Our Journey together Starts Here
The Gentle Touch Doulas Collective is a group of independent doulas operating their own businesses who have joined forces to provide quality support to expectant mothers and their families. As professional certified doulas, we want every family to experience the birth process as a safe, empowering and memorable rite of passage.
Our Mission
Our mission is to provide a supportive and safe environment for
a woman to give birth.
We believe that every woman
deserves a doula.
We agree to give unconditional emotional, physical, and informational support to every woman regardless of her choices for childbirth.
About
What is a Doula?
"Doula" refers to a supportive companion (other than a friend or loved one) who is professionally trained to provide labor support.
A doula performs no clinical tasks. Once mom is in labor, we are there to support mom until after baby's birth.
A Doula Provides:
- Physical, emotional, and informational support to women and their partners during labor and birth
- Help with comfort measures such as breathing, relaxation, massage and positioning
- Assistance to families in gathering information about their labor and birth options
- Continuous emotional reassurance
- Assistance to partners who want to play an active support role
"Birth is a unique moment in a woman’s life and I have witnessed the amazing strength and ability of women in labor. As both a doula and as a mother, I like to "mother the mothers" by offering comfort through words and deeds and hope to impart wisdom and courage to those I serve. I have learned that birth is a place for love, not fear, and as such, each baby needs to be welcomed into the world surrounded by love. I believe birth is a wonderful physical, emotional, and spiritual experience; I feel honored to be part of such a special and intimate moment of someone's life.”
Nancy received her birth doula training at St. John’s Hospital in 2002. She is also a nationally certified Child Passenger Safety Instructor, has taken Spinning Babies training and holds a Master’s Degree in Public Health with a special interest in Maternal Child Health and Safety. Married with four adult children, she became interested in birth through her own four, very different birth experiences, including a Caesarean section, two VBACs and an unplanned home breech delivery. Nancy has also served medical missions to Haiti, where she assisted mothers as a doula in the mission birth center.
Nancy Kyrouac
MPH, Doula
Hope Cherry
Ma, CD (BAI)
Hope Cherry is a Certified Doula with Birth Arts International. She is a Child Passenger Safety technician, and works at SIU School of Medicine where she is an instructor. Hope has been happily married to her husband since 2011 and welcomed her first child in 2021 and her second in 2022. Many circumstances influenced Hope to become a doula, but most influential is her mother, who is also a doula, and witnessing a planned home birth while in high school.
"As an educator and a doula, my hope is for all women to feel in control during their birth. Part of this means providing women with "evidence-based information", but part of this is also being constant presence during labor. When we feel afraid, we feel alone. I am there to help a mom and her partner feel safe, so they can courageously journey into parenthood."
Testimonials
Thank you for being there when I needed someone the most. I know there are some lucky women who get the chance to have a doula like you.
As our birth doula, you were beyond our highest expectations; you were better than our highest ideal.…You did not lose focus for a second, and you were with us, from the car ride to the hospital, until the very end, 24 hours after her water broke. In the hospital, you were a soothing and informative voice. You knew what we wanted, did not want, what we feared, what we were feeling, and you spoke to us with sensitivity and confidence all the way through. Because of you, we will always recommend that people work with doulas. To friends in the area, we will recommend you with full enthusiasm.
The time you spent with us in our home and at the hospital went beyond our expectations. Your calming and guiding presence meant that I could still labor and birth my daughter without any pain medication, as I wanted it to be. My birth experience was incredibly intense, immensely satisfying, absolutely beautiful and wonderfully blessed with your guidance. I wouldn't have been able to have the experience I wanted without your help. You are an amazing and selfless person to give so much of yourself. Every mom deserves to have a doula like you.
It was so wonderful to have you there. We really appreciated the support and I know your presence helped my husband feel more calm and confident too, especially on the drive to the hospital.
I will never be able to truly express how blessed I have been by having you in my life! You helped bring my children into this world. I pray that God will continue to use your gentle heart and sweet spirit to bless many more women and children!
Mid-pandemic with my husband in another country to say I was panicked is an understatement. That is until you came into our lives. She worked with our schedules accounting for the 6 hour time difference to make him part of the process even though we all knew him being at the birth may not have been an option. Last minute he made it to the birth and, while due to COVID restrictions she couldn’t be in the room with us, she was available throughout. Her knowledge, always fact based, is empowering and reassuring. She advocated for us as we navigated having our first baby.
Services
Birth Doula
Contact for Pricing/Availability
- Our first consultation is free, prior to decision about using our services
- Two prenatal consultations
- Developing and producing a written birth preferences form to give to provider
- Discussion of information needed to make informed decisions about the upcoming birth
- Attendance of one 3-hour virtual birth education course by Gentle Touch Doulas
- Unlimited phone, text, and e-mail support leading up to the birth
- Continuous support to you and your partner during the labor and birth process
- Postpartum visit to celebrate your birth with written birth story
Contact Us
*Nancy and Hope are not currently taking new clients but will connect you with other available doulas in the area*
Complete this form and we'll connect you to discuss your priorities and desires for childbirth
Connect with us on Facebook at Gentle Touch Doulas Collective of Springfield, IL
