Nurturing Beginnings: Guide to Postpartum Care for Doulas and Community Outreach Workers

Nurturing Beginnings takes you through a new mother’s journey and into your own as you explore what it means to be “in service of a postpartum woman and her family.” It is a step by step instruction manual for postpartum doulas in their work with new families. Nurturing Beginnings was one of the first comprehensive postpartum training manuals and is on the current DONA International Reading List for Postpartum Doulas. Chapters include: The Role of The Doula, Home Visiting, Providing Care with Caution: Protecting Health & Safety in The Home & Car, Honoring Postpartum Women and Teaching Self-Care, Easing Postpartum Adjustment, Appreciating Your Clients' Cultural Diversity by Karen Salt, Supporting The Breastfeeding Mother (Donna Williams & Opal Horvat Advisors) Newborn Basics: Appearance, Behavior, and Care, Offering Support to Partners and Siblings, Unexpected Outcomes: Caring for The Family at a Time of Loss, Nurturing Yourself by Carlita Reyes, Pursuing Professional Development and Building Your Practice plus poems by Maureen Cannon and "A Doula Speaks" writings from the authors adding insights to the chapters. Revisions and contributions to the updated version were made by Leah DeCesare and contributions by leaders in the field who permitted us to reprint their previously published work include Penny Simkin, Marshall Klaus, John H. Kennell, Cathy Romeo, and William Sears. Nurturing Beginnings has a tremendous amount of links and resources valuable to birthworkers of varying levels of experience. We hope you enjoy reading Nurturing Beginnings and making it a valuable tool amongst your birth resources.