I am a certified doula through DONA and love supporting women during their pregnancies, labor, and post-natal experiences. Childbirth is an exciting and life-altering transition. It is my hope that my support and friendship in your lives during this time (and in the future) will encourage a pleasant, smooth, and joyous transition to parenthood.
Yep, I'm cool I blog! Ha, if only being cool were so simple. This is a place where I plan to share with you all the happenings and dreamings about Serendipity Family Studios, you won't want to miss the fun.
I have been semi-professionally photographing since 2001, when I shot my first wedding. I am constantly learning new tricks and techniques and am ever my own worst critique. However, above all I love capturing special moments on "film" and being a part of lasting family memories! I have a "mobile studio" to make session easy on little ones.
As for my "professional" experiences: I have a masters degree in psychological counseling and have worked as a professional in the field of mental health for a number of years. I earned a PhD from Iowa State University in the spring of 2011 in Human Development and Family Studies, child development. My dissertation project was a feminist critique of modern maternity care experiences in the U.S.. As for photography, I have little formal training, but a great deal of passion for the art of photography. I am a certified doula through DONA, International and have completed training to become and ICEA childbirth educator.
A friend of mine once said she was, "Just your average dreamer, with some not so average dreams!" I find her self-description also fits me nicely.
Serendipity Family Studios is very much a work / business in progress / process. It is my hope and dream to create (eventually in actual bricks & motor) a place to grow and build a strong and supportive community around young and growing families. This stems from my belief that children benefit from the village raising them. Therefore, it is my desire to offer support and services around this concept ("it takes a village") to the families in Ames and central Iowa- starting with pregnancy and birth. I hope that this business will become a local resource, which encourages natural parenting, organic & healthy living, and freethinking, among many other things.
I also desire to collaborate with many other talented and inspired people in the community who also want to empower families through support and information. Through collaboration, I hope that Serendipity Family Studios will become a place for everyone - offering a great diversity of products, services and other supportive networks beneficial to growing and living together.
I named my business Serendipity because I love the word, and what it means: to make a fortunate discovery by accident. I also use the word studios intentionally as well; this word to me represents a space to create. I dream that this business I am building will be a space to create for my community, in many various ways.
I think it’s fitting to call myself a Jill-of-all-trades, as I often find myself filling many roles and juggling many different "jobs" in the process.
For all practical purposes, I am the owner of Serendipity Family studios, which as you may notice is a bit of a business-of-all-trades.
This is a small sample of my photography work. I've featured maternity and newborns in this sampling, as these are favored subjects for me. I also have a significant portfolio of engagements, weddings, family portraits, and travel photography. I'll be sure to get those galleries up soon.
Birth Photography
If you've browsed this website you might not be surprised to know that I am also available to work as a birth photographer.
A doulas goal is to help woman have a safe and satisfying childbirth as she, the woman, defines it. Doula's also recognize birth as a key experience the mother will remember all her life.
Benefits of a Doula
Women who have doulas report feeling more secure and cared for, are more successful in adapting to new family dynamics, have greater success with breastfeeding, have greater self-confidence, and have less postpartum depression. Additionally, having a doula present at your birth has been shown to decrease c-section's by 50%, length of labor by 25%, epidural requests by 60%, and the use of pitocin by 40%*.
*The Doula Book (2002)
Scheduling Your Class
At present, while I'm waiting to find a great bricks and mortar space, I am only accepting private clients. Since I do not have a space, I am currently teaching childbirth classes in the home of my clients. A typical childbirth course meets one night a week for approximately 2 hours for 6 weeks. However, since I am only taking private, in home, clients right now this can be customized to best meet individual needs.
Training through ICEA.
"Our culture has a secret and it's not that birth is painful, it's that women are strong!" ~ Laura Stove Harm
My Approach
The purpose of childbirth education, for me, is to empower women. My childbirth education classes are not simply about understanding the physiological processes that occur during birth or learning about the various policies and procedures a woman may encounter, but rather aimed to address the whole experience of birth. This means that my childbirth classes emphasize both the physical and psychological experiences of birth and specially how this two interact and influence each other.
What is a doula?
The word doula comes from the Greek, meaning woman who serves. During childbirth and the early post-partum period a doula provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support. Doulas specialize in the non-clinical aspects of care during childbirth.
A doula can offer information about various options, including risks, benefits, and accompanying precautions or interventions for safety
Central Iowa Doula Association
A group of doulas (and other professionals) who get together to talk shop and support each other. This website has some great birth and natural family resources.
Friends of Iowa Midwives
Friends of Iowa Midwives is a statewide grassroots organization working to:
Promote access to midwifery and out-of-hospital birth in Iowa; Protect the rights of Iowa women to choose their place of birth & birth attendant; Provide education about childbirth options; Create supportive community for birthing women and families; Our current legislative campaign aims to license Certified Professional
Midwives in Iowa.
More to come....
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Phone: 515.231.1523
Email: mandi_serendipityfamily.com
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