Jenna Chidester (she/her)

Full Spectrum Doula
Birth & Postpartum Doula
Childbirth & Postpartum Educator
Placenta Services

jennachidester@bravebirth.com
(858) 437-4862

Instagram: @fullspectrumdoulacare
Facebook: Full Spectrum Doula Care

Photograph by Rushes and Waves

Bio

I came to Portland the traditional way; in a caravan with my college band, but roots grow fast in the Pacific NorthWest and it never didn’t feel like home for me. While I made my living in music for a while, I also put my years of experience as a mother’s helper and au pair to work, employed in many Portland homes providing care for children and support to new parents. Since I grew up a big sister in a large family embedded in a tight knit religious community, in many ways I was raised to be a mother and I’ve always been surrounded by infants and growing families. Because of that background, my expertise in childcare can seem like intuition but it’s actually a set of skills that I love to teach mothers and fathers who find themselves in this entirely new territory. 

I’ve watched too many struggle from a lack of modeling and support, and fall victim to the shaming and fear based information that abounds in a society geared away from children and mothers, parents and families. My interest in helping childrearing families has naturally shifted to support families throughout all of the childbearing year because my desire is to build a stronger foundation for the families of Portland to build, grow, and thrive on. I feel so lucky to have found my path in doula work.  Where else could I have such a positive impact on individuals and society, that combines my feminist, progressive values and the skills I gained from a super traditional upbringing?

As a trained labor assistant and postpartum doula I strive to be the manifestation of the support a new family would traditionally receive; educating and nurturing new parents, assessing needs and providing referrals within the wider birth community, facilitating better communication and connection between parents and children, and above all caring for every member as a new family is born.

I’ve had the joy of supporting over 222 births as a doula, including VBACs, high risk births, teen parents, planned cesareans, plus size parents, mood disorder affected parents, ESL and bilingual households, families with nontraditional structures, gestational carriers and parents using surrogates.  As a postpartum doula I’ve served too many families to count, including supporting multiples, premies, babies in the NICU, parents struggling with mental health, single parents by choice, and many more.

I believe doulas are not a luxury. For many we are a necessity, and I have a passion for making doula support more accessible for families and more sustainable for doulas through a scholarship fund. Click HERE to learn more!

My work within the birth community also allows me to continue to further study my other passions: music, social justice, and women’s health and body image.  I live in SE Portland with my cat, Patrick. In my free time, I enjoy dismantling the patriarchy, undermining capitalism, and playing my favorite pinball table, Medieval Madness, all over town. If you see the initials JLC, you know I've been there.

Education and Training 

-DONA Birth Doula Training - Mother Tree Birth, Fall 2015 series

-DONA Postpartum Doula Training - Mother Tree Birth, January 2016 weekend intensive 

-Collaborative Practice Advanced Doula Training at OHSU - PDX Doulas, Spring 2016

-6 month Birth Doula Internship - Mother Tree Birth, 2016

-ICEA-Approved Childbirth Educator Training - Doula Love Training Center

-CASC training, April 2017

-Adopting Trauma Informed Care for Birth Professionals- by Jesse Remer and Astrid Castro Jan 2019

-Oral Health Education for Doulas

-Adult & Pediatric CPR/First Aid/AED - American Heart Association Heartsaver

-Herbal Support for Lactation and Infants with Melissa Cole of Luna Lactation, June 2018

-Basics of Plant Medicine with Katrina Bubas Stevens, midwife, of the Village Apothecary, 2018, 2019

-Trauma Informed Care for Birthworkers with Jesse Remer and Astrid Castro Jan 2019

-Eat, Pray, Doula Advanced Skills Training, Lamaze and Orgasmic Birth March/ April 2019 with Ibu Robin Lim, Debra Pascali-Bonaro, and Dr. Sarah-Buckley

-Seahorses and Unicorns: Supporting Trans, Genderqueer, & Gender Nonconforming Clients with Trystan Reese, April 2019

-Rebozo Workshop for Coping & Comfort Measures in Labor - Gena Kirby, Aug 2019

-SMC Full Circle Doula Birth Companion Training with Shafia Monroe, July 2019

-Spinning Babies with Nikki Zerfas, Dec 2019

-Currently in the process of getting my certification as a Still Birthday Birth and Bereavement Doula

Other Related Experience 

-Volunteer Birth Doula with the Gateway Doula Project 2015-2019

-10+ years nanny & childcare experience specializing in infancy

-Independent Contractor with Portland Doula Love 2016-2019

-Mother Tree Internship Mentor 2017, 2018

-Doula Love Mentorship Mentor 2017, 2018

-Fluent in English and German, conversational in French

fee

Birth Doula fee:  $2100 (sliding scale and payment plans for those who need it, please ask)

Postpartum Doula fee:  day $50/hour (4 hour minimum); night $55/hour (8 hour minimum)

Placenta Encapsulation:  $275

CONTACT ME!

