Natalie Strohm
Business: With You: Birth and Postpartum Doula Care
Contact Information:
(650) 339-3759
nataliemstrohm@gmail.com
Regions Served: Tompkins County and surrounding regions
Type of Doula and focus of care: Birth & postpartum services for any and all members of the Ithaca community.
General structure of Doula services:
Birth Package: No two birth packages are the same. I strive to make my services responsive and flexible to your individual needs. That being said, a birth package typically includes:
4 Prenatal visits: Visits typically last around 2 hours. These visits give us the time to dive in deep to specific components of evidence based childbirth education and how they apply to your birth and the support you are looking for. They also ensure that we really get the chance to get familiar with each-other. I want to know you, and your sense of humor, and how you deal with challenges, and what you need to feel supported when making big decisions.
These visits include but are not limited to:
-Free initial consultation so you can get a sense of whether we will be a good fit, share your vision for this transition in your life, and establish your goals for your birth “team” and why you are hoping to work with a doula.
-The first prenatal is an opportunity to discuss your pregnancy and birth preferences; discuss any and all questions you have about the birth process; and link you with local resources. I also will go through a resource packet of my favorite resources for birth and prenatal wellness.
-The second visit is an optional bonus visit focused on the body and how we can physically prepare for birth and motherhood! We will discuss the changes that occur in the body during pregnancy and how this impacts your alignment, core stability, and pregnancy related pain. Then we’ll discuss techniques for maintaining optimal alignment/posture throughout the day. We will practice breathing exercises which will improve core and pelvic floor strength and control; these exercises will eventually act as preparation for breath techniques for labor and the pushing stage. By training our bodies to breath and move effectively throughout pregnancy we are supporting optimal fetal development, strengthening the core and pelvic floor to reduce pain and injury, setting ourselves up for a smooth postpartum recovery, and giving ourselves tangible tools to rely on during labor and delivery. You will also receive a prenatal movement guide with basic stretches and exercises designed to prevent and address pregnancy related pains, and reduce imbalances in the pelvic floor. A balanced pelvic floor makes baby’s journey down and out just a little bit easier!
- The third visit is movement focused. We will discuss stages of labor, coping techniques to try during each stage, and how to use movement and positioning to support physiologic birth. I will also teach birth partners techniques for supporting relaxation and pain management throughout the labor and delivery process.
-The fourth visit is where we iron down all the final details that will help you to feel physically and emotionally ready for the birthing experience. We finalize your birth “plan” and discuss natural cervical ripening techniques, as well as ways to set yourself up for success in the postpartum period!
Birth support: As your birth doula you can reach out at any time. Starting at 37 weeks I provide 24/7 on call support. Meaning I’m ready to meet you at the hospital or home, to provide physical, emotional and informational support through the labor and delivery process.
1 -2 postpartum visits: Postpartum care is all about helping you settle into your home and new life with your little one. These visits happen whenever you feel you need the support! This care generally involves debriefing the birth experience, answering questions about newborn care, feeding, physical and emotional recovery, and referrals to community practitioners. Beyond that I offer household support such as food prep, running errands, laundry, house cleaning, etc….Sometimes postpartum care is taking dogs and older siblings out on adventures, sometimes it’s holding the baby so you can shower and nap. These visits are typically 2-3 hours long.If desired, you can also request an individualized plan to gently guide your core and pelvic floor recovery; as well as ways to protect your body and promote healing while adjusting to the physical demands of motherhood.
Postpartum care: I provide hourly postpartum care as needed beyond the initial 3 visits included in the birth package. It’s important to remember that as much as your newborn requires careful care and attention; so do birthing parents and partners! Thus I offer overnight, as well as day time postpartum support.
Why are you a Doula?
My passion is, and always has been, in watching families thrive. I believe in comprehensive and continuous care…That a strong foundation of support from one’s community is what every family deserves. Birth and childrearing is a process. One which requires strength, patience, care, flexibility and focus. I became a doula to sit with and support you as you find your power, and your process. To simply be there with information, confidence, and care.
