Welcome to Crow's Nest Doula Services

About

Who am I?

My name is Corvus (they/them), and I'm a full-spectrum doula trained in birth, postpartum, abortion, and fertility support at Doula Trainings International. I'm also a crafter, a writer, and somebody with a longstanding love affair with the ocean. Je suis aussi bilingue, et mes services sont offerts également en Français. Si vous avez besoin d'informations en Français, s'il vous plaît contactez-moi directement, comme le site web n'est pas encore traduit.Care for and connection with my ancestors and descendants is central to my life: I work to live fully in the world my ancestors have worked for, and to create a world that my descendants can live fully in. I believe that we can achieve that world for all of our descendants if we know our history, act with intent, and tend to the people and places that surround us. This is part of what fuels my work as a doula. Every time one of us is supported to make the best, safest choices for ourselves, that support creates ripples of freedom and support in our communities, past, present, and future.My connections span far and wide—my paternal family is Jamaican, my maternal family is Scottish and Irish, and I was born in England. I've lived in Lək̓ʷəŋən territory/Victoria for much of my life, and now live in Tiohtiá:ke/Montréal.I'm biracial, trans, queer, and experienced in non-monogamy & nontraditional family arrangements. I love working with people across backgrounds, and I share these pieces of my identity for anybody looking for a doula with shared cultural perspectives.

How do I approach my work?

From prenatals to the birthing room, postpartum care to abortion support, I bring a calm, reflective energy as I work with you. I take curiosity and reflection to be the driving force of this work: I look to you to uncover what the best support for you looks like, create space for you to make considered choices, and thoughtfully help you process your experiences.I love working with families in all configurations, and am committed to helping my queer, trans, and BIPOC communities feel at home during transformative life events. You should feel comfortable, celebrated, and able to be your full self throughout your reproductive health journey, and my role is to help make that experience a reality for you through deep listening and active engagement with the unique things that bring you comfort, joy, and rest.I'd love to work with you. If you're interested, please get in touch!

What is a full-spectrum doula?

Doula Trainings International defines a full-spectrum doula as "a non-medical support person equipped to offer emotional care and practical support at all stages of reproductive health." This also means understanding that all areas of reproductive health are interconnected: a fertility treatment journey changes your experience of pregnancy, experiences of loss impact what new parenthood feels like. The kinds of support you need vary depending on your personal history. If you'd like a more in-depth explanation of the role of a full-spectrum doula, this article by Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings gives a good description of the term.

Services

Birth support

Includes two prenatal visits, support during labour and birth, and one postpartum visit, as well as phone and email support throughout our time together. This can be flexible — if it seems like it would be helpful to add in a third prenatal, if you need an extra postpartum check-in, or if you're feeling well-prepared after one prenatal, we can work with that!Our prenatal visits are a time to get to know each other and help us prepare together for your birth. Typically, the first prenatal will be focused on birth education: helping you learn how labour typically progresses, how each stage is likely to feel, what kinds of variations are common, and what interventions exist in birth care.
The second prenatal will usually be more focused on comfort during labour: discussing common comfort measures, finding out what unique things bring you ease, what kinds of support your birth team can give, and what items you might consider bringing with you to your birthplace. This visit is often more hands on, and can include practising positions, breathwork, and finding out what kinds of touch and language help you find peace and confidence.
In both prenatals, I'm with you to answer any questions you have, help you uncover and process feelings about birth and parenthood, help you craft a birth plan, and provide referrals to other birth professionals if needed.
Our interview is separate from the prenatal visits, and prenatal visits typically start around week 32 of your pregnancy.I'll be on call to provide you with labour & birth support starting two weeks before your estimated birth date. This means that you can (and should!) call me any time, day or night, if you think that labour is beginning. Usually, we'll call during early labour and I'll join you once you are in active labour. Once we're together, I'll be by your side to encourage you, guide you in using comfort measures, support other people in your birth team, and help to create a positive, calm environment for you to bring your baby into the world.
I'll stay with you for the first hour or two once your baby and placenta are born to help you and baby bond, take photos if you'd like, give you early support with infant feeding, revel in you and your beautiful new baby, and support you in the initial transition into parenthood.Our postpartum visit takes place a few days after your baby is born. I'll come visit you so that we can talk through and begin to process your birth experience, support you with feeding and sleep, help you begin to settle into new parenthood, and admire your baby. I'll also help with light household tasks (dishes, tidying, errands) if that's an area where you need support. In this visit, I can also refer you to other kinds of support (IBCLC, counselling, etc) as needed.

Postpartum support

Postpartum support is flexible, hourly support in whatever areas you and your household would find most helpful. My goal as a postpartum doula is to help you feel prepared to care for yourself and your baby, and find support in your community so that you feel confident once our time working together is done.Depending on what you need most, I can support you in establishing breastfeeding, help you work through the many feelings of becoming a new parent, care for your baby while you rest, shower, or eat, and do light household tasks including dishes, laundry, meal prep (vegetarian meals), and more. As with the other kinds of support I offer, I can also refer you to other providers if needed, including counsellors, IBCLCs, and more.I currently offer daytime postpartum support only.

Abortion support

My support here changes depending on what you feel you need. Do you need space to grieve? To feel relief? To talk through your options? I'm happy to meet you before an appointment, accompany you to a clinic, sit with you during an at-home abortion, or come visit you after a procedure to care for you and help you get the rest you need. We'll start with a call to talk about what your ideal support would look like, and go from there.

Pricing

I'm always happy to find alternatives if cost is a barrier to accessing my services: let's work out a payment plan, a skill trade, or another way of making things work!

I'm a trained doula, and am currently working towards certification. If you're comfortable, I'll ask you to fill out a simple evaluation form describing your experience with me to submit to my certifying program.

Contact

If you'd like to schedule an interview or ask a question, call or text me during daytime hours or send over an email.
I'm currently booking clients in Tiohtiá:ke/Montréal.
I'm excited to get to know you.Si vous avez une question ou si vous avez besoin d'informations en Français, appelez ou textez-moi pendant la journée, ou envoiez-moi un courriel.
Je réserve courrament des clients à Tiohtiá:ke/Montréal.
J'ai hâte de vous rencontrez.

778-350-0632
[email protected]