Hello! I'm an ALACE trained Labor Assistant, attending mothers in SE MI, providing a continuity of care from the prenatal through labor and birth, then the post partum period.

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Name: Courtenay Grabowski
Location: Clarkston, Michigan
Phone: 248-396-5132
Email address: grabowski4@comcast.net

Services: My goal is to provide support in such a way that giving birth is something a woman DOES, not something that is done for or to her. I provide two prenatal visits, with additional phone and/or email conversations as needed. During the prenatals we cover interventions (providing the mother with truely informed consent), birth plans, types of labor support and pain relief, breastfeeding, baby wearing, cloth diapering if needed, meal planning, and post partum support. I am on call for you from 38 weeks on. I provide you with support from early labor, and stay with you through the birth and a sucessful breastfeeding session. Afterward, I provide one post natal visit to help with breastfeeding, as well as to "decompress" from the birth, and check on post partum support. I also keep in contact by telephone for up to three months afterward. I have experience providing care to VBAC moms, to single and young mothers, to x-pats, Bradley and Hypnobirthing couples, to survivors of sexual abuse, to women with PUPPS, in hospital (private as well as teaching), birth center, and homebirthing mothers.

Qualifications: ALACE trained, LLL Leader Acreddidation

Personal notes: I am the mother of two children, both born without drugs with certified nurse midwives. My second was a transfer from a homebirth. I have a wonderful husband, who is so supportive of what I do that I couldnt' ask for more. I have always been, for lack of better words, a "birth geek." I have always been passionate about the midwifery model of care, and have believed strongly that women deserve education, support, and advocacy when giving birth. One day I finally realized that there was actually a profession that DID all of these things, and I was in heaven. I decided to train through ALACE because their philosophy most closely fit mine when it came to labor and birth. I am also an acreddited La Leche League Leader, and am working toward my certification as an ALACE trained Childbirth Educator. It is an honor to be asked to be part of the miracle of birth for a living, and I look forward to attending each mother I contract with.