Right From the Start LTD.

It has come to my attention through the course of my life's training that the American way of supporting the new family is not shared by the rest of the world. It can be seen that our culture's birth traditions focus mainly on the purchasing of gifts and making sure that babies have a fancy car seat, fancy strollers, swings, bouncy seats and toys. The parents however, are left virtually uneducated and unsupported.

Most babies are born in hospitals, to parents that who may not have education or experience in infant care but have done a good job preparing for the BIRTH with classes and books. And rightly so, the birth of a child is one of the most exciting moments in someone's life. But, what about preparing for the postpartum period which, is almost always overlooked.

Mother and baby remain the hospital for just a few days and then the new family goes home. The front door closes and the support ends. Of course friends and family will visit, some may even bring a dish but the new mom often quickly realizes that they have come to see the baby and nothing more.

We in America have almost no traditions to welcome the woman into her role of mother. Our culture offers the least support in the world during the postpartum period. This is where the doula comes in. Our role in the new family is always changing as are the needs of the new family. We may be a shoulder to cry on, a teacher, a helping hand with the house or other children or simply a friend with a smile. At all times the doula offers reassurance, support and the belief that you, the parent, can and will be successful in nuturing your new family.

 My Training & Experience

My experience of being a sister for 24 years, wife for 10 years, mother for 13 years and aunt for 10 months has given me the basis for my training as a doula. My 15 years of medical work has given me my education. I have successfully breastfed 2 of my 3 children exclusively each for 15 months. I have trained and educated myself through the organization Maternity Wise and have obtained my certification as an ante-partum and postpartum doula. I have trained and educated myself on the art of newborn and infant massage through Universal Class online and Infant massage USA and have obtained my infant massage instructor certification. I am a breastfeeding counselor and have obtained my training through Lactation Education Resources, Health-e-Learning courses for breastfeeding management and breastfeeding.com. I am a  member of an online community called Pampered Pregger & Beyond as well as the Professional Support Liaison for the business listings of that site. I am a member and forum writer for a website called Womb to Bloom. I am CPR certified through the American Heart Association. I have Professional Liability Insurance, a criminal background check, finger printing and a current Tuberculosis test all for your review.  

It would be an honor and a privilege for me to be your doula and share with you my knowledge and experience of nurturing so that you may gain the confidence to nurture your new family.

Who I Am

I am a daughter, sister, wife, mother and most recently an aunt. My name is Jamie Ackerly. I have been married for nearly 10 years and I have 3 beautiful children.

I pretty much knew "Right From the Start" that I was meant to care for people in some way. You see, when I was ten my one and only brother was born and I can remember hiding behind a chair in the living room crying and saying my life was over, little did I know, it was the start of my life's work and my education on how to care for people. It was shortly after his birth that I can remember telling everyone that I wanted to be a "baby nurse" when I grew up.

Over the last 15 years I have been in the medical field, working in all aspects of medicine from pediatrics to geriatrics, controlled hospital environments to emergency response, medical coding and transcription. My medical training started with a short experience in the Army right after high school and continued until recently working in a local hospital for an OBGYN office. I have seen all side of medicine, from the legal to the political. I have grown to understand that medical care has become more about the business and not about the patient or the family.

Recently, that little brother that I was so unhappy to have in my life at that time, added to his family with the birth of his first son. He and his wife asked me to be apart of their pregnancy, labor, delivery and postpartum experience. It was after this experience with them and their beautiful son that I realized I had been training my whole life to become a Doula. 

It is with this knowledge and experience that I have been called to remove myself from the clinical aspect of patient care and get back to the roots of caring for people.

Again, you could say that I knew "Right From the Start" what I was meant to do.