These lovely girls are the beautiful faces of the brand new Transition Doula Collective. As an Edmonton Branding Photographer, I love taking images for female entrepreneurs! The group was born when these three roller derby teammates found out that they all had another thing in common as well. Now they are a collective supporting each other to support families having babies. The group consists of Erin (Appleseed Doula Services), Trish (Nested Birth) and Kayla (Birth Tree Doula Services). I was so excited to meet up with them one sunset-y evening at my field and take some gorgeous branding portraits of them, as a group and individually. Since I am not a birth photographer I have no images of them in action, but what I did capture is the personalities of and the connection between these women.
The word “doula” comes from the ancient Greek meaning “a woman who serves”. Today, a birth doula is a trained and experienced childbirth professional who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to the mother and her partner before, during, and after childbirth. As doulas, the intention is to provide non-judgemental, mother centered support, helping you achieve a beautiful and fulfilling birth, as you define it.
The Transition Doula Collective offers a wide variety of doula services including pre-natal visits, continuous physical, emotional, and informational support during labour, birth and immediate postpartum period, postpartum visits plus other birth support. They also offer a prenatal workshop that will take you (and your partner) on a soulful journey to parenthood. They will help you to seek the answers to the question “What do I need to know to birth my baby?”
The Transition Doula Collective Philosophy of Care: “Every mother deserves the ability to fully understand her options and feel completely supported in whatever she chooses. There is no right or wrong way to birth your baby. Whether your birth is vaginal, cesarean, medicated, unmedicated, home, or hospital birth, we support you in whatever path unfolds and help you feel empowered and informed.
We believe birth, in all its forms, is a sacred and transformative journey. Transitional support into parenthood is profoundly important. The birth of mothers and fathers is just as significant and beautiful as the birth of babies. A healthy baby is important, but is not all that matters. The memory, experience and feelings surrounding your birth sets the stage for your transition into parenthood.”
“We have a secret in our culture, and it’s not that birth is painful. It’s that women are strong.”
– Laura Stavoe Harm –
[…] to clients. It is always a joy to photograph them; both in the studio like this session, and on location, as we have done in the past. These images show their relationship and incorporate elements of […]