Compassionate Support for Your Birth Journey
Hello! I’m Dani.
I’m a trained postpartum doula & a certified lactation specialist.
I’m originally from Massachusetts, but I’ve been living in Chittenden county for the past seven years. I spent years in the restaurant industry, but it was so defeating, and not what I wanted as a lifetime career. I obtained my business degree while working in multiple fields (non-profit world, healthcare, etc.). Nothing ever felt like, “This is it. This is what I want to do with my life”. Nothing ever felt like my true calling. When I became pregnant, I decided I would stop working all together, as much as a financial burden as it would be, and focus on being a mom. Little did I know, this is when I would figure it all out.
I became interested in becoming a doula almost immediately after my son was born. My husband went back to work, and I felt overwhelmed and lonely not having any family where I live and few friends close-by. Despite having about 20 years working with children, I was still scared that I just didn’t have all of the information I needed to be a confident parent. The unknown is scary, and there was a lot of unknown.
I wanted to learn how to help others like myself, and the more I learned, the more interested I became. Being a new parent is no joke, and there’s so much that people don’t tell you. I decided that I want to help other families feel supported and educated to feel more confident and less scared/overwhelmed with being new parents.
Fun fact: I built about 95% of this website one-handed with my newborn sleeping on my lap (IYKYK)
I value accessible care for all. Our country has a history of inaccessible, unaffordable, and inequitable healthcare. It results in humans not getting the diagnoses, treatments, and supports that they need.
My mission is to contribute to making healthcare accessible by making my work of being a postpartum doula accessible to individuals regardless of race, sexual orientation, or income.
It is my responsibility to continuously educate myself on important issues in order to provide informed care for my clients. In addition to my regular rates, I provide financial options to those facing economic hardship either through scholarships or a sliding scale rate. I also provide BIPOC & LGBTQ+ discounts. Please reach out if you would like a postpartum doula but are afraid that you cannot afford one.
Why the Name?
I wish I could take credit for the name, but it was all my husband. He’s a pun master and proudly came up with this play on words with some inspiration from Adam Sandler’s, The Waterboy.
The Medulla Oblongata is the connection between the brain stem and spinal cord, and it has many regulatory function centers (NIH, 2023). It generates and regulates respiratory functions and blood pressure. It’s responsible for many other reflexes (coughing, sneezing, swallowing, etc.).
Many of the functions that the medulla oblongata regulates, are functions impacted by pregnancy and birth (breathing, blood pressure, etc.).
