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This post is for people who have little to no knowledge of babies and newborns, for the folks who are starting from “only seen those things in movies” point. A newborn is a tricky combination of small and manageable, and explosively unpredictable. And that is stressful! Let’s go through a few categories of newborn care, […]
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Holistic Family Doulas offers personalized doula services for fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum care in the Chicago area. Our founder, Lara Lasky, is a birth and postpartum doula and holistic reproductive practitioner.
Holistic Family Doulas serve Chicago and the surrounding suburbs including St Charles, Batavia, Geneva, Aurora, Warrenville, Naperville, Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Lisle, Oak Park, Oak Brook, Schaumburg, etc., and Cook, Kane, Will, and DuPage Counties.
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She is the founder of Our Healing Roots, a company that believes in connecting people to nature by providing the community education about herbs, home remedies, reiki, and meditation. In addition, she creates handcrafted herbal products for the whole family and a special line of products for Mom and Baby. She has been invited to teach at the Midwest Women’s Herbal Conference where she has shared her knowledge about the herbal world.
Originally from Chile, Cote is the Mother of three children. She experienced one hospital birth in Chile and two home births in the United States. Though she fell in love with her home birth experience, she believes in the mother’s choice to birth in the manner that’s best for her, being a hospital, birthing center or home. She will be the passionate advocate you need by your side.
Renee is an experienced doula who understands the uniqueness of this special transition and is honored to be part of your support team. A seasoned pre and post natal yoga teacher and Thai bodyworker, she is now training in the Body Ready Method, an assessment and movement program to better prepare bodies for pregnancy, labor and postpartum. As a postpartum doula Renee provides holistic services including v-steams and healing soaks with Lara’s herbal blends and belly massage and binding. Taking care of the baby or preparing a delicious soup or snack while you rest and heal is her priority. Renee became a doula after having confident and knowledgeable doulas during the births of her 2 children, her family lives on the NW side of Chicago.
Shauna is an experienced DONA trained labor doula. She is passionate about all stages of birth, from pregnancy through postpartum. Her goal is to empower women and support them in taking control of their births. Women know what is best for their bodies and their babies and Shauna is there to support those choices during birth. She will listen, share knowledge and hold your vision of your birth as you see it. Pregnancy, birth, and growing a family is a beautiful, sacred time and she feels honored to be a part of every birth she is at. Shauna is a mom of 3 and has worked as a labor doula for over 8 years attending many births at different hospitals and at home. She attended school to be a labor and delivery nurse before deciding to focus only on her love for being a doula.
Libby is a certified birth doula through The Matrona and currently enrolled in the Birthing from Within Childbirth Educator program. Libby believes that giving birth to your child and the mother within is a life-changing, potent and transformational process. As a doula, she believes every birthing person deserves to feel heard, seen and understood in the way that makes them feel safe and whole so that they can have a positive birth experience.
She is passionate about evidence-based birth information, birth-related anatomy, physiologic birth and worldwide postpartum traditions and cuisine. She thinks that mindful conception, birth and postpartum can lay the foundation for an empowered motherhood and after speaking with and reading feedback from countless mother’s, she’s found too many people are dissatisfied with their births. Libby wants to provide heartfelt care to families welcoming their little miracle into this world. Libby would be honored to walk this path and provide families the opportunity for one-of-a-kind care during their own birthing journey.
Verity is a super experience doula who is trained through DONA as a birth doula and CAPPA as a postpartum doula. She is also trained holistically through HERBAL. She is trained in the Bradley Method, and is also a Breastfeeding Counselor, Perinatal and Infant Care Educator, and a Placenta Encapsulation Specialist. Verity is a student midwife. As a labor doula she loves to provide knowledge and help families find their deep inner knowing that will help with an empowered experience. As a postpartum doula specializes in baby care and education and helping babies get on a good routine.
Verity has a wide range of experiences including hospital birth, home birth, VBAC, HBAC, induction, epidurals, unmedicated birth, cesarean. She has supported families with special needs infants, breastfeeding issues, LGBTQ+ families, adoption, teen pregnancy, single parent families, premature birth, Bradley Birth, water birth, and more. She has four children of her own who were all born at home. In her free time she loves to travel, to spend time outdoors, work on various art and home improvement projects, bake and cook, and spend time with her family.
