Steady Support for Every Step of Your Journey
As a full spectrum doula, I am honored to be able to support families from preconception through pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period. With advanced training and experience in many modalities related to fertility, pregnancy, birth and newborn care, you can rest easy knowing you have someone you can trust on your team - someone who will take the time to really understand you rather than rushing you through generic advice.
Are you a fellow birthworker or agency owner? Let’s work together!
I serve families throughout Central Iowa - Des Moines, Ames, Iowa City, and Cedar Rapids and anywhere in between!
Fertility
Trying for a baby, facing fertility challenges, or avoiding pregnancy? I’ve got you, friend.
As a fertility doula, I provide evidence-based education on a variety of topics related to fertility to help you make informed choices for your body and family. I also offer mindfulness and movement practices to manage the stress that often accompanies this leg of your journey, as well as emotional support for the roller coaster of ups and downs that many families encounter. I support all kinds of families on all kinds of journeys with compassion and without judgment.
I also offer education and support for abortion and TFMR - if that bothers you, I am probably not the right doula for you.
Birth
Woohoo, you’re pregnant! Prepare to be inundated with opinions, information, and more birth stories than you ever wanted to hear.
As a birth doula, I provide prenatal education to help you understand your options, make choices that fit your family and preferences, and develop essential advocacy skills to ensure you feel confident in reaching your birth goals. During your labor, I am there to provide reassurance, physical and emotional support, and to facilitate communication with everyone involved so that you feel respected and empowered every step of the way!
My particular specialty is individualized physical preparation (a la the Body Ready Method®) to help you have a comfortable pregnancy and smoother birth experience.
Postpartum
Bringing home a baby is no joke, my friends! So many of us spend all our time preparing for our birth…forgetting that we will be caring for a whole-a$$ human for 18 years after that.
As a postpartum doula, I help you before birth by providing education on newborn care and postpartum planning so you can set yourself up for success while you still have some energy.
After your baby arrives, I continue to provide education and support - I am the person you text with baby poop pictures, breastfeeding questions, and “she’s making the weirdest noise, is this normal???” I can also provide in-home support for the challenging evening hours when you are least rested and most stressed, giving you and your family time to eat, shower, and grab a bit of rest before the night ahead.
I prefer working with parents are interested in responsive, attachment-focused parenting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Let’s get some of the top questions out of the way, shall we?
Got a question that’s not answered here? That’s what our free consultation is for! Or if you’re feeling antisocial, you are welcome to email me instead.
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I have several pricing packages for my services, depending on what kind and how much support you are looking for. My base rates are:
Fertility Support: $1200
Birth Services: $1500
Postpartum: $40/hour
I also offer a limited number of sliding scale spots each year - if you are interested in support but facing financial hardship, please reach out.
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Oh, nothing, and yet everything.
I do not consider myself to be in competition with other doulas. We all have our own style, niche, and preferences, so it’s important to find the right fit (more on that in the next question below).
I do pride myself on what I offer. I have spent an enormous amount of time, energy, and money on advanced trainings to be really, really good at what I do. If you’re looking for someone who has put in the hours, chased the research, and left those weekend doula trainings in the dust, I’m your girl.
I combine my expertise in anatomy, movement, physiology, advocacy and mindfulness to every aspect of my care. I know a buttload about babies, how to make them, and how to bring them into the world - but more than that, I’m really good at helping you gain deep awareness and intuition so you feel confident making your own choices, not just following my advice.
That being said, there’s always a chance that another doula would be a better fit for your needs or personality. Check out my list of trusted birth professionals to explore your other options!
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I’m so glad you asked!
There is a doula out there for everyone, and I am well aware that I am not going to be the perfect fit for all families. Since I don’t know you (yet?), I can’t really say if I’m the right fit for you, so instead I’ll let you know about the kind of families I like to work with:
I like families who approach their journey with intention (and usually more than a little anxiety). If you are a high achiever who loves to self-educate, wants to know all the things, but gets easily overwhelmed by all the conflicting info out there, you’re my people.
I also love working with folks who aren’t afraid to go against the grain, who want to make the choices that fit them and are able to stand strong in their values…but maybe struggle a little with people-pleasing.
For postpartum specifically, I adore working with caregivers who are interested in responsive, attachment-style parenting, who want to understand and respect their baby, who hear advice about feeding schedules and sleep training and wake windows and think, That just doesn’t feel right…isn’t there an easier way? Hint: there is, and we can get there together.
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If you feel like you need more specific, targeted support, I also offer standalone services, which can be found on the ‘Other Services’ tab on my website menu.
My offerings currently include:
Individual fertility education or fertility yoga sessions
Body Ready Method® sessions
Condensed prenatal education and birth planning
Private, fully customized childbirth and postpartum education
Nurtured sleep coaching
Babywearing education
Prenatal or Parent & Baby Circles
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I am located in Grinnell, Iowa. And while I love helping out my local community, I also frequently travel around Central Iowa to provide my services.
I will generally travel about an hour, give or take, in any direction to provide service. I also provide some services completely virtually if desired, which expands the radius as well.
Because I’m tired of driving, I occasionally offer discounted rates for clients who live (or will give birth) within 20-30 minutes of Grinnell.
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I do not bill insurance directly for my services, but am happy to provide a detailed superbill for you to submit for reimbursement. I have also had clients pay using HSA funds - please double check with your provider to determine if my services are eligible.
I also accept clients using Carrot Fertility benefits for birth and postpartum doula services.
“Working with Elise was the best decision we made during pregnancy! She provided information that was evidence informed and valuable in decision making, and she tailored all of our time to what we needed most including planning for postpartum, not just birth. Her energy is easygoing and calm and we always felt comfortable being ourselves.”
Shannon S., first time mom
Curious about the details?
Download my free doula consultation packet to learn more about my doula services, approach, and what it’s like to have personalized support by your side. Inside, you’ll find details about my style, pricing, package options, and answers to common questions—so you can decide if I’m the right fit for your journey.
Still Exploring Your Options?
Choosing a doula is a deeply personal decision, and I truly believe every family deserves to find the right fit. I've put together a page introducing the trusted doulas and birth professionals I regularly collaborate with, refer to, and provide backup support alongside. I encourage you to get to know each of us and choose the person who feels right for your family's journey.
For Doulas & Birth Agencies
Add Movement-Informed Support to Your Doula Care
You don’t have to become a movement specialist to give your clients access to individualized movement support. As a Body Ready Method® Pro, birth doula, and perinatal movement specialist, I offer collaborative prenatal movement assessments for clients working with other doulas and agencies—including individualized recommendations for the client and, with their permission, a birthworker-specific handoff to help you translate what I find into practical support for pregnancy and labor.
Whether you’d like a trusted place to refer individual clients or want to incorporate movement assessments directly into your doula packages, I’d love to work alongside you.
Want to see how it works? Sign up below and I’ll send you my Movement-Informed Doula Support Collaboration Guide with details, partnership options, and pricing.