Doula support
A familiar face beside you, when it matters most
It is two in the morning and the waves are coming closer together. Your partner calls, and a little later someone who knows you is at the door. Someone who knows what matters to you, who brings calm and protects the space.
That is what a doula does. At PUUR Zwanger we support you during pregnancy, the birth and the first weeks after, as a steady presence alongside your midwife or obstetrician.
Arrange an introductionWhat a doula does
There for you, from beginning to end
A doula is a trained birth companion. She offers emotional and practical support and helps you stay in charge of your own birth. Medical care stays with your midwife or obstetrician; the doula takes care of everything around it.
She knows your wishes, helps you ask the right questions and stays with you, also when the situation changes. This gives your partner room to be fully present with you, with someone alongside who thinks along and supports your partner too.
How it works
Three phases, one dedicated doula
During pregnancy
You follow the private course in your own home: three sessions of 2.5 hours, together with your partner. We teach you the techniques from hypnobirthing and talk about your wishes, about what feels daunting and about earlier experiences. This way your doula gets to know you well, and knows exactly what you have practised. In the final weeks, a Mother’s Blessing can round off your preparation, together with the people who are dear to you.
Around the birth
From 37 weeks, your doula is there for you day and night. She comes as soon as you ask, at home or in hospital, and stays until your baby has arrived and you have settled together.
After the birth
In a follow-up conversation you share your birth story and we look back together. If you wish, you can close the journey with a Rebozo closing ritual.
Why a doula
Continuous support makes a difference
A large Cochrane review (Bohren et al., 2017), with data from more than 15,000 women, shows that women who receive continuous support during labour more often give birth spontaneously, less often need medication or a caesarean, and more often experience the birth as positive. Support had the greatest effect when it came from someone outside the hospital team and outside the woman’s own circle. That is exactly where a doula stands.
Packages
Choose the support that suits you
Private course at home
€549
Three sessions of 2.5 hours in your own home, together with your partner. The complete antenatal course, tailored to you.
Doula journey
€1,100
The private course at home, plus a dedicated doula who is there for you day and night from 37 weeks, is present at the birth and afterwards goes through your birth story with you.
Complete doula journey
€1,249
Everything in the doula journey, together with a ceremony of your choice: a Mother’s Blessing before the birth or a Rebozo closing ritual after.
Booked separately, the ceremony costs €350.
Area: Utrecht, Bilthoven and surroundings, up to about 50 km from Bilthoven.
Reimbursement: The private course can be reimbursed through your Dutch health insurance. How much depends on your supplementary cover; your policy or insurer can tell you.
Who supports you
Three doulas, each with their own strength
Sabrina, Lucille and Marta all trained as doulas with Holos. Each also brings her own background.
Sabrina Leidelmeijer
Sabrina started out as a student at PUUR Zwanger herself and is now its owner. She is a doula, a Nonviolent Communication trainer and a ceremony guide. She leads the Rebozo closing ritual and Mother’s Blessings, teaches the Rebozo workshop for professionals together with Rebozo.nl and hosts the PUUR Gedragen mothers’ circle. Her work is rooted in Nonviolent Communication, pregnancy yoga and a deep trust in the wisdom of the body.
Speaks Dutch.
Lucille Kok
Lucille is a doula, a teacher at PUUR Zwanger and organises Mother’s Blessings, among other things. She is a mother of two daughters. Her love for birth work began with her own first birth, which she prepared for with hypnobirthing. It went differently than expected, and that is exactly when she felt the primal strength of giving birth. As an adviser she gained a lot of experience training very different groups; with her enthusiasm and genuine interest she reaches everyone.
Speaks Dutch and English.
Marta Macho Bernal
Marta comes from Cartagena in Spain and has lived in the Netherlands since 2015. Since 2018 she has worked with babies and young children, where she discovered how deeply we can communicate without words: through breath, movement, presence and attunement. She is a doula and hypnobirthing teacher, trained as an energetic and intuitive coach, and has experience with yoga, dance and guiding gatherings on awareness.
Speaks Dutch, English and Spanish.
During the introduction we look together at who suits you best.
Curious whether a doula suits you?
Arrange an introduction. We take time for your questions, and afterwards you decide at your own pace.
Arrange an introduction