Nicole Chambers helps expectant mothers bring life into the world.
She is there for them before birth, during and after.
Chambers runs Ridge Meadows Doula Services, providing birth and postpartum doula support for women entering motherhood.
She is also a la leche league leader and holds free, safe-space meetings for postpartum women.
As well, she holds, by donation, workshops to educate people on many perinatal topics.
And she is a women’s and youth counselor.
Chambers, a Maple Ridge resident, was initially a preschool teacher, then taught parenting classes for Abbotsford community services, and currently works five hours a week at Cythera Transition House Society.
But it was when she first became pregnant that she knew she wanted to be a doula, to provide mothers-to-be with information to make their own decisions.
Her own doula took time to get to know her, learn her values as a person. She encouraged her to ask questions – what is an epidural, an episiotomy.
Chambers said the science around births is evolving, from breach deliveries to cesarean sections. And she wants expectant mothers to have as much information as possible, to make their own choices about the type of births they want to have.
Chambers deals with a lot of first-time parents. She has assisted in more than 200 births.
She recalls one. The mother has previously had a C-section and wanted, for her second child, to have a vaginal birth. She was worried it would work out.
Chambers met her at her home. They discussed the emotions she was feeling, the fear. Chambers went with her to the hospital, and she had a vaginal birth.
“She looked at me and was so proud she did it,” Chamber said. “This time her body did when she felt it was meant to.”
Chambers offers birth and postpartum doula support, as well as childbirth education and placenta encapsulation.
“We all strongly believe that families should experience birth feeling educated and informed.”
When visiting homes, a doula will assist with breastfeeding, offer education, companionship and support, offer baby-wearing and cloth-diapering support, as well as information on infant feeding and soothing, emotional and physical recovery from birth and coping skills for new parents.
Breastfeeding, in particular, can be troubling for new mothers. Chambers will help teach new mothers about latching, and how to deal with discomfort, self-care, as well as provide emotional support.
“Sometimes it hurts and when it does that’s when you know you need additional support.”
She also lets new mothers know how often babies need to feed – sometimes ever two hours for the first three to six months.
A doula will also help with sibling care and make referrals.
This year, Chambers took her pre- and post-natal yoga training.
When she’s not working as a doula, she works one day a week at a non-profit agency teaching parenting classes and has a private counseling practice that focuses on perinatal mental health, birth trauma and loss.
As well, Chambers is a trained placenta encapsulation specialist.
Placenta encapsulation is dehydrating and blending the placenta prior to putting it into pill capsules. It is meant to help balances hormones during the postpartum time, reduce postpartum depression, increase energy levels, as well as help the uterus go back to pre-pregnancy size, increase milk supply, shorten postpartum bleeding and increase postpartum iron levels.
It is inspired by traditional Chinese medicine.
As a la leche league leader, Chambers is looking for a free space to host monthly meetings on breastfeeding, where parents can meet, have conversations and share experiences.
“We are connecting mothers.”
So they don’t just Google information.
“We are also giving mothers community support.”
Chambers said mothers have been giving birth since the beginning of time, but that sometimes the medical system doesn’t allow them to follow their intuition.
“Birth is not something scary,” she said.
“Birth is normal.”