Janine
BIRTH & POSTPARTUM DOULA, DEVELOPMENTAL MOVEMENT EDUCATOR
Janine grew up exposed to the birth world by her mother, a NICU nurse and IBCLC. Through her stories, Janine grew a fascination and appreciation for birth. After years of watching documentary style birth shows, Janine continued to be amazed with birth and the range of typical and atypical conditions that can occur.
Fast forward to 2016. Janine gave birth to her daughter in July with her husband by her side. The first-hand experience of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum opened her eyes to how parenthood is a journey that starts during pregnancy and lasts forever.
Janine completed her birth doula training with DONA in September 2017 and has been honored to be a part of each parents' journey into parenthood since. Additionally, Janine completed a traditional postpartum training with Valerie Lynn in April 2018. She has a background in dance and early childhood special and general education, which led her to discover developmental movement work. Janine is passionate about setting the stage for ideal physical development from birth and likes to show her clients fundamental developmental movement exercises they can practice with their babies.
Additional trainings Janine has attended include ‘Developmental Movement and Yoga for Babies’with Karma Kids Yoga, ‘Comforting Touch for Birth and Postpartum’with Yiska Obadia, ‘Advanced Doula Workshop’ with Debra Pascali-Bonaro, and ‘Best Evidence Practices and Birthing Rights’with Jacqueline Levine.
Testimonials
“I was so grateful to have Janine’s support before, during and after birth. She is compassionate, non-judgmental and easygoing. At our prenatal visit, Janine walked me and my husband through choices we could make for my labor. I wanted to get an epidural if I felt I needed one in the moment (I did!) while still staying active and trying out different birthing positions. Janine was great at honoring this, requesting various pillows from the medical team to help me move around and stay comfortable while on the epidural. I experienced intense back labor towards the end and Janine alternated with my husband to apply counter-pressure. She was very responsive over text to my labor questions/anxieties and made a late-night delivery of raspberry leaf tea during my final weeks of pregnancy :) Since I was having latching issues early on, Janine brought her mom, a lifelong lactation consultant, to our first postpartum visit. They stayed for over two hours, providing invaluable guidance in those early days. At our final postpartum visit 2 months later, Janine taught us developmental movement exercises to do with our baby, helped me carry and breastfeed in a carrier, and answered all our lingering questions. Janine was always generous with her time and clearly enjoys what she does. If you’re looking for a doula who is proactive, knowledgeable, and responsive to your preferences, I cannot recommend Janine enough!”
— Yarden G.