Tia is a certified birth doula, experienced postpartum doula, and certified childbirth instructor. She has a passion for birth work and enjoys helping families navigate through pregnancy and postpartum with reassurance and a calming presence. Tia was first inspired to become a doula after having her own children and recognizing how having a doula herself played a vital role in feeling supported and positive about her own birth experiences. Prior to her career as a doula, Tia worked in the medical field for over a decade in ObGyn, pediatrics, family medicine, and as the medical assistant to the chief of orthopedic trauma at Washington University in St. Louis.
Tia is passionate about her own education and believes it is central to her practice with the families she supports. She prides herself on bringing an evidence-based approach to her work and the families she supports. She also ensures that she approaches her work without judgment or bias.
Some of her training and memberships include:
Prodoula Certification
DONA Training
Breastfeed for Birth Professionals
Advanced VBAC Doula Training
Birth and Beyond Childbirth Education Certification
Evidence-Based Birth Professional Member
Tia believes that there isn’t one “right way” to birth or parent. She leaves her personal philosophies at home and supports each family in having the birth and postpartum experience that they want. She loves instilling confidence in her clients and helping them find their birth and parenting styles. She believes it is important to build trusting relationships with each of her clients and takes the time to give each family the attention they deserve. Her clients love her professionalism, dedication, and the warmth she brings to the job every day. She is described as kind, compassionate, and patient. When Tia isn’t supporting families, you can find her playing and collecting tabletop games with her husband, riding bikes to the park with her children, and curling up to a good book with her cats. She also has a passion for East-Asian culture and studying Japanese in her free time.
Paulina is a fully trained postpartum doula through DONA International. She is a psychology driven individual that has a passion for working with babies and providing caring companionship for my clients. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and has over 5 years of nannying experience caring for children of all ages, including numerous infants prior to her doula career.
Clients describe her as patient, nurturing and understanding. She has extensive knowledge in newborn care & behavior, breast & bottle feeding, safe sleep guidance, maternal recovery, and infant soothing. She is especially adept with providing advice during this big change, whether it be the first baby or adding to the family.
Her goal is to make this transition period as comfortable as possible for you and ensure you and your baby get the care (and sleep!) that you deserve. In my free time I like to weight-lift at the gym, walk my dog Luna, and take care of my plants.
Alexa is a DONA-trained birth and postpartum doula. She provides continuity of care from pregnancy through labor, in postpartum, and beyond. She works flexible day and evening hours, is comfortable in a variety of settings, and is sensitive to the differing needs and requirements of all.
Alexa offers full-spectrum, trauma-informed care. Her practice incorporates holistic massage, yogic movement, and meditation, and she is taking steps towards a perinatal yoga certification.
On the fun and quirky side, Alexa is an avid chef and has worked as one professionally – she’s a nutritional wizard and a pro with meal prep. She also has a background in interior design, and so home organization and chores are a breeze. She’s a total nerd for making spaces clean and cozy, and families find her presence easy-going and sincere.
Alexa has a strong desire to support women at their most vulnerable, to provide them with safe space free of judgment, and to act as resource and companion.
Shelli is a certified Labor Doula through The Matrona and a certified Postpartum Doula, Reflexologist, and Reiki Healer through By The Moon. Shelli’s love for the fertility journey started when she became an ultrasound technologist at a fertility clinic. During her years at the clinic and through her own fertility story, she discovered that many people desire a healing and holistic approach to their pregnancy path. Being a Holistic Reproductive Practitioner allows her to work with people to heal and nurture their mind-body connection and to bring out their innate ability to heal and thrive. Shelli strives to create a safe and judgement-free space for her clients so they can feel supported and confident in their decisions. By meeting people where they’re at, she helps them feel empowered on their journey, whatever that may look like!
Lucie is a certified, vaccinated, and insured labor and postpartum doula, childbirth educator, and placenta encapsulator, with over a decade of experience helping families. Prior to certifying as a doula, Lucie worked as a newborn care specialist and private childcare provider. She has extensive experience and serves families of all kinds, including surrogates, single mothers, multiples, and families that struggle with mental health hardships or are enduring a loss. Caring for children has always been a passion, but becoming a mother really highlighted the importance, and lack, of readily available support throughout pregnancy and motherhood. Lucie has since rededicated her work to educating, empowering, and supporting parents. It was once said that it takes a village, let Lucie be your village.
