The Benefits of Choosing a Doula Agency
If you’re on this page, you’re likely considering bringing a doula into your birth or postpartum experience. Kudos to you for prioritizing support and care during this remarkable journey. As someone deeply involved in the Tampa Bay community – a doula here since 2009, and the founder of Buddha Belly Doulas since 2014 – I’ve…
Parents Need Help Not Judgment
Raise your hand if you’ve ever had to deal with a Judgy McJudgerpants in your life? I recently wrote about coping with a colicky baby as a new parent – what made it better and what didn’t. Three aspects of the situation made it harder: lack of support judgment and unsolicited advice. I was exclusively…
“Mommy, I Pooped My Pants”
The story of a Christmas tree excursion that didn’t go exactly as planned. It was a dark evening in the Christmas tree tent, as 3 year old Jack and 8 year old Shane ran around giggling with glee during their annual hide-n-seek game. The other tree-shoppers didn’t seem to mind. They had also been touched…
COVID-19 and Doula Support and Safety
As the COVID-19 crisis continues around the world, babies are still being born every day and more and more families may need the support of their birth doula, postpartum doula or lactation counselor. Your family’s health and well-being, as well as ours, is our top priority. We are closely monitoring the situation and will update…
Teaching Labor Support Workshops Across Florida
Christie and Amy, Buddha Belly owners, have been participating in an exciting project and we wanted to share what it is all about. In 2017, Christie was invited as a doula consultant and trainer, to join a special project with the Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative, housed within the University of South Florida. The purpose of…
Pride
We share these thoughts, in honor of June, LGBT Pride month. We stand together with our friends while events and parades are held across the country. Why is this important? Why do we believe the LGBTQIA community should be celebrated and supported? The short answer is – because it doesn’t matter whom you love. People…
Another Reason Why Two Doulas are Better than One
Recently, one of our clients gave birth to her twin babies at 32 weeks. Her doula was by her side supporting her during labor, delivery and postpartum. She had a very positive experience. While many babies are born closer to their due dates, you most likely won’t know exactly when your baby will be born. As doulas,…
All Alone With My Newborn Baby
I had planned to have a natural birth at a birth center but things didn’t turn out that way. My son was born via emergency cesarean and my world was turned upside down. My mother had a flight booked for the first week in January to be at the birth, but my son came two…
Interested In Joining Our Team?
We are searching for new team members to join us at Buddha Belly in serving families of Tampa Bay. Doula began as a Greek word that means “a woman who serves.” The meaning has evolved to become a professional, trained and experienced in childbirth and the postpartum period, who provides physical, emotional and informational support. (And…
Meet Marisa Seegraves, Postpartum Doula
I’m so excited to introduce you to my dear friend Marisa Seegraves. We met a few years ago on the Pinellas trail while picking up our kids from Ozona Elementary school and a sweet friendship (and carpool pick up schedule) was born. Marisa admired my Baltic amber necklace which led to her buying four amber necklaces from me (one for herself and one…
Shane’s Birth Story
Eight years ago today I gave birth to my first son, Shane. I have never published his birth story and it seemed appropriate today to share it. (*This story may be triggering for some.) “Sometimes the bad things that happen in our lives put us directly on the path to the most wonderful things that…
Welcome To Buddha Belly
Welcome to Buddha Belly Birth! We are very excited to have finally given birth to this new brand for the business and are looking forward to what the future holds. Having been a doula and a birth advocate in the Tampa area for years (without a blog! just a website) I have many blog posts…
Why Buddha Belly?
You may be wondering how I came to give this name to my birth business. It might not be as generic as some names I could have chosen, but when something feels right sometimes you just gotta go with it! A brand is just an emblem that reflects who you are on the inside, and…