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Welcome to AYNI ROOTS + RITUAL a starting point for partnership for whatever you doula or birth support journey might be. Ayni in Quechua means "reciprocity" or the giving and receiving - in relationship with each other and the world around us. The journey for any pregnant, birthing, child-bearing or family creation experience is as unique as each of us. Each journey is one of transformation and change, and a doula's role is to support and advocate for you on that journey.
My work is grounded in healing and community-support across twenty years and a variety of integrative care practices, as well as my own ancestral Andean lineage and my birthplace in in the Andes of Colombia.
I would love to support you on your own personal journey of transformation with the doula support you need. I am here to listen, to ground to advocate, to provide healing + holistic practices and care for our time together. Continue below to learn a little more about me and my approach to doula care + birthing support.
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About
Teresa's Doula Care Rooted + Ritual Style...
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Rooted in ancestral wisdom + ways of knowing, healing and ritualizing birthing and birthing support
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Community-based and advocacy-oriented, with an attunement to the impact of birthing experience on those who have least access to support or identity-attuned support (BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, disabled and otherwise marginalized persons)
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Reproductive-justice + healing-justice approach working across a spectrum of pregnant persons' experiences and choice (including abortions, adoptions, surrogacy, IVF, infant/pregnancy loss), and the liberation of supportive care for anyone who needs it
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Connected to ritual + ceremony practices both from my Andean tradition as a Paqo (mountain healer) + tailored ritual care related to a person's own root traditions
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Grounded in nearly 20 years as a healer, trauma + integrative care therapist, yoga/meditation teacher and educator
DOULA + BIRTHING CARE TRAINING + CERTIFICATION:
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Ancient Song Community-Based Full-Spectrum Doula Training
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Infant + Child CPR with AED
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Hood Herbalism's "Herbal Medicine for Birthing Support" Training
ADDITIONAL TRAINING + EDUCATION:
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Masters in Clinical Social Work, NYU, 2007
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Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training, 200-hr, 2009
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Initiated Paqo in Q'eros Andean Traditional Healing, 2021
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Ph.D. (in progress) in Philosophy (research on Andean traditional ritual + healing)
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Community-Based Participatory Research Training, Columbia University (research focus: Black + Brown Doula Care + Maternal Health), 2024
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Birthing + Doula Care Equity Ethos
Part of my equity ethos is that people who can afford care help support the care to those who can't. If you are someone seeking care + support who have the capacity to afford the full cost of care know that your investment in your own care also supports my ability to provide care to those who need barter + sliding scale care. The principle + practice of AYNI is that we give and receive as a cyclical way of being with each other - we give what we can, when we can, and are open to receiving in the ways we need, when we need it. If you want to donate directly to support the cost of care to someone else without the same capacity you can see my LOVE OFFERING page for details of how you can give towards the care for someone else (make a note you are giving towards doula + birth support in your offering).
Doula Support Services
General descriptions of the different support + care services offered. You can see more specific details for the customized support in the PACKAGES section.
Prenatal Care
Working collaboratively to customize a birthing plan with clients, providing ritual + ceremony in preparation of mind, body and spirit for the new life path of parenthood, and providing ancestral + holistic care practices for birthing preparation. Customized digital birth preparation journal.
Virtual + In-person pre-birthing sessions planning. Text support in prepartion for birthing experience.
Birthing Care
On-call 24/7 support from 37 weeks of pregnancy and labor and delivery support including ancestral + holistic care practices during labor, advocacy for the pregnant person + their support system during labor/delivery to support their birthing plan. Compassionate coordination of labor + delivery care needs throughout the birthing process with constant attentiveness to the pregnant person's care, supporting their evolving body rhythms + needs throughout the birthing experience.
Postpartum Care
Postnatal virtual + in-person support including ancestral + holistic care practices for postpartum period. Assessment of and investment in supporting emotional, social and biological transitions for the person + their support system post-birthing and into early parenthood. Providing support + educaiton regarding postpartum experiences. Building a care plan for the new parent through this postpartum period.
Abortion Care
Learning you are pregnant is a consequential moment and it is not a welcome moment for everyone. Everyone has the choice in pregnancy about what to do next, after learning you are pregnant. There are 1000 reasons why a pregnancy is not a viable option for a person's life + circumstances and each and every reason is valid. It also can be a very difficulty choice to make and the journey towards and through the abortion process can feel lonely + isolative. Abortion doula care provides emotional + physical support through the abortion process including support before, during and after the procedure and ritual/ceremony related to this transitional journey and life milestone.
Grief/Loss Care
Grief + loss is the journey towards parenthood can come in many forms including: miscarriage, fetal death, infant death and the infertility journey. Each one is sacred in its struggle, unique in its pain but there are also rhythms of pain, grief and loss that can be shared between various experiences. Grief + loss doula support is a customized combination of supports including in-person and virtual care sessions, building a grief/loss care plan, customizing grief/loss ritual + ceremonies and practices, integrating holistic care and a grief journal practice.
Adoption/Surrogacy Care
People often think of doula support as limited to the physical experience of pregnancy but the journey towards parenthood and the gestation period, expecting and preparing for the time your new child comes home is one that is a transformational journey regardless of the method of becoming a parent. For people moving through the process of adoption or surrogacy the doula care includes many of the same elements of care + support as for a birthing person, and also includes customized and specialized elements of education + care related to the unique needs of someone moving through this version of the journey towards parenthood.
Fertility + IVF/IUI Care
The journey through complicated fertility, the decision-making process related to addiitonal medical support towards pregnancy, and the emotional + physical impacts of the this process is one that can feel isolating and stressful. Doula care support through this process includes includes holistic and ritual care practices, a customized fertility journey journal, in-person and virtual support, as well as options for accompaniment to procedures and medical appointments. Additionally, clients are offered customized and specialized elements of education + care related to the unique needs of someone moving through this version of the journey towards parenthood.
Packages
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See below for the details on each available doula care package. If you are looking for a specific kind of support that you don't see listed below, please reach out for a conversation in the consult form at the bottom of the page.
Rooted Birthing Support Package
Describe your service here. What makes it great? Use short catchy text to tell people what you offer, and the benefits they will receive. A great description gets readers in the mood, and makes them more likely to go ahead and book.
Rooted + Ritualized Birthing Support Package
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Rooted + Ritualized Abortion Support Package
Describe your service here. What makes it great? Use short catchy text to tell people what you offer, and the benefits they will receive. A great description gets readers in the mood, and makes them more likely to go ahead and book.
Rooted + Ritualized Adoption/Surrogacy Support Package
Describe your service here. What makes it great? Use short catchy text to tell people what you offer, and the benefits they will receive. A great description gets readers in the mood, and makes them more likely to go ahead and book.
Rooted + Ritualized Grief/Loss Support Package
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Rooted + Ritualized Fertility + IVF/IUI Support Package
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Virtual-Only Full Spectrum Birthing Support Package
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Sliding Scale/Barter Doula Support Package: Customizable Package Based on Need + Capacity
This package is an option for all versions of services listed above and each package is customized and coordinated in relationship with Teresa related to her capacity and yours to support meeting your needs and giving you access to the support and care for your own personal journey.
Connect via the form below to schedule a time to discuss how we can work together.
