Our Four Core Service Areas:
Birth Doulas
Childbirth Education
Lactation Support
Postpartum Doulas
To inquire about services & classes, set an appointment, find a doula, or RSVP for Meet the Doulas please tell us about you on our Contact page. We will respond promptly!
Birth Doulas
A labor doula, or birth doula, supports a couple through pregnancy and birth from the point that she is employed by the couple. The doula is a coach and advocate who is knowledgeable about the facets of labor as well as the medical or home birth environments. She supports both the father and mother as they experience this unique journey through pregnancy and birth. You wouldn’t get married without a wedding coordinator, and so all the more you should have a trusted guide with you through pregnancy, labor, birth, and immediate postpartum. All of our doulas are trained by reputable professional associations, with experience ranging from attending five births to more than fifty. Labor doula fees range from approximately $400 – $700, depending upon the doula’s experience and certification status.
Childbirth Education
The Lumina Birth Course
Your baby’s birthday trumps all others as the most important day of your life. It’s wise to be as prepared as you can be and a quality childbirth education class is an important step in that process. We have two main courses…
The Lumina Birth Course class meets for a 5 or 6 week class series, depending upon the instructor, for a total of 12-14 hours and couples are provided the opportunity to:
- Learn about birth physiology, stages of labor, and comfort measures best for working with labor and birth.
- Enjoy a personal, comfortable, small-group environment where couples can discuss and learn from each other.
- Discover the value of a supportive birth team, including doulas, your husband/partner, and caregivers.
- Review common medical practices to be informed for consent or refusal, and have the knowledge to write a birth plan that reflects your desires.
- Practice helpful labor positions, relaxations, and massage methods together.
- Embrace the uncertainties of birth and parenting, letting fears go and focusing on what you can control, like your nutrition, fitness, attitudes, and knowledge.
- Role play birth scenarios, what you would do, and communicating with caregivers.
- Learn about breastfeeding and immediate postpartum baby care.
- Come together in a new way as a couple on this journey of growing your family together.
- Be encouraged to trust your body to birth, doing the best thing in the moment as labor unfolds.b
- Creating your own birth art.
- Having fun learning with other parents-to-be!
The Lumina Birth Course schedule can be found here, as well as our online registration/payment option.
Childbirth Short Course
The second childbirth class we offer is the Childbirth Short Course. It meets one time for 4 hours and is not intended to be a complete class. It can serve as a refresher course or for couples who cannot fit a weeknight class into their schedule. Because of the shorter time, this class is much less interactive than our longer Lumina Birth Course series. If you cannot fit a full course into your schedule, but need more content than the Short Course, our educators offer private classes that suit your schedule.
See our Classes & Events page for the current schedule and how to register.
Do you have a group of pregnant friends who would like a class together?
We love to do custom-scheduled courses for affinity groups such as friends, churches, MOPS groups, pre-schools, play groups, neighborhoods, or children’s activity groups. The coordinator of such a class receives a 50% discount on class fees. Minimum of 3 couples are required. Contact us if you want to coordinate a class group of any kind.
Our Current Class Offerings Include:
- The Lumina Birth Course (5 or 6 Weeks, or over One Weekend)
- Childbirth “Short Course”
- Birth Plan Workshop
- Breastfeeding Class
- Private Childbirth or Breastfeeding Class
- Custom-Scheduled Courses for Your Group
- Infant Massage
Why should you take a Lumina Birth class when your hospital offers childbirth (and breastfeeding) classes, and maybe for less time and/or money?
A hospital-based course will typically focus on teaching you what they offer – medication, epidurals, induction, IV’s, birth management, etc. There are always exceptions and quality teachers, but hospitals tend to be more interested in teaching you how to be a good patient. They are not so good at teaching you tools to work through a normal, natural labor. Of all labors, 95% are normal and biologically natural. In hospital-speak, that’s “low-risk.” The hospital environment does not treat birth as a normal physiological process, but as a crisis waiting to happen – that other 5%. In the medical model, the potential for medical attention must be managed and avoided, so much so that the management of birth is trusted above the body’s ability to birth. This philosophy is reflected in most hospital childbirth courses, even if the instructor happens to trust natural, normal birth, she may not be allowed to teach that way. Hospitals are in the business of risk mitigation for sick people and insurance companies. Pregnancy is not an illness, thus birth becomes a casualty of a flawed system. The cost of maternity care is a perfect indicator of that, since for-profit hospitals are in large part carried financially by lucrative maternity departments. The Lumina Birth class instructors are all trained, experienced instructors and doulas. They have been working in Atlanta hospitals for many births, and bring that experience and perspective to the class. We don’t have the institutional facility to offer a fee as low as a hospital can, but the benefits of learning from one who trusts birth are priceless!
An independent childbirth class gives you a fresh, non-medical perspective. And, with Lumina Birth, you will also find a great team of experienced labor and postpartum doulas, possibly even your class instructor herself!
Lactation Support
Breastfeeding is the best gift you can give to your baby! As a new mother and baby learn how to connect with each other for comfort, emotional attachment, and nourishment, the road is sometimes not a smooth path. We believe mothers should get the help they need to have a breastfeeding relationship. No matter what the issue, minor to major, our lactation support staff will see you through with phone consultation and home visits. Your birth doula is also available on a more limited basis in the week postpartum as a resource for breastfeeding information and support. We offer prenatal breastfeeding classes and postnatal private consultation to help your breastfeeding relationship get started well. Our lactation consultants are International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLC) or trained by the La Leche League.
Postpartum Doulas
A postpartum doula is trained and experienced in helping new mothers ease into a new role and fully enjoy the early weeks or months with their baby. The doula helps with baby care, mother/baby attachment, light housework, older siblings, and giving the mother time to rest. It is the doula’s job to foster the bond between mother and baby, not to be the “baby nurse” or nanny.
Contracts with postpartum doulas start at 6-8 hours minimum at $20-25/hour, always with the option to contract more time based upon the family’s needs. Our postpartum doula is Gwynne Knap. You can read her profile on our Doulas page then contact us to begin a discussion with her about your care needs.
