“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:10-12
Twice The Knowledge + Different Perspectives = Quality Care
Some of the things you can expect from us.
We work closely with the birthing woman and family as they explore their values and needs surrounding birth.
Encourage the birthing woman to seek care and a place of birth that reflects her own values and needs.
Assist in the preparation of birth preferences to facilitate communication with the birth team.
Model, teach, and encourage effective communication.
Encourage informed decision-making.
Provide the client with non-medical comfort techniques for labor, such as positions and movement, comforting touch, visualization, breathing techniques, and affirmation.
Seek to foster a cooperative, respectful, and positive atmosphere with the birth team.
Provides professional labor support (doula support) to the birthing woman’s support partner and/or family.
Remain present during the active phases of labor, birth, and the early postpartum period.
Support and assist initial breastfeeding.
Listen and assist the family in processing their birth experience.
Answer general questions about newborn care, babywearing, and breastfeeding.
Refer to healthcare professionals when support requires clinical assessment, a need for a prescription, or medical diagnosis.
For a comprehensive list of what we can provide for you, please schedule a free consultation with us!
Meet Karen
Karen Hebron, Doula
Founding member of Nightingale Doula Services.
Karen meandered into nursing school not knowing what she wanted to do after she completed her training. While witnessing the birth of one of her nieces, a passion was ignited within her to provide compassionate care to women and families throughout the joys and trials of childbirth.
In 2013 she became a Registered Nurse and started right away in labor and delivery, postpartum and newