Language, or Disability

2009-05-28 12:04:06   Right on! I love hearing home birth stories. Although I'm only 19, I already know that I will try my damnedest to have a home water birth. Thanks to supporters like you, women are educated on how they should control their pregnancy and birthing. It really irks me that most of the girls I know who are my age and are pregnant are pressured in to pre-planned Ceasarian sections. They are ill educated on the whole process and are brain-washed into thinking that giving birth is THE WORST thing ever, when in reality, it should be one of the BEST experiences of your life. Thanks so much for doing what you do! —BrookeB