Angela Geurts

Hi!  Thanks for checking out this blog!  Hiring a Doula to help with your birth is a great choice - but it is so important to find the right Doula for you.  Contact me by email or phone with any additional questions or to schedule your free interview to see if I am right for you!  geurtsang@gmail.com, (208) 637-1343.  Also check out http://www.doveidaho.blogspot.com/ for a list of other Doula's in SouthEast Idaho.

Angela M. Geurts, NCTMB

My Family and Philosophies

   My husband and I moved our family to Pocatello ten years ago.  I have worked out of my home as a Massage Therapist since 2003 and carry Young Living Essential Oils.  Sports Massage and CranioSacral Therapy are my signature modalities.  Sports Massage is a deep tissue, let's clean out the toxins and get you feeling better approach.  CranioSacral Therapy is an energy modality that focuses on clearing emotion and blocked energy for healing - this is my favorite, as it is the most relaxing modality.  I also have pregnancy cushions and feel every expecting mother should be pampered!  For my Doula clients, three 1/2 price sessions are available, once Doula services are secured.  I love Young Living Essential Oils and use them regularly in my home, on my family and in my work.  They are a gift of nature for health and healing!

   We are the proud parents of six children, one boy and five girls, ages 21 to 2 years old. With each birth I labored naturally, the first four in the hospital and the last two at home. Each experience was an educational joy-filled journey.  It is interesting for me to note the circumstances and feelings of each labor vs. the personalities of each of my children.  I am convinced the birth journey affected each of them and helped formed who they are today.
   Our first home birth baby, born here in March of 2010 gave me a desire to help and support women in labor. It was a wonderful birth… but I wished for someone (in addition to my husband and caregivers) to support and encourage me.  Read the whole story on my blog at http://www.choosinghomebirth.blogspot.com/. 
  I started school to become a Certified Professional Midwife in March of 2012, and am currently attending births with Generations HomeBirth as Primary Midwife under supervision, as well as continuing my academic studies. I am hoping to sit for the NARM exam fall 2016. 
I offer Placenta Encapsulation services for $200. Information regarding Placenta Encapsulation can be found at www.placentabenefits.info.

  I am passionate about natural birth and believe that every intervention carries consequences, which each family should be well aware of before labor begins.  God and nature created this process - trying to control or change the aspects of it creates disharmony, which affects emotion, healing, bonding and wellbeing; for the baby, mother and parenting.  I am grateful to live in a day when technology is available to save lives which otherwise would have been lost; but I don't believe in treating childbirth as a medical event fraught with danger.  Birth is not meant to be controlled, hurried, rushed or even predicted.  I strongly believe in women-centered care; I honor the mother and her wishes for her birth, regardless of what they may include or how they may change during the labor itself.  My role as Doula is to safegaurd the mother (and father) in the laboring environment, according to her changing needs, without judgement.
  Proximity to technology cannot replace the continuous, experienced human attention which is so important for maternal satisfaction with labor and delivery.  Together, fathers and mothers labor and are helped, supported, honored and encouraged by a Doula, creating a birth environment that is satisfying and emotionally safe.
Most importantly, I recognize birth as an empowering, unifying experience for the family unit.

Retaining My Services
  This is a copy of my Doula agreement.
Thank you for choosing me to attend your birth! To best support you, I would like a copy of your birth preferences a few weeks before your due date. Please let me know of any specific role you would like me to fulfill before you are in labor, otherwise I will offer support as I sense appropriate.I will respect and be sensitive to the intimacy of this experience for you, your partner and any other family members. Whatever my role may become during the birth, I want to be a ‘safe’ outlet for you. Let me know what you are feeling and thinking; being blunt is fine - this is your birth!Please call me as soon as you think you may be in labor. Retaining Fee: $250.00  Secures your birth on my schedule; see individual circumstances for priority order of births. 

•  24-hour on call support from two weeks before your due date until delivery
• Unlimited Phone support
• Birth information & birth plan suggestions and ideas
• Two in-home prenatal visits
• Continual labor support; essential oils and massage if desired
• Postpartum in-home visit & Your Babies Birth timeline
• Three discounted massages for $25/hr each (additional fee if at your home)

 Final payment is due after postpartum visit, no later than one month after your birth.
*If I fail to attend your birth due to my error, I will refund $150. If it is due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control or your failure to call me, I will keep the whole retaining fee, but there will be no further charge.
*If I have more than one birth I am on call for priority will be assigned according to order of retention, and a back-up Doula will be available should both labors be simultaneous. If I do not answer either phone, be sure to leave a message on my home phone. We can keep in touch by phone as you progress to the point that you feel you need my support. I will join you and remain with you through the birth until you are settled in and comfortable in your recovery/postpartum room.

Total Fee for your Birth $500 - 
Arrangements can be made for extenuating circumstances