I learned about the joy of providing this unconditional support through my many years of working with infants and young children. However, I found myself increasingly called to caring for parents. I studied at Hampshire College where my major was shaped around my passion for working with families. With Hampshire’s “make your own major” approach I studied child development, community programing, and reproductive health. Ultimately my thesis focused on physiological responses to loneliness and connection, and community systems for increasing access to postpartum care. I moved to Ithaca four years ago, where this learning has exponentially expanded through my immersion in the birth community. Since becoming a doula I have also become a birth assistant at September Hill Midwifery, a pre/postnatal training specialist, as well as pregnancy and postpartum corrective exercise specialist.
I became a doula to see birthers through..the happiest of moments, and the hardest of moments
To advocate for individual health care decisions.
To provide a safe and supported environment that allows for individual decision making and time to assess varying approaches.
To do my part in improving birth outcomes and experiences by encouraging mother centered care.
To facilitate joy and confidence in the birthing process, and ease in transitions for the entire family.
Other Projects:
Movement and Strength For Motherhood: Birth Prep and Recovery, Perinatal Fitness, Perinatal Corrective Exercise.
Pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period come with specific changes to, and stressors on, the body. We can greatly minimize the negative effects of these stressors with proper alignment, movement mechanics for the activities we do every day, and gentle strength training! The general goal of perinatal training is to prevent and reduce perinatal pain, help you feel confident in your physical and emotional preparedness for labor and delivery, improve your birth experience, and encourage a speedy and well-rounded postpartum recovery.
I offer in-home, outdoor, and gym-based perinatal personal training. If we are training at home I bring all the at home equipment we need, and I will hold the baby while you work towards a empowering postpartum recovery. I will always work to make sure your plan fits your life, is responsive to your goals, and incorporates ways YOU love to move.
If birth and motherhood is one of the most physically demanding events of a birthers’ life, why don’t we train for it like we would any other athletic event?
I use the Pronatal “performance training” approach which is designed to safely and effectively guide you through a three-step process:
1) Foundation
In this stage you master principles of breathing, proper alignment, core activation and stabilization, and movement mechanics that will set you up for success, not just in your pregnancy journey, but for the rest of your life.
2) Strength
Focuses on building your strength to mitigate the common pains and injuries caused by the stresses of pregnancy and physical demands of early parenthood. This stage also utilizes interval training that mimics contraction patterns. This helps you to build endurance, and gives you the opportunity to practice techniques for pushing through contractions as well as maximizing the rest between contractions.
3) Birth Prep
a) Birth Prep Stage is where you’ll practice specific strategies to help you physically and mentally prepare for labor, and learn simple (but powerful) tips to help expedite your postpartum recovery. This phase incorporates specific breathing exercises which use breath to cue core and pelvic floor activation/ relaxation. These are invaluable tools for the dilation phase, pushing phase, and postpartum recovery phase.
The postpartum program is a similar programming model but focuses on:
1) Foundation
Extensive yet gentle core and pelvic floor recovery, as well as how you move throughout the day as a mother to minimize and prevent pain, and reduce strain on the core and pelvic floor.
2) Strength
Building strength to assist with posture and maximize the ways you are able to play with your growing baby!
3) Recovery
Feeling fabulous and getting you back to the activities you love!
Within this program I also integrate a lot of information and techniques I learned in Sarah Duvall’s extensive Prenatal and Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist course! Many of us have muscular imbalances in some way or another. Especially during pregnancy and the postpartum period when your core is weakened, you are carrying around extra weight, and curled around the baby in all kinds of challenging positions during feeding.
This is the primary contributing factor to pain, discomfort, and dysfunction. Corrective exercise techniques are proven to be incredibly effective for correcting alignment and postural imbalances, preventing injury and pain, preventing or reducing incontinence, and encouraging a full recovery. It just takes specific queuing, guidance, and troubleshooting to retrain movement patterns in ways that get the right muscles to show up! My goal is that my clients leave every session feeling a little better, and knowing a little more about how their body works!
Testimonials:
Birth:
”I cannot begin to sing enough praises. In short, Natalie was all we could have hoped for.
