Ellen Haggerty is a postpartum doula in Cary, North Carolina. Though she is a grandmother of four and an experienced doula, HUG Your Baby enhanced the information and support she offers young families. Here is one of her stories on her journey to becoming a Certified HUG Teacher.
I have gained so much
knowledge from the HUG Course. I have been around babies for almost 30
years and have 4 beautiful grandchildren. The bond I am able to witness between
a mother and her child/children was a huge factor in my desire to become a
postpartum doula. Little did I know, this career path would lead me to
wanting to take this knowledge and further my education so I can help mothers
who may not have the support that they need.
I decided to take this course to further my education as a doula
and have gleaned more than I expected. I am so excited when I am able to “Broadcast”
to a mother the actions her baby is doing and what it means. The
excitement in her eyes and the love she displays warms my heart tenfold.
One client in particular that has stayed on my mind is a
breastfeeding mother of twins. She was past exhaustion. A sweet
friend provided her doula services as a gift so she could get some much needed
rest. I don’t think her friend knew what she was actually giving
her. When I spent time with the mom, dad and babies, I could see and feel
the deep love they shared and I could sense the intensity of exhaustion.
The father was extremely supportive and eagerly willing to learn new strategies
to help his wife. While the boys slept, I listened to what concerned them
the most - how many times they were
waking in the night. The boys kept waking every hour to feed and with
that high demand, there was no time for sleep. The parents said the boys
would wake each other up when one or the other would grunt or squirm. Mother
was worried she wasn’t able to satisfy their hunger. As the boys slept I
observed the different stages of sleep. I was able to “Broadcast” the
active/deep sleep and how some newborn’s active sleep seems so light that it is
mistakened for hunger. I reviewed some cues for signs of hunger. After 45
minutes of sleep, one of the boys became restless. I suggested that we wait a
minute or two to see what he did. Sure enough, he calmed himself and went
right back into a deep sleep. As if on cue, the second twin did the same
thing. The joy I witnessed on the faces of mother and father were
priceless. I am not kidding when I say we all had tears of joy!
I had no idea that I would benefit so much from this course and would
be so excited to share The HUG DVD and handouts with clients. HUG Your
Baby a new and amazing tool to add to my arsenal!