Birthmark
Doula
Services

Stacie Bingham, CD(DONA)

childbirth education, doula support, breastfeeding counseling

Classes & More

Bellycasting Chico DoulaBellycasting
Bellycasting is a way to remember your beautiful baby belly!  Often familes hang them in the baby's nursery, and they enjoy taking pictures of their new baby laying inside the cast -- to see their little one's first home.  I come to your house with all the supplies needed to cast your breasts and belly.  I can offer suggestions on how to further preserve and hang your cast.  This can be fun for the whole family, and it is also a great baby shower activity (modest means can be taken if mom wishes others to help in this project).  Mom, or any resident artist, can decorate the cast, or it can be left as it is.

Casting fees are $75/session.  A session lasts about 90 minutes.  The only thing you provide is an impressive belly, and perhaps a few helping hands, if you wish (although not necessary).  Belly casts are best done close to the due date, between 8 and 9 months. 


Childbirth Education

Do you like the idea that:                                 

  • Birth is normal, natural and healthy
  • The experience of birth profoundly affects women and their families
  • Women's inner wisdom guides them through birth

 If so, Lamaze Childbirth Classes may be right for you!  Lamaze is the oldest name in childbirth education, but did you know, Lamaze is no longer about breathing?  Today's Lamaze helps build confidence in the birth process and empower women to make the informed choices which are right for them.

Six care practices Lamaze promotes: 

  •  Labor begins on its own
  • Freedom of movement throughout labor
  • Continuous emotional and physical support
  • No routine interventions
  • Spontaneous pushing in a non-supine position 
  •  No separation of mother and baby with unlimited opportunity to breastfeed

If this sounds good to you, call to sign-up!  Class fees are $120 for a 12-hour series.  All your support people are welcome to come.  If you are a doula client, you are eligible for a discount!  Refresher classes are also available.

Getting Started with Breastfeeding
Do you feel like you need a little more breastfeeding informaton?  I also offer breastfeeding classes, 2.5 hours in length, for moms and their partners (if they wish).  What this class includes:

  • How milk is made
  • How to nurse comfortably
  • Positioning baby at the breast
  • Learning what’s normal and what’s not normal
  • Where to get community help
  • How partners can help
  • Taking care of yourself and your baby
  • Pumping and returning to work
  • Resources

Cost of this class is $45.  Many handouts included.  This information is covered in my childbirth classes, so there is not need to take this class if you already are planning to take those.  Doula clients receive this information as part of our prenatal visits.

Postpartum Parenting
This class is designed for those parents who want more hints, tips, and information about how to care for their newborns. 
Provided will be everything you ever needed to know to survive the “fourth trimester,” including:

  • Soothing your newborn
  • Feeding habits
  • Developmental sleeping stages
  • Bonding with your infant
  • Baby-wearing ideas
  • Basic newborn care
  • Mothering and Fathering
  • Taking care of YOU
  • Community resources for new parents

Class fees are $60 for 2 2-hour sessions, where mom, baby, and partner are welcome.  Doula clients will get some of this information, but not in as great of detail.  If doula clients want this class, the cost is reduced.

Postpartum Doula Services
Postpartum work is done on a selective basis depending on what my doula and class schedule allows.  Sometimes parents need additional support after a baby's born.  As a postpartum doula I can help with breastfeeding, baby-soothing, and building parents' confidence in their ability as the main caretakers of their new baby.  Other things I do are light laundry, light kitchen help, tending the baby while mom takes a shower, and attending medical appointments with families.  My fees for this service are $18 per hour with a minimum of 4 hours required.  In the event that a mother is sick or hospitalized, I have had experience caring for newborn babies while their mothers healed.  It is important to note, a postpartum doula's job is to mother the mother so she can mother her baby; postpartum doulas are different than baby-sitters.