Doula
VBACtivist
Usui Reiki Master
Birthing from Within Mentor
Sacred Space Doula Trainer
Sacred Pregnancy Facilitator
Life to Death Transition Steward
Pre and Postnatal Nutrition Coach
Certified Body Ready Method Pro®
Breastfeeding Facilitator and Enthusiast
StillBirthDay Birth and Bereavement Doula
I have a passion for all things natural and holistic. My love for children has definitely shaped my life, and my choice of career as a doula and healer best allows me to live my passion.
I trained as a doula in 2003 in South Africa while expecting my second child, Skyla. I had a previous birth by necessary caesarean after a unwished for interventive labour for my son Davin, so I was aiming at having a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean). Upon having had a successful natural waterbirth with my daughter I decided to follow my bliss and become a doula. I also trained in the U.S. (2004, 2007, 2010), with Pam England, to become a Birthing From Within childbirth mentor and educator.
Since my initial training I have continued updating and expanding my education so that I can draw from a multitude of skills to help mothers/parents during their pregnancy, birth and postpartum.
I have trained and complete a therapeutic massage course with Rudi Baker of Healing hands in 2003. Thereafter in 2004 I underwent a year Reiki masters training at The Grange under the loving and watchful eyes of Fay and Michael Jeffery. I then turned back to the arts concerning mothering/parenting and attended a 3 day lactation management course with Brenda Pierce and Brenda Campbell in 2006 with refresher courses every 2 years thereafter. I subsequently attended a home birthing doula workshop with The Village Workshops and Maria Sterrenberg, whom I co-trained alongside from 2005 till 2009.
I was overjoyed to attended an advanced doula training in Mozambique with Amsterdam obstetric acupuncturist and midwife Jacky Bloemraad-de Boer in 2007. I later completed her advanced level training in 2009. We covered a multitude of skills to aid labour and birth amongst which I learnt acupressure, reflexology, rebozo, polarity, moxibustion and cupping. These techniques are useful for general well-being as well as a natural induction method, helping with difficult or slow to start labours and positioning babies into a good position for birth. I was fortunate to attended a workshop with well known waterbirth midwife Laura van Deth from Holland in 2008 and learnt new ways of using water during pregnancy and birth.
I am a birth activist at heart so I facilitated bringing Russian conscious birth advocate Elena Tonetti to South Africa and attended her 2 day limbic imprinting workshop in 2008. The following year in 2009 I also facilitated Canadian Jodi Hall from A Safe Passage to visit South Africa and attended her empowering workshop for abuse survivors. Further in the same year I completed an online She Births facilitator training with Marcie Macari after reading her book to compliment my doula knowledge and desire to offer more holistic care to parents-to-be. This desire has led me to attend several other courses such as Robin Sheldon‘s Mama Bamba facilitator course (based on her book by the same name) in 2010 and later in 2012 a Biology of Birth through highly acclaimed midwife Marianne Littlejohn of Spiritual Birth.
I attended Gena Kirby‘s rebozo workshop, in 2013, just before leaving South Africa to move with my family to Finland.
My time in Finland has also been put to good use. I began my Nursing Degree (on my way to midwifery degree) in 2014 and qualified in 2017. I also continued my parallel birthing education by completing an online Sacred Living Movement course for belly binding in 2014 and later attended with Anni Daultier, her Sacred Pregnancy retreat for facilitators in 2016. I was thoroughly rewarded in 2015 when I met my long time doula idol Penny Simkin and attended her seminars in Helsinki. In 2017 I achieved another milestone when I attended a Spinning babies course with Jennifer Walker and also another rebozo workshop with Mirjam de Keijzer and Thea van Tuyl. I concluded 2017 by attending a 5 day international Midwifery Today conference in Helsinki, something that I have been determined to do since I started on this incredible journey to be a doula and soon to be midwife. In 2018 I also attended as a monitor in the Midwifery Today conference in Germany. In 2018 I attended as a monitor in the Midwifery Today conference in Germany and also began the Stillbirthday bereavement doula training. After qualifying as a Stillbirthday doula in 2020 I also began the PAIL (Pregnancy and Infant Loss) Advocate training and the Menopause Advocate training as these are areas I have worked and have a profound interest in. I also completed an herbalism course and an end of life course. In 2021 I turned towards delving deeper into trauma informed care and did a workshop with Resilient Birth and to follow the work of trauma I completed a mini-certification with Saybrook University as a Maternal Mental Health Advocate because sadly this is something I am having to deal with almost on a daily basis lately. In the spirit of continuing to listen to people’s birth stories I decided to join Pam England’s new venture and have completed in 2022 part 1,2 and 3 of the Birth Story Medicine workshop with the intention of completing all the necessary steps to certification. Currently in 2023 I am engaged in pursuing a Vaginal steaming certification and have just earned my Prenatal Nutrition Certification with The food doula Lindsay Taylor. I have attended lactation update training through the 10th Nordic Breastfeeding conference featuring a personal hero Jack Newman and The Gold Learning online continuing lactation education. In 2024 I certified as a Body Ready Method pro®, a comprehensive Better Birth Pro series training through The Body Ready Method with Lindsay McCoy that will take me into 2024.
I have been honoured to be invited into the sacred space of over 1400+ birthing mothers/parents to assist and support them in their journey into parenthood. I believe in honouring this time old process and giving whatever support and encouragement is necessary to each individual mother/parent as they are birthing. I have also been graced with the immense privilege of training amazing people to become doulas. I know I have found my calling in life and I am following my bliss all the way.
I believe in living in the moment so that I am fully open to receive the miracles of what is happening right now. This practice has served me well in countless situations including birth as I am able to remain present and focused on what is unfolding and therefore give what is necessary to each moment.
All women/people need encouragement and acceptance of what is happening to them and I strive to provide this in an individualized manner to all. I believe that birth is a natural process that works best when less interfered with but I am also open to whatever needs to unfold. I currently live in Finland and am a Certified Nurse with the dream to one day studying Midwifery so that I can begin my life work offering home birthing options in my adoptive country! I look forward to meeting you and supporting you in any way you need.
Love and abundance
Lia
xxx
