Your Experts

After years of searching high and low for that unicorn of a doula who aligned with my passion for hospital birth, I felt like lightning struck when this perfect person showed up at my door for a doula training workshop. I literally gasped when I saw Marnie and her beaming smile, dressed professionally, hostess gift in tow. I saw her heart and passion for helping others immediately. – Lisa

I was looking for a mission centered career change when a common acquaintance had suggested that I attend a doula training certification being held at Lisa’s house. More than one person had independently recommended that I’d make a great doula but it made very little sense at the time as I was in a completely different profession. But show up I did! I stayed long after the group had gone home and Lisa & I began talks immediately about the possibility of becoming business partners. At every juncture there were uncanny commonalities in our lives and a constant barrage of signs that we were indeed on the right track and meant to be going forward together on our mission. – Marnie

Over many meetings with Lisa’s life sustaining cups of coffee and Marnie’s Canadian cups of tea, writing on giant post-it notes stuck to a wall, we talked about everything! It was at one of these many meetings that Lisa passed a note to Marnie. Without skipping a beat, Marnie wrote back on the note and the rest is history!

We even have similar handwriting!

A potential deal breaker would have been if our dogs didn’t get along…but they LOVE each other!

The Hospital Doula! All Facts-No Crunch!

Our Big Idea – We chose to break ranks with other doulas and be the different doulas! We’re modern doulas that specialize in providing service to those planning to birth in the hospital setting. We’ve seen that those individuals need the MOST support! Many in the doula community consider a Hospital Doula to be an oxymoron with doulas often in an adversarial relationship with the hospital staff. Our very presence can inherently be a statement that the care or support the hospital is giving is simply not enough. But we saw ourselves working WITH the hospital team. There’s a way with respect and dignity that we can work together. We know that nurses are overlooked, have multiple responsibilities to their superiors, hospital policy and the obstetricians on call. They are overrun with charting responsibilities all while trying to keep you and your baby safe throughout labor.

There has always been lots of support for the “crunchy” birth experience if you were willing or able to give birth at home or a birth center. It’s also not representative of the 98.5% of people who give birth in the hospital setting by necessity, choice, or compromise.

Lisa, a doula for over a decade, longed for a likeminded professional willing to cater to this group of people who really needed more information. She became an Evidence Based Birth® Instructor to impart real information and not just opinion! Marnie, with a background in the dental field knew that preparing her patients with evidence based knowledge and education was key to decreasing their fear and having a better overall experience!

Why the Elephant logo made sense:

We both loved elephants and how they symbolize strength, wisdom, family, and admired their ability to feel and show strong emotion in life, in death and every moment in between.

They have the longest pregnancies of any animal, lasting 22 months.

Sealing the deal was the fact that elephants are one of the only animals that seek out the comfort and protection of other female elephants when laboring.

Female elephants instinctively form a protective circle around the potentially vulnerable birthing elephant, encouraging her and celebrating the birth with triumphant trumpeting and even tears of joy.