Bethenny’s Baby Nurse
Believe it or not, I first learned what a baby nurse does on a Bravo TV show.
Long before I became a doula, I was a “Real Housewives of NYC” fan. Oh, the gloriously trashy and mindless entertainment! When I watched this faux-reality series, the characters included Countess Luann de Lesseps and Bethenny Frankel. At the time, Bethenny was working on her Skinny Girl brand. It became wildly successful and made her a very rich woman. Bravo gave her a spin-off show called “Bethenny Ever After” which featured her getting married and having a baby.
In a way the show was both an updated version of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” and a real-life look at an ambitious woman, attempting to have it all: adoring husband, beautiful baby, and billion-dollar business. The scenes often featured Bethenny and her assistant, working at home, or Bethenny and her husband making dinner, or Bethenny shopping for baby goods.
It was on this show when I first heard of a “baby nurse!”
Bethenny clearly understood her needs after her baby was born: she needed help! She hired a full-time, live-in baby nurse who stayed with them for months. Gina, the baby nurse, became a fixture on the show and was truly a member of the family. She cared for their infant daughter and for Bethenny and her husband. When the day came for Gina to leave, they mourned the loss of her presence in their lives.
I wonder what I would have said back then if you’d told me that one day I’d be a baby nurse and that I would have a company that provides this exact service! (We use a different title: postpartum and infant care doula but it’s more or less the same job.)
I, too, am welcomed into a family’s life, treated as one of their own, and have the honor to pour love into little babies and their parents. I wake up with the baby all through the night, feeding (or assisting in feeding), cleaning and diaper changing, and settling the little one back to sleep. During the day, I help new parents learn to care for their baby, keep their lives and homes calm and orderly, make meals and sit down to eat with them.
It’s a privilege and a joy to be a baby nurse and postpartum doula.
Supporting new parents to have an easier time once their little one arrives is our goal here at Buddha Belly.
Curious about the differences or similarities between a baby nurse and a postpartum doula? Check out this article: Looking for a Baby Nurse?
