Becoming A "Full Service" Bereavement Doula: What I want to do...

I wanted to answer some questions about what I want to do as a Bereavement Doula. First thing, I want to be able to help moms who have found out that their precious baby will not be coming home, or won't stay very long. It also means, I will be able to help moms who have found out their babies will not survive, and are chosing the very hard choice of giving birth to their baby early. I will also be able to help moms who are chosing to have an abortion, no matter the reasons. Secondly, I want to be a support for the mom DURING the process. A Bereavement Doula helps the mom have the labor, and delivery, they want. It's the one thing they can still control, within reason. Natural, or C-section, and everything in between.. I will be able to help them make choices. I will be able to provide laboring methods, music, calming scents, and "hold the space" for the mom. After the birth, I will be able to assist with Post-Partum choices.. including Milk-Donation, drying up, and offer options for the time they have with their precious child. Third, I will be able to assist the family, the entire family in the grieving process. This is where not only Bereavement training, but grief counseling will come into play. Giving them full support is important, because after this hard event, it is very difficult to allow people in to help. You tend to cling onto a select group who truely understand your hardships, and won't be judgemental. I want to be able to give them a safe place where they can seek help, and get outside resources if necisarry. Fourth, I will be able to photograph their precious labor, birth, and the moments with their child. Getting trained as a photographer will allow me to capture these moments properly, and give them memories that will last forever. Being trained by NILMDTS will allow me to be able to not only capture the moments by the moms who know their child has passed, but also for the moms who, like I, had no idea until they were born... or their child passed shortly after birth to complications. I also will be able to provide items they might not have thought to bring.. like hand print/foot print molds, memory items, pacifiers, photo props, and a wrap to hold their baby close. Creating memories the family will never forget. Lastly, I will be able to provide them life time support, even through Rainbow baby births (the birth of a child after a loss). The birth process of rainbow babies, can be difficult, scary, full of regret, full of joy, and can bring complications of its own sort. Being able to help the mom celebrate their angel child, as well as their rainbow in these times will be irreplaceable to the moms. I hope this helps you understand exactly what I want to provide to mothers... and I hope you can understand that this will be financially defening, and also require a lot of time. If you feel it in your heart to donate for these moms, it would allow us to keep the stress off of our family, and provide more to these moms. Each birth, will cost about $500 in materials, and roughly $200 in travel/cost for me.. less and more depending. Even if you cannot donate, but would like to pray for my family through this, that is more than enough! We have faith that God will continually provide in this journey. If you have any advice, or know of a good contact/resource, please Email me @ KristinaMSeymour@gmail.com Thanks! <3