A group of our Maternity/Infant Nursing and Leadership students participated in a guest speaker presentation facilitated by Nicole Vascianna, RN, CLEC, from The Village Maternity Services. Nicole is a registered nurse, birth doula, and certified lactation education counselor. She founded The Village Maternity Services in 2013 as a means of supporting women through pregnancy and childbirth after realizing the lack of prenatal choices for women in South Florida. She has been featured in the Sun Sentinel, The Miami Herald, and was named in Legacy Miami as one of South Florida’s top black healthcare professionals of 2015.
During the presentation, the students learned about the latest evidence-based practices relating to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recent statement in support of the presence of doulas during labor, childbirth, and the postpartum periods. She explained and demonstrated non-pharmacological ways in which doulas can assist a laboring patient in reducing pain and stress.