MORE TESTIMONIALS:

"I don't even know where to begin. These guys are beyond amazing. We had hired Jenna as our doula about two weeks before we found out the most heartbreaking news of our lives: that we needed an emergency induction and our baby boy wouldn't make it. I notified Jenna and the next day she came over and talked us through everything. It was my first pregnancy and Jenna was available to answer all of my questions and really put both myself and my husband (and my mom) at ease. I was nervous enough going through my first pregnancy and delivery, but the added heartbreak made the whole situation a whole lot harder. A couple days later I was induced. Jenna was there the entire time. It's impossible to describe how much we needed her there. While doctors and nurses were coming in and out, Jenna explained our next steps in the birthing process while bringing so much calmness to what was the hardest thing either my husband or myself had ever experienced. We couldn't have done it without her. When looking for a doula, we wanted an advocate, a strong but calm presence, and someone who could offer us information and options. We got that and so much more with Jenna. We have more pregnancies and births in our future and Jenna will always be our number one choice."  -Katryn B.

"Jenna came to us as "backup" because our original doula was in another labor. Though we had never met her, she jumped right into the role and immediately made my husband and I feel comfortable. She took the time to understand my needs and coach me through the difficult decision to get induced. She helped to further explain my options (based on her experience as a doula, not a medical professional) and work through my fears of medication and cascading interventions. She has an amazing array of tools and came fully prepared. She took charge to make our hospital room as calm and pleasant as possible with warm lighting, music, and birthing "tools" to help with the pain. She went to the store and got my husband and I food. Once I was in labor, she never left our sides, and she coached me and my husband through position changes, breathing, pain management and more. Her calm, nurturing demeanor, and wealth of experience were invaluable. I would not have made it through the induction unmedicated without Jenna, and my husband was incredibly thankful to have guidance and assistance in providing me with support. We would both recommend Jenna without hesitation. Her services were 100% worth the investment."    -Arielle T.

"We engaged Jenna as our birth doula in the spring and had a couple visits from her and texted her often leading up to the birth of our son in August 2017. She came over on the night I went into labor and coached me through it at home until my water broke, then went with us to the hospital and stayed with us there until about 2 hours after I delivered. She also visited us a couple times in the first 2 weeks after the birth and we've kept in touch via text.

Strengths: I find Jenna to be a very warm person that I trusted and felt totally safe with, which I think is the most important thing in a relationship with a doula. She's very physically strong--I literally leaned on her all the way from arriving at the ER until I got into the bed in the labor & delivery room, because I was at a point in my labor where I didn't want to sit in a wheelchair at all. She really took care of me and my husband when I was laboring at home, to make sure that we both paced ourselves and didn't get too tired too early. She also is really knowledgeable about different labor positions to try, such that I was able to deliver my son with minimal medical interventions like I had wanted. I felt like we probably wouldn't have needed to go to as many of the classes as we did because we could just ask Jenna to guide us. Jenna is great at keeping up-to-date on the current research about labor and birth practices such that when I asked about why people would make one choice or another, she could present very fair and scientifically-grounded explanations and she never judged.

I kind of wish I had hired Jenna as a postpartum doula to help me further in the first few weeks because we were having a lot of breastfeeding challenges. On the visits she made as part of being our birth doula, she taught us various swaddles and how to babywear safely, which were great tools."   -Katherine W.

"Jenna was AMAZING and I can't imagine not having her at the birth of my son.

We met Jenna late in the game of my pregnancy because I kept going back and forth about affording it. WORTH EVERY PENNY! She was lovely, explained the birthing process, discussed our needs, and overall great to work with. When it came down to business, she was prompt at the hospital when I went into labor, created a stellar and comfortable labor environment, and kept offering advice for movement/breathing. I will never forget her advice/support with my breathing during labor, it has stuck with me and I think about it often! Both my partner and I walked away and said, wow we are SO GLAD we had Jenna there. 

Now- for the real stuff. I regret not booking her (budgeting it in) for POSTPARTUM DOULA SUPPORT. It's intense coming home and her postpartum visit was amazing. You don't think about it during pregnancy because there is so much planning about the birth, but BOOM, once that is over- breastfeeding, baby advice, sleep support, chores, etc- all become reality. YOU WILL NEED HER!”    -Lauren N.