Hi my name is Jenny I am the mother of two beautiful children aged 13 and 10.  I am a Childbirth & Early Parenting Educator, Doula and Prenatal Yoga Teacher and Trainer Coordinator for The Australian Association of Yoga in Daily Life.     My passion towards becoming a Doula grew over my 12 years of teaching Yoga, meeting and listening to many women and mothers to be.    Through this and awareness from my own births I have come to realise just how important it is to have the right people around you during your labour and birth.     

I have done various training as follows through my passion to know more and to keep myself informed and up to date.  In 2007 I did a basic Doula training on line at Optimum Birth (QLD) 2007 www.optimumbirth.com.au  and after this decided I wanted to do the Childbirth and Early Parenting Course.  A pre requisite for this course through the Australian Doula College was that I must do their Doula training - I am so thankful I did, it has been a fulfilling course and enriched the Childbirth Education training I did (Sydney) 2008 and 2009 www.australiandoulacollege.com.au.     Have received my Professional Doula Certification through the Doula Register on October 2008 at the 1st Natural Birth Conference www.naturalbirth.org.au.   Registered with the Doula Register www.doularegister.com .      Currently am a member of The Australian Doula College.

Through the combination of Pregnancy Teaching and supporting of births to date, I would have to say that I have finally found my calling and have grown to treasure my choice of becoming a Doula as a great blessing. 

Through the wisdom of Yoga  and experiences I have had being a mother  I have come to realise the great importance of a relaxed birth.   Through Yoga we are able to be more conscious of the effect of stressors in our surrounding space and daily life and understand how this impacts on us, together with feeling and understanding the stressors we create within ourself.  

The benefits of relaxation in labour                

In labour, relaxation performs many of the same functions as it does in everyday life:

• Relaxation prevents your muscles from becoming fatigued, especially the large muscle of the uterus (womb).

• It helps you cope better with the stresses of giving birth and enjoy the experience more.

• It helps conserve your energy, so you're less likely to need interventions to strengthen your contractions or to deliver your baby.

• It helps you communicate more effectively with your carers and understand what they are saying to you.

And equally importantly:

• Relaxation helps your baby to cope with labour. If you are relaxed, you won't flood your baby's system with stress hormones that cause his heart rate to speed up. Staying relaxed also means that you breathe more deeply, so that your baby gets more oxygen.

Here is a wonderful article worth reading from Andrea Robertson about Pain in Labour.    To read just how important the right support people are, as well as the ability to relax during labour and the effects this has on the flow of natural hormones during labour www.acegraphics.com.au/articles/painlabour.html