Meet Charley
Birth and Postpartum Doula & Newborn Care Specialist
Charley was a doula before she knew what a doula was. While a younger version of a ‘wise woman’ than many of our doula team, Charley brings a natural intuition for supporting infants. Her philosophy of work is to leave the family in better shape than from when she arrived, and families adore her care. While she loves to support newborns and tired parents, she also loves to create and maintain efficient spaces so parents have less to manage during the following day. She truly enjoys organizing and making sure the family’s space is functional, which we know can reduce anxiety, especially in the postpartum period.
More About Charley
During her observations while going through the first year of nursing school, Charley was inspired to support families in the L&D ward with coaching through birth and postpartum. She had the desire to be more hands on vs. observing and charting, and knew working with families directly was more for her than in a hospital setting. While working with families as a nanny, she encountered doulas who offered overnight care while she supported babies during the day, and she thought, “That is what I do too!”
Life as a nanny was already rich and wonderful, and she wanted to have even more to offer. Noting how the doulas she worked with offered education, encouragement, and specific support around newborns, Charley decided to expand her skills and dive into the doula and newborn care specialist world. After taking several training courses covering doula & NCS support, Charley has further developed a love for supporting both tiny humans and their sweet parents as they both adjust to newborn life.
Charley has completed:
CAPPA Postpartum Doula Training
CAPPA Birth Doula Training
Newborn Care Solutions NCS training
Charley’s experience includes working with tiny premature infants, twins, first time parents and families adding a new sibling. She has especially enjoyed working with families struggling with an infant with reflux, bringing a calm energy in times that were tough for the family and baby. A skill of hers that is called on frequently is helping with infant sleep problem solving, which can make everything more challenging in early parenthood.
When supporting clients with postpartum depression or anxiety, she works to create a calm and peaceful space for the transition to parenting responsibilities. She helps to support breastfeeding beginnings, including breast pump setup and botte washing/sterilizing stations for formula feeding families. She especially loves caring for the moms who ask a million questions, as many of her past clients have experienced.
A local from Vancouver, WA, Charley will travel a bit to serve families but prefers the range within the Vancouver metro area. She loves working with furry family members too, as she has a cat and a dog herself and adores including her client’s pets in the new routine of baby life. As pets can be a big part of the new family, Charley always looks forward to meeting her furball companions during overnight shifts.
Charley prefers to work overnight, but also offers the sunrise (6-10am) and sunset (4-8 pm) timing when families need another type of support. She has a fun and outgoing energy, coming from a family with 2 sisters and a close knit and good-humored clan. Her family loves to gather to play games and watch movies—and they are rarely serious. Enjoying a rich relationship with so many in her family has helped her to develop the ability to empathize with new client families, who all have a different take on parenting.
Our clients know that a caregiver who can be trusted to manage things is an asset to a family, especially when they know that she will carry out all their wishes while they rest and recuperate after delivery. Charley is a reliable and caring doula whose passion in life is to be the best care provider for infants and their families. As she often works long hours with a family, she brings her hard working, can-do attitude while always keeping the baby’s safety and comfort top priority. Having her in your home will help ensure you have a smoother, more peaceful, and less cluttered postpartum recovery.