About Your Doula

My journey from environmental conservation to birth work has been organic and progressive. As my career evolved, I desired to get closer to the impact of my work. Connecting directly with families and individual birthing people is an incredible honor and brings me immense joy and purpose. It is my passion to use this role to fight for Reproductive Justice and help preserve access to safe and satisfying birth experiences for every-body.

Origins

My name is Juliane Diamond and I have been an eco-warrior for over 15 years. With a master’s degree in nature conservation and a background in international development and environmental science, I come to birth work with a unique lens. I became obsessed with pregnancy and birth in 2011 when a close friend was planning an out-of-hospital birth. She exposed me to the possibilities of conscious, mindful birth and the value of support through this unparalleled journey. During my pregnancy in 2016/2017, I dove deep into the literature and courses available in the San Francisco Bay Area. Thanks to the amazing offerings, in addition to the support I received at the San Francisco Birth Center, I felt extremely prepared for whatever birth experience we were going to have. The process was enlightening and empowering for me. After having my baby I knew I wanted to share my positive experience with other families and do whatever I could to support them to feel the same satisfaction with their pregnancy and childbirth experience.

Since becoming a mother myself, I saw first hand how we approach the childbirth process in the United States. It reinforced for me the importance of access to information and support throughout the prenatal/birth/postpartum journey. I resolved that if after a year of motherhood, I was still fascinated by it all, that I would pursue doula training and get involved. So when Natural Resources in San Francisco was offering their doula training in fall 2018, I decided it was time. I completed the course in September 2018 and began taking clients in early 2019. I became a Certified Doula in January 2020.

Philosophy

Childbirth is a transformational journey that requires delicate stewardship. Doula's are meant to preserve the experience for the birthing person by holding space and providing physical and emotional support. Your Eco Doula was born out of the idea that there is much to be gained from connecting with our instincts, self, the Earth, love, and of course, nature.

Childbirth is a normal physiological process that is unpredictable. Your Eco Doula provides evidence-based information, allowing you to make decisions throughout the prenatal/birth/postpartum journey. I will support you throughout and respect your choices.

Ultimately, it is my goal to partner with you to achieve your preferred birth. Through an initial interview, prenatal consultations, and a thorough questionnaire, I learn your preferences and perspective. Based on this information, I will hold space and support you and your family during labor and birth to preserve this important transition.

Asher’s Birth

On March 22, 2017 at 5:52am I delivered our baby boy at the San Francisco Birth Center. He was happy and healthy, born 6 lbs 12 oz, 20.5 inches long.

On Monday March 20, 2017 at 3:30am my bag of water started to leak. It wasn’t a gush and I very clearly wasn’t in labor, so I went back to bed and waited until the morning to call the midwives. I called them around 9:00am and they let us know that most women go into labor within 24 hours after their bag of water opens but that we should plan on coming in to check on baby and me later that day. We decided we would begin prepping for baby’s arrival and determine what steps we wanted to take to encourage labor.

During our first visit with the midwives, they covered all the risks and what they were comfortable with as long as we avoided cervical exams and there was no signs of infection. We planned to attempt to get labor going but that if I wasn’t in labor by Wednesday afternoon, we would head to the hospital for induction. That gave us around 60 hours to get the party started! After the visit with the midwives and learning that baby and I were fine—no signs of infection, etc. we began a series of homeopathic and traditional approaches to labor induction.

We procured black cohosh, cotton root tinctures; unpacked the breast pump for nipple stimulation; scheduled a Tuesday morning acupuncture appointment; planned a long walk on the beach; and a castor oil smoothie to top it off. Monday night we started the tinctures and both slept deeply and well, knowing our lives would change very soon. I woke up only once at 3:00am to pee but was not in labor at the 24 hour mark.

Starting Tuesday morning I took more tinctures and did acupuncture. I then drank the castor oil and we went for a long walk on the beach. In the afternoon I used the breast pump and all the while made sure to stay happy, calm, and well-fed, I also took my temperature every few hours to make sure I didn’t develop a fever. We headed to the birth center that afternoon to again check in on baby and me. While at the birth center that evening (around 5:00pm), we discussed with the midwives the risks and our options. It had been 38 hours since my bag of water opened but I had no signs of infection and baby was ok; while at the same time, I was clearly not in labor. During the day though, I had felt increased amount of Braxton-Hicks contractions, so I was still hopeful. We determined that our last ditch effort before heading to the hospital Wednesday afternoon, would be another round of tinctures and more castor oil! With that plan in mind, we had a nice dinner out and I even had a few sips of wine.

When we got home Tuesday night, I felt strange. I wasn’t sure if it was the castor oil as that had taken awhile to kick in. Around 10:30pm that night I started feeling cramps/contractions. They were fast and frequent, lasting around 45 seconds and coming every 2-3 minutes. We called the midwives and they told us to try and rest as much as possible and to call if we felt the contractions shift. We texted our doula but didn’t tell her to come just yet. Joe helped me cope by providing counter pressure when the cramps were in my back and a slow-dance move when they were in my low-belly.

At 2:00am I moved to the tub, and contractions, though less frequent, started to intensify and lengthen. While laboring in our tub I started feeling rectal pressure and the urge to push. At 3:00am Joe called the midwives and our doula and we decided to meet at the birth center. We headed out over the bridge and arrived at 3:30am.

As soon as we arrived they did a cervical exam and proclaimed I was 10cm dilated and ready to push! This was such exciting news. I continued to use my hypnobirthing techniques to breathe the baby down on the toilet, a birth stool, on all fours, and on my side on the bed. After a while the midwives suggested I use a more traditional “push” and after engaging that technique he emerged fairly quickly. A total of 2.5 hours after arriving at the center--no need for drugs to induce or manage pain.

I held him straight away and they rubbed him down. The midwives hung out with us for around 20 minutes waiting for the afterbirth to come. They then stitched me up (I only needed two superficial sutures) and left us to bond. We hung alone with him for an hour or so where he began bopping around on my chest to suckle. The midwives came in and helped us get our first latch and waited another hour or so before removing him from my chest for his newborn checks (beyond vitals, which they had taken right away).

Once he had his newborn check and got his vitamin K shot, we were nearly ready to go and we headed home around 10:30am that same day. It was an amazing week and we are totally in love with how he came into our world.