Hello! I’m Carolyn McKinnon. Olympia Doula Care exists to provide compassionate postpartum support to families in Thurston, Mason, Lewis and Pierce counties.
Postpartum care is an investment families can make to ensure that they can concentrate their energy on bonding with their new baby.
Calling & Philosophy
I believe that the time after birth presents the most profound changes in a family’s life. Every helping hand is needed, and different hands offer different help. As a postpartum doula, my help is non-judgmental, professional, nurturing, and community-focused. My services fill what I believe is a large gap in maternity care so that your transition is as smooth and rewarding as possible.
I also believe there is a terrible gap in professional care for families experiencing fertility/maternity-related losses. I’m available to provide compassionate care for families in their time after miscarriage, pregnancy termination, stillbirth, and newborn loss.
My path to this calling is rooted in my own experience of pregnancy and the birth of my beautiful son Sam. On my own birthrites path I’ve experienced miscarriage, breech baby presentation, cesarean birth, stress in family relationships, and a postpartum mood disorder. Many gentle and loving hands touched me in recovery. I’m called to be of service to other mamas so they can pour their loving energy into themselves and their babies.
Please note that my services are non-medical and non-therapeutic. This means that I do not perform clinical care of mothers or newborns (such as physical exams) and do not provide professional counseling.
Education
I completed postpartum doula training at Seattle Midwifery School/Bastyr University in 2010 and am in process of international certification through DONA International. My breastfeeding coursework includes both an academic course and one for expectant parents. I’ve also completed a series of parent education courses (Infant I & II and Toddler I). I’m the founder of OlyBabies (www.olybabies.net), a social network for mamas and papas around the South Sound. I have up-to-date certification in Adult, Child and Infant First Aid, CPR, and AED (external defibrillators) from the American Red Cross. I’ve also completed a 40-hour mediation course with the Dispute Resolution Center of Thurston County, equipping me with active listening skills and the ability to be of service in difficult interpersonal situations.
I’ve lived in Olympia since 1991. My educational background includes a BA from The Evergreen State College and a Masters of Science in Urban Studies from Cleveland State University. I’m “retired” from a 15-year career in workforce development. Before that I worked in social services for several years, providing crisis intervention, staffing a youth shelter and group home, answering crisis hotlines and running recreational programs for people with disabilities.
I live with my toddler son, husband Rick and pesky pets. We spend our days cooking, splashing, reading, swinging, wandering and toddling.
I look forward to talking with you!
Carolyn McKinnon, OlyDoula
olydoula@gmail.com
360-970-3677