Pre-birth, she was warm, open, and ready to support us in all possible ways. When she learned I wanted to do HypnoBirthing, she read books and spent a lot of time making sure she fully understand my goals. She put my husband at ease, and she empowered us both from the beginning.
During labor, Natalie was my saving grace. She was with us in the hospital for over 24 hours. She paid attention to everything the nurses and midwives said so I wouldn't have to relay information to anyone. She brought LED candles and essential oils to create a calm environment. She continually checked in with how I was doing, what I wanted to try next, and what might help. She held my hand and helped me through every contraction throughout the night. We laughed, we told stories, we spent so much intimate time - her, me, and my husband. She never left my side (until we told her to go get some sleep!) and yet also somehow managed to take beautiful photos throughout.
Post-birth, we hired her to help with a night feeding, and she always made our day with her bright spirit and kind, loving energy. She's somehow nurturing Mother Earth and no-nonsense Mary Poppins all wrapped into one incredible human.”
- Jaime & Dennis
Postpartum:
“Natalie was my overnight doula for about a month and half (started a week after my delivery). It was really fun working with her and she gave a tremendous help to go through my postpartum recovery. I did 100% breast feeding, so had to wake up every hour or two. Whenever Natalie comes, I got a good sleep despite the frequent awakening as she took very good care of me and my baby. She adapts to the baby's changing pattern, catches well what baby wants and always willing to help more. My family said they hardly hear baby's crying at night when Natalie is present.
Natalie is punctual, reliable and easy to work with. Also, she has good research skill to tackle some of the issues that a first time mom would have. I do miss working with her and I highly recommend her for the doula service!”
-Yeo Jung Park
Strength and Movement for Motherhood:
Working with Natalie for my postpartum core and pelvic floor recovery is truly one of the best decisions I've ever made for myself. When I began investigating a postnatal recovery plan, my first instinct was to find online resources, or do workouts through programs like Peloton. However, I was terrified of exercising incorrectly and injuring myself further, and realized I wanted a more tailored, hands on approach. Natalie met me where I was at every step of the way and developed a recovery plan for me that became progressively more challenging while maintaining the fundamentals. She introduced me to my lower abdominals for the first time in my life, explained each movement down to the muscle so that I understood how it contributed to my recovery, and made gentle adjustments in my technique so that my form was helping instead of hurting. My son is 17 months old now, and I still refer back to the materials Natalie gave me. Not only that, but I feel so much more secure when I do more intensive workouts through programs like Peloton because Natalie did such an amazing job teaching me how to do these exercises correctly. I was terrified before having a baby that my body would never recover, and that I would never be as strong and athletic as I was before, but I find that I'm actually stronger postnatally because of how I've learned to exercise with Natalie.
-Tess Hanrahan
Training/Certification: Postpartum Doula Certification Program (Warm Welcome Birth, 2017); Birth Doula Certification Program (Warm Welcome Birth, 2018); Bachelor's degree in Family Studies ( Hampshire College, 2018); Certified Personal Trainer (National Association For Sports Medicine, 2020); Infant and Adult CPR & AED ( American Red Cross, 2020); Birth And Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist( Core Exercise Solutions; 2021); ProNatal Perinatal Fitness Specialist( ProNatal, 2021); Hypnobabies Birth doula Training(Hypnobabies, 2021).
Fee Structure:
Standard Birth package: $1800. This includes individualized movement plans, labor aids, access to my book and birth tools library, healing foods and herbs for birth postpartum recovery.
Perinatal Fitness Birth Package: $2,400 this includes everything in the standard birth package along with 5 prenatal fitness visits and 5 postpartum movement and fitness visits. You will also get bi-weekly workout plans which you can do on your own, which correspond with your individual needs. These include do on your own which include videos and PDF’s on how to do the movements we worked on, as well as the option to send me videos of portions of your workouts for form feedback!
In Home Birth Prep and Perinatal Corrective Exercise sessions: $75 per 1.5 hour session. $65 for my doula clients. This includes about 45 minutes of moving and strengthening, and 45 minutes for education regarding reducing aches and pains, learning about proper movement mechanics, and getting the chance to understand the complexities about how your body moves!
Postpartum support: $28/ per hour Daytime Support, $32/per hour overnight support