About Michelle Haskell
CD/PCD(DONA), LCCE, C-VBACS, CPSC
Who I Serve
I am deeply passionate about birth - all births! I have experience supporting unmedicated births, cesarean births, medically complex births, inductions, spontaneous labors, and more. I don't come into your birth space with an agenda; my goal is to ensure your questions are answered and your needs are met - however that happens! I have a special place in my heart for first time parents and parents who are experiencing a medically complicated pregnancy or birth. Informed inductions and cesareans don't scare me - I have a bag of tools at hand to help you navigate those waters! I'm ready to walk with you throughout your journey - whatever that entails.
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As your postpartum doula, I bring the same enthusiasm and education into your home. I love helping new parents discover their innate skills and develop new ones, growing in their confidence and new roles. If your parenting time begins at the hospital, I am here to support you as you navigate time in the Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (RNICU). Whether everything goes according to plan or there are bumps in the way, I want to help make this huge transition in your life as smooth as possible.
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If you JUST. NEED. SOME SLEEP, I'm here to help with that! My sleep consulting services are applicable to children of all ages. I particularly love helping your newborn develop healthy sleep habits to get everyone off to the best start, but I also have a soft spot for toddlers and older children.
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I enthusiastically serve families of all ethnicities, religious beliefs, orientations, and gender identities.
What Brought Me to Birth Work
For as long as I can remember, I have loved babies and birth. My family used to race to the new babies at any gathering and I'm proud to say, I was usually the first one there (knobby elbows worked really well to box out my elders). As a child, I played hospital nursery with my dolls, and the gestation period of my Barbies seemed to be never ending. I have always had a deep respect for pregnancy, birth, and the new family unit, but it wasn't until the births of my own children that I realized I might be able to make birth and new family support into a career.
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My daughter was born in 2014. I had a pretty boring early pregnancy - run of the mill nausea and exhaustion, but nothing to write home about. Around 28 weeks, I began having consistent contractions. Fortunately, they weren't labor contractions, but they sure felt that way at times! My OBGYN told me I had an irritable uterus and gave me a few coping techniques, and I went about my normal life. A few days into my 30th week, I was in a meeting and felt a pop and a gush of fluid - my waters had broken.
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Unfortunately, my OBGYN did not provide services at the local hospital with the (RNICU), so when I was transferred, I had an entirely new birth team. Over the next week or so, I received a plethora of different treatments and tests to help determine my daughter's health and try to keep her inside me for as long it was safe.
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I went into her labor feeling confident about birth and my options, but was quickly deflated as my preferred options seemed to be removed rapidly. I ended up receiving interventions I hadn't wanted because I didn't know that I still had options, even with a medically complex birth, and I didn't know how to advocate for myself. My labor was longer and more difficult than it could have been, and while I was extremely fortunate that my daughter was born at 32 weeks and 4 days much healthier than anyone could have predicted and afterward I felt intense grief at what I had lost. It took an incredibly supportive partner and a lot of time, therapy, and hard work to process the birth and my postpartum time.
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When my son was born in 2016, I had heard the term doula, but hadn't known much about it. I fell headfirst into preparing to make this birth different. My irritable uterus struck almost right away, and I had intense contractions throughout my entire pregnancy, but while I was coping with those, I was also researching more options and ways to advocate for myself, and helping my partner understand what I needed in labor. Our son arrived at 39 weeks after a beautiful and healing birth.
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My Education
I fell in love with the doula role from the first day of my training with DONA International in 2018. While I was working toward my birth doula certification, I discovered a love of teaching about birth as well (honestly, I'll take literally any excuse to talk about birth). I completed a rigorous training, study, and exam program and earned my Lamaze Childbirth Educator certification.
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As I continued to support families in birth, I realized how lucky I had been to have great support of family and friends during my own postpartum period. With our global economy, we're often further than ever from our support networks. I wanted to step into this role and help new families build their confidence and their village, and received my postpartum doula certification from DONA International in 2021.
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After working with postpartum families for a few years, I started to notice the importance of healthy sleep hygiene and supporting families to achieve the sleep they need, but so often weren't getting (and recognized my own challenges with this in my early parenthood stages). In 2022, I earned a certification in sleep consulting from Center for Pediatric Sleep Management, and I have been enjoying helping families achieve their sleep goals. You don't have to suffer like I did!
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Hopelessly entranced by learning more about birth, postpartum, evidence-based information, and women's issues, I pursue continuing education opportunities with enthusiasm. 2022 brought my certification as a VBAC Specialist. I'm not sure what new letters I'll add to my alphabet soup of credentials moving forward, but I'm excited to find more!
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As your doula, childbirth educator, sleep consultant, and family cheerleader, I bring a wealth of information and experience to you. I don't bring any agendas with me - only evidence-based information. My goal is to give you and your family the attention and knowledge you need to make informed decisions about your pregnancy, labor, pediatric sleep, and early parenthood.
I love working with expectant and new families throughout their experience of bringing new life into this beautiful world. I have experience supporting a wide variety of family units and cultural backgrounds and truly enjoy the time I spend with my clients.
About Alexandra Harper-Brees
I'm excited to have partnered with Alexandra Harper-Brees to provide top notch care for my clients if I need to be away.
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Alexandra is a Certified Professional Birth Doula trained through the Center for the Childbearing Year. She began serving women as a doula shortly after her training in 2016. In 2017 Alexandra and her husband to Almaty, Kazakhstan where he worked as a teacher. Though she knew her Russian language was not good enough to serve the woman of Kazakhstan as a doula, she continued doing online consultations with woman in the U.S. for healthy pregnancy prep and even travelled home to attend a birth!
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One word that greatly describes Alexandra's doula practice is “open-minded.” She supports both home and hospital births. She believes birthing people are powerful creatures and that birth is primarily a natural event, and she also believes in the considered use of medical intervention and the compassionate use of epidurals. This means that Alexandra supports both those wishing for natural and those wishing for medicated births. She believes that to some, birth is physical and raw, and to others it is spiritual and ecstatic (to most of us, it’s a lot of both). She has worked with people with and without partners, and from a variety of backgrounds. She is a proud ally of LBGTQ+ of all identities and is honored to serve clients who make up a rich variety of families. Her first and foremost goal is to understand your wants and needs, ensure you feel supported, and do everything in her power to ensure your birth is an empowering experience no matter the setting or scenario.
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About Mattie Pawlowski
Mattie Pawlowski loves things being in their homes. Even more than that, though - she LOVES helping to find homes for all the things floating around your house and cluttering your surfaces. Frankly, I find it a little sick, but she does what she does and she does it well!
Mattie emerged from the womb headstrong and hardworking. She loves helping others and finds so much joy in watching transformations happen (she LOVES spending time at my house - every single room is a new challenge!).
In addition to her love for organization, Mattie is a phenomenal caretaker. Growing up in a large, very close extended family, there were always kids running around and Mattie naturally gravitated toward caring for the littles. She loves enjoying arts and crafts and science experiments with older children, and is an absolute magician with infants and babies. Her background working in summer camps means your children can count on fun activities and plenty of outdoor time. And you can rest easy leaving your angels with Mattie knowing that she has 20 years of childcare experience, glowing references, and a Basic Life Support certification.
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Mattie is currently pursuing a PharmD - Doctor of Pharmacy - degree. Her ultimate goal is to support women's health in the pharmacy field.