A birth doula is a companion who supports a birthing person during labor and birth. Birth doulas are trained to provide continuous, one-on-one care, as well as information, physical support, and emotional support to birthing persons and their partners.
So many things about pregnancy and birth are unpredictable. You don’t know when you’ll go into labor, or how you’ll cope with the sensations. Everyone tells you different things. There’s so much information that it becomes really overwhelming for tons of people.
Doulas only attend about 6% of deliveries in the US, and we think that’s a shame. There is strong evidence that shows having a birth doula may decrease your need for pain medication, lower your risk for Cesarean, and increase your satisfaction. Support from a birth doula may also reduce the length of labor by up to 40 minutes, which is a really long time when contractions are two minutes apart!
Boundless Birth is a partnership between Emily Christian-Michaels and Anna Sylvester, who have worked as partners in the Pittsburgh birth community since 2018. Aimee Bungard joined our little team in 2021, and together the three of us provide exemplary support to all families in Western Pennsylvania.
We are dedicated to helping you grow your family, and are happy to provide full-spectrum doula services as well as breastfeeding support, postpartum help, and childbirth education.
Every client has different needs, and lots of people realize once they’re in labor that they need something different than they thought. At Boundless Birth, we try to bring flexibility into your birth experience. That is, we try to teach our clients how to go with the flow.
Flexibility is what allows us to guide you down the winding path of childbirth (and truthfully, parenting). The knowledge that we bring with us from years of experience and training is what you can depend on to know that you’re being given all of your options. Once you know what all of your options are, you can make a truly informed decision about your care.
We give you the option of working with either one OR two Boundless Birth doulas for the entirety of your time with us. While one doula is amazing, two doulas is so much better! Just like every family is unique, so is every doula. Working in pairs with families gives us the ability to complement each other’s skills. As partner doulas we can really dive into the things that you’re thinking and feeling prenatally. We bring double the knowledge with us, double the skills, and double the sparkling personality.
Keep reading below for more information about our service packages. We look forward to meeting you soon!
This package is a great option for second- and third-time parents. You’ll work with one birth doula, and they will provide:
This package gets you a second birth doula, and that’s more than just an extra set of hands! Together, your support team will provide:
In addition to two birth doulas and exemplary prenatal and birth support, this popular package provides growing families with a bunch of postpartum essentials! Together, your support team will provide:
If you’re hungry for more knowledge about your pregnancy and birth, our Diamond package is the one for you! It just so happens that both of your birth doulas are Childbirth Educators. Together, your support team will provide:
Add anything from this list to any of our Birth Doula packages to create a custom service that’s a perfect fit for your family.
We maintain a certain number of open spaces in our due date calendar to offer our Birth Doula services to low-income families and members of marginalized groups on a sliding payment scale. If you fit either or both of these categories, please note that you would like to discuss payment options when you contact us to schedule your free consultation.
For families who have the means and the inclination to do so, we ask that you please consider making a monetary contribution to our Family Doula Fund. Your kind donation allows us to hold these open spaces for pregnant families in need.