Soon after studying special education and behavioral psychology as an undergrad, Lucie realized the impact she could have working with individual families and how amazing it felt to build lasting relationships with children and their parents. Her work led her to continue her education in newborn care and child development, including but not limited to establishing healthy sleep habits, safe car seat practices, baby led weaning, and respectful parenting.
When an opportunity presented itself to attend a childbirth education class with a friend and mom-to-be, Lucie was floored by the amount of new information. This was the moment that ignited her passion to not only learn all she could, but to make sure all that information was accessible to everyone who wanted it. Lucie became a certified doula, and childbirth and parenting educator to that end, and works hard to make sure her clients are informed and confident in making decisions for themselves and their children. When she’s not working, Lucie enjoys spending time with her 2 girls, knitting, baking, reading, and playing piano. She is also bilingual and speaks fluent Russian.
Lucie is a certified, vaccinated, and insured labor and postpartum doula, childbirth educator, and placenta encapsulator, with over a decade of experience helping families. Prior to certifying as a doula, Lucie worked as a newborn care specialist and private childcare provider. She has extensive experience and serves families of all kinds, including surrogates, single mothers, multiples, and families that struggle with mental health hardships or are enduring a loss. Caring for children has always been a passion, but becoming a mother really highlighted the importance, and lack, of readily available support throughout pregnancy and motherhood. Lucie has since rededicated her work to educating, empowering, and supporting parents. It was once said that it takes a village, let Lucie be your village.
Soon after studying special education and behavioral psychology as an undergrad, Lucie realized the impact she could have working with individual families and how amazing it felt to build lasting relationships with children and their parents. Her work led her to continue her education in newborn care and child development, including but not limited to establishing healthy sleep habits, safe car seat practices, baby led weaning, and respectful parenting.
When an opportunity presented itself to attend a childbirth education class with a friend and mom-to-be, Lucie was floored by the amount of new information. This was the moment that ignited her passion to not only learn all she could, but to make sure all that information was accessible to everyone who wanted it. Lucie became a certified doula, and childbirth and parenting educator to that end, and works hard to make sure her clients are informed and confident in making decisions for themselves and their children. When she’s not working, Lucie enjoys spending time with her 2 girls, knitting, baking, reading, and playing piano. She is also bilingual and speaks fluent Russian.
Damiana has a long-held interest in helping mothers and children of all backgrounds. She has over fifteen years of experience caring for mothers and babies, and has experience caring for mothers as a doula since 2013. She has 10 years of experience caring for children and normal newborns as well as infants with special needs, and she’s served as an infant child life services volunteer at a children’s hospital. Damiana is a fully trained and insured doula, and she’s observed and supported vaginal and Caesarean deliveries in Chicago, Boston, and Europe. She’s currently in the process of certifying with DONA International and is expected to gain her Birthing From Within Doula and Childbirth Educator certification in 2021.
Damiana is most appreciated for her nurturing and ebullient presence and her ability to soothe babies and nervous parents. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Health: Science, Society and Policy and Biology, and is a current Master’s of Health Administration student at The George Washington University. She has completed fellowships studying the delivery of maternal and child health in a rural polyclinic in Bulgaria and in Denmark at Rigshospitalet’s Julianne Marie Center, where she studied with midwives and the clinic chief of obstetrics.
Following these experiences, Damiana spent a summer at Stanford Medicine’s Program in Bedside Medicine, where she focused on writing about patient-physician relationships and physical diagnosis. She currently provides research advisory support to birth equity research at UMass Boston, and is involved with advocating for maternal health legislation. Damiana is currently working on developing the business and implementation plan for the doula program at NorthShore University HealthSystem. She’s a staunch supporter of doulas’ role in the obstetrics care team.
Tiffany became passionate about birth during her pregnancy and the birth of her daughter. She valued the support of her birth team and felt empowered when her choices were validated. During the process she also realized that birth is not a one-size-fits-all experience.
As a makeup artist for over 15 years, she learned the importance of truly listening to clients and finding ways to help them feel empowered and confident. It was during this time that Tiffany honed her skill of maintaining a calm and relaxed environment regardless of the location or situation.
Tiffany is passionate about advocating for expecting and new parents with evidence-based information, a passion which led to her training with Doula Training International as a Full Spectrum Doula. The training she received enabled her to assist and support new clients from all demographics, including LGBTQIA+, and prompted her to join birth justice organizations that focus on vulnerable communities within Chicago.
In her free time, she finds joy in connecting with her family in nature and cooking for loved ones. She’s also an avid knitter.
Tiffany is excited to help you learn about your options and work with you to prepare for your one-of-a-kind birth. She looks forward to providing physical, emotional, and educational support during such a transformational time.
Trina received her doula training from the International Doula Institute. She’s a certified birth and postpartum doula, a certified breastfeeding counselor, and a certified childbirth educator. Trina has a master’s degree in healthcare administration and a bachelor’s degree in community health and health promotion. She’s a mother of two girls and a grandmother to one. Her main goal is to educate families, offer words of affirmation, and help create a beautiful birthing experience for all families.
When she was 11 years old, Trina witnessed the whole birthing experience, from pregnancy to labor and delivery to postpartum. She was fascinated, and she knew then that her purpose was to work with pregnant women and infants. Trina loves the fact that she’s helping to bring life into this world, and that she’s able to physically and emotionally support and educate moms and families.
Trina brings a unique energy to her birth and postpartum work. She’s part of Team Mom all the way, and she works hard to support each mother and her birth preferences as fully as possible. She also strives to ensure that every mom she works with is educated so that she can make informed decisions.
In her free time, Trina continually educates herself by reading and watching videos related to pregnancy/birth/postpartum. She also enjoys working out and loves spending time with her two daughters and her granddaughter.
Non-Discrimination Policy
Holistic Family Doulas does not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, culture, language, political beliefs, age (including age of the parenting or pregnant person), past or current pregnancy decisions (including abortion), substance use, relationship status, health conditions or body size, disability, mental health, immigration status, religious beliefs, spiritual beliefs, or other demographics and identities that may affect someone’s lived experience, especially within marginalized populations. We are open to all who need our care and support.
She truly enjoys everything when it comes to newborns: feedings, burping, diapers, sleep training, lots of snuggles and overall just getting to know a tiny little human and to help they make their milestone transitions as smooth as possible. Professionally, she has worked with newborns for over six years—in a childcare setting as an Infant Room Lead Teacher, working with children ranging in the ages of 6 weeks to 15 months, and as a nanny; she has long-term experience taking care of a toddler and their newborn. Misty is looking forward to working with your family!
Families love Sara for her calm, patient approach to them and their newborns. She loves nurturing and supporting everyone in the family as they transition to life with a newborn. She greatly understands the need for an extra set of hands and nonjudgmental ear during this hectic time. She wants to make all families enjoy this special time as much as they can!
Sara is the mother of twin daughters and a younger son. She has personal experience with planning to birth naturally and then having an emergency c-section, the NICU, jaundice, reflux, lactation issues, sleeping issues, and perinatal mood disorder. And she’s still smiling!
Sara’s hobbies include spending time with her family, reading, baking/cooking, organizing and decorating, traveling, working out, and walking her dogs.
Sara is so excited to work with you and your family as you welcome home the newest member of your family!
A clean, organized home with minimal chaos will be a godsend during this time. As your postpartum doula, Erica will help keep your home tidy – or at least, functional. No chore will be too humble for her – from changing soiled diapers to tending to other children to taking out the trash to wiping away tears (mother’s and child’s).
She’s always felt that the kitchen is where she can help heal the people she loves, and as a postpartum doula, she takes the task of cooking for new mothers very seriously. After the rigorous and demanding act of birth, you’ll need much more than a pre- or post-natal vitamin. Your daily meals and drinks will truly do the job of nourishing and building you up. Her favorite simple dishes have universal appeal and are accessible to prepare. They are rich in iron to rebuild blood, protein to repair tissues and support hormones, fatty acids to enrich the breast milk, vitamins and antioxidants to speed tissue healing, and therapeutic herbs and spices to counter inflammation. Erica wants mothers to enjoy food as nourishment, as medicine, as comfort, and, of course, as a gift offered with love from a person who cares.
Erica shares that, “One of my special touches is guiding and encouraging you to add small rituals of self-care that fill up your reserves on every level. As a momma of three, I fully grasp how my inner emotional stability is paramount for the long-term vitality and happiness of not only myself, but my entire family. These moments of peace I will help you create will be designed to ultimately serve your whole family.”
The postpartum period is the essential conclusion of your childbearing story. Claim this time and space for yourself. Let Erica support and unburden you during this initial phase of life with your new baby.
