WELCOME
I’M PATRICIA
I love babies, but I did not love parenting my baby for most of my first year of motherhood.
When my first baby was born, I had every reason to think we were going to be fine. But I really struggled to figure him out and to live up to my own expectations. Add to that the external pressure I felt to “just be happy he’s healthy” and the constant urging to “enjoy every moment!” and it is no wonder I soon found myself overwhelmed with feelings of inadequacy, incompetence, and disappointment.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.
Once I started connecting with other new mothers in my community, I realized I was far from alone in these feelings, and worse, there was a constant undercurrent of feeling that we ought to be able to manage this, and do so happily, no less!
It took a little while (and some counseling, and some parenting boundaries) to find my way out from under these heavy feelings. But on the other side, I finally started to enjoy parenting my bright and energetic baby!
And that is when I found out there was actually such a thing as a postpartum doula - a person who supports and guides new parents through the early months with their babies.
Now, I have the wonderful privilege of helping parents prepare for their birth and postpartum, to walk with them through a more calm, confident fourth trimester, and to help everyone sleep a little better, too.
I do this through highly personalized virtual postpartum doula care so that you can finally enjoy your baby and this parenting work ❤️
Here’s how we can work together:
Take a day to work through the hardest thing at this stage
12 weeks of attentive virtual postpartum doula care
Personalized sleep support to meet your family’s needs and values
What kind of help do you have?
Virtual doula care is different for every family because each family has different resources, levels of support, needs, and values.
Together, we can look at what kind of help you have access to, what kind of support is most valuable to you, and how virtual doula care can help bring your vision for your postpartum experience to life.
Through virtual doula care, I’ve helped people waiting to meet their babies to make a plan and prepare for their upcoming birth and postpartum.
I’ve helped new parents work out the basics of newborn care: when and how much to feed, how to bathe a baby, use a baby carrier, and learn sleep cues.
I’ve helped new parents better reflect on their experiences, their expectations, and their goals so that they can take steps to look after themselves and meet those goals.
And I’ve supported families as they’ve shifted their baby’s sleep habits and are finally getting longer stretches of sleep for the first time in months.
This is the difference virtual doula care can make for you, too.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
“I knew I would be able to get my questions answered but I didn’t know that Patricia would take the time to go into depth with my concerns and really try to come up with solutions and a plan tailored to my family. I felt like we were a team.”
— Jessica A.
“We got a lot of answers to questions that weren’t necessarily appropriate for the midwife, pediatrician, or doctor. Stuff to help us with the daily routines. And the reassurance on stuff that’s normal for our baby (so great to hear that we’re not doing anything wrong!)”
— Sarah W.
“The ability to reach out via chat to someone experienced and non-judgmental was amazing. [I feel] 3000% more confident!! My back thanks you too now that I’m not spending 1.5 hours of my day rocking a bowling ball back and forth”
— Kristen M.
Ready to dive in?
This is my calling
Frederick Buechner says a person’s calling is the place where their deep gladness meets the world’s deep hunger, and for me there is a deep gladness in supporting people as they become parents - a transformation that should be free from loneliness, overwhelm, and guilt. Read on to see how I got here.
1. I’m an immigrant.
When I was little, my family emigrated from the Netherlands to Canada, and as an adult, I immigrated to the United States where I live with my American husband and kids. Having grown up in places where universal health care and extended paid maternity leave are a given certainly influences my efforts to support all families in their transition to parenthood.
2. I’ve traveled all over.
I traveled a lot before settling in here in the Pacific Northwest. I grew up with four languages and when I moved away to go to university, I added a fifth. I studied Linguistics and trained to be an ESL teacher. I spent a year studying abroad in Europe and visited El Salvador several times. With a Master’s degree in hand, I helped people practice their language skills and boost their confidence so that they could achieve their personal and professional goals.
3. And then I became a mother.
I got married and settled into the woodsy Pacific Northwest, and loved it. There, I taught incoming international college students until one summer when my husband was offered a job in Japan. A few days later, we discovered I was pregnant. What an adventure! And so, only a few weeks after receiving our household goods shipment and setting up our Japanese home, our first baby was born.
4. This is home.
After three years in Japan, we moved back to the Pacific Northwest and instead of returning to classroom language instruction, I shifted to supporting new parents virtually and had a second baby. I’ve lived all over, but this feels like home. And this work is the final piece of my deep joy.
