For the past 8 years I've offered 1-2 prenatal visits for each birth doula client. Over time, I found that we could accomplish everything we needed within one prenatal and decreased my offerings.  Although this works for me (because this is my daily job), it might not work for everyone. 

I am now offering a monthly "Ask the Doula" tea time at my office. The date might vary, and may need adjusting due to being called to a birth.

This will be an open format where we introduce ourselves, get to know one another, and ask questions. I may pick a topic for the month, ask for topic ideas, or provide a question sheet. I have the ability to bring in community providers/experts by request as well. 

Make sure to "like" my facebook page at: www.facebook.com/PugetSoundDoulas/ . I will post events/reminders. 

Our first "Ask the Doula" will be December 9th! Make sure to RSVP on the event page found here: ​https://www.facebook.com/events/369200940170333/

"My husband and I tried for years to become pregnant with no luck so we sought the help of a fertility doctor in Seattle. We learned shortly after our first appointment that our chance of conceiving naturally was less than 2%. We made the decision to do invitro fertilization about a year after our first fertility consultation and we succeeded with the first try. I was released to my normal midwife for prenatal care at the end of my first trimester.

I had a normal, uneventful pregnancy until about 37 weeks. My midwife said she thought she felt the baby’s head up close to my rib cage and his bottom down by my pelvis. She did a vaginally exam to see if she could feel the baby’s anatomy this way. She was pretty sure of the baby’s position but wanted to be positive so she sent me in for an ultrasound. It was confirmed during my ultrasound that my son was in a Frank Breech position which means his bottom was engaged in my pelvis and his legs were stretched all the way up by his face.

At this point my team of midwives gave me every resource they knew of to turn the baby. I spent a week trying everything! Inversion poses, doing handstands while swimming, acupuncture, cold packs, peppermint essential oil, music…nothing was working.

At 38 weeks I went in to the hospital for a procedure called external cephalic version. During this procedure they try to manually turn the baby with their hands on the outside of my body. The doctor I saw had a high success rate and we felt good about our appointment. When I arrived, the nurse took my vitals and gave me a medication called Terbutaline...It relaxes the uterus and prevents contractions from happening making it easier to manually move the baby into the correct position. The doctor came in and put A LOT of ultrasound jelly on my belly so his hands would slide easily over my skin and explained what he would be doing. He began putting pressure on my belly to move the baby…he could get the baby into a vertical position and the baby would just slide back into his comfy breech nest. He tried a few more times and was unsuccessful. I was extremely sore and discouraged. He wanted to try again the next week so we continued our efforts to turn him at home and returned the next week for another try. Again, he was unsuccessful and we had to discuss a plan of action with our midwives ASAP.

I could not have a home birth as I planned and a few of the midwives said a cesarean section was inevitable because no doctor would let me deliver vaginally. One of the midwives had the name of an OBGYN up north that was known to deliver breech babies vaginally if the women met the very specific criteria. Two days later we were on our way up to Island hospital to meet the doctor and see if I qualified.
Hallelujah I did!! The doctor did an ultrasound and measured my amniotic fluid to make sure it was adequate, she measured the baby to confirm the approximate size, she measured my pelvis structure and the fact that I was a second-time mom gave me the clearance to head up when my water broke for a vaginally deliver.

At 11:25pm on May 5th my water broke in bed after a contraction that woke me up. We got dressed, called the doctor, and headed up north to the hospital. My mom and older son met us up there. I wasn’t having regular contractions so my husband and I sent them to a nearby hotel and we tried to sleep.

Shortly after everyone left and the lights went out (1:00am), contractions picked up and I was in active labor within an hour. I walked around my room and labored until about 5am when I felt the first urge to push. The doctor came in a said, “Ok Caitlin you’re fully dilated, up on your hands and knees, you’re going to push your baby out and no one is going to touch him until he is completely out”. During the first couple of contractions my sons bottom and legs came out (He pooped the entire time which meant no meconium poops at home, score!). Each arm came out and then I heard the doctor firmly tell me to keep pushing even if I didn’t have the urge. Since my baby’s body wasn’t pushing on my sacrum (because it was already born) I wouldn’t have the urge to push anymore but I still had his whole head to get out. I pushed hard for about 2 minutes solid, taking small sips of air, and his head was born.

He was a little shocked when he came out so they cut the cord and checked him out before they gave him back to me. He recovered quickly, they checked his hips…normal, took my breast within 20 minutes, I didn’t have any tears, and we were home within 12 hours. 

I feel forever grateful for this angel of a doctor for believing I could deliver this way, for continuing to practice this ancient art of breech delivery, and for being available for us that night. We still continue to send her updated pictures of my son every year. " - Doula and Student Midwife Caitlin West

Articles, stories and resources: 
The art of breech birth on all fours
​My healing birth 
​​Vaginal Breech Revolution

In no particular order, and more than one pic from a few births... WELCOME BABIES!

There are so many things that I want to say about this amazing journey that you made possible for us. We feel very blessed that we were able to find you! 

We were turned away by so many hospitals and doctors, that we almost gave up and surrendered to another unnecessary cesarean section. It was a miracle when you replied to us right away, and believed in our dream of a VBA3C, and you started supporting us from day 1.

I cried and told Stacy who also cried because we truly believed another C-Section would be catastrophic for me. You understood everything we were going through and all we were up against. You gave us confidence and courage that the others took from us. They told us we were crazy or that I was going to die if I attempted a VBA3C.

I started to become scared, but your support, knowledge, and experience empowered us to follow our hearts, and dream of a natural unmedicated birth. We are certain that we could not have done this without you. You never gave up on us, even during the week long labor, and the doctor who once believed, started losing faith. You guided me with endless good advice, helped me start labor naturally, and in the nick of time! Wow, you are amazing!

Your intuition and dedication to women and babies is so strong, even when we are weak. You helped our dreams come true! You were a guardian angel during the birth. I needed you so much and you were right there every step of the way. How can we ever thank you for such a gift? Our dreams came true. Our baby girl is perfect. We are so in love.

God bless you Tiffany! Thank you for all you do for families! - TH & SS

My husband and I loved working with Tiffany.

From our very first meeting, she was approachable and easy going and made us feel confident with her wide breadth of knowledge. She has attended many births in a variety of settings and this was very important to us in chosing a doula. Having experience with everything from home to hospital births, medicated or unmedicated, she can approach each individual birth without agenda or bias, there to help you have whatever kind of birth you chose in the best way possible.

We elected to have an unmedicated hospital birth, and Tiffany pointed us in the direction of additional resources beyond our birth classes so that we could be as educated as possible. She also helped us form our list of birth intentions thoughtfully. When it came time for our little one to be born, she was an invaluable member of our team. Not only was she a calming and supportive presence in the room. but it turns out that she taught my husband the one coping technique that I relied on the most! The best part was that she helped him to help me.
Thank you, Tiffany, for helping us have the empowering and intimate birth experience that we had hoped for!

I started a new instagram account for my favorite labor/birth photos. If you want to follow me, check out: @this_is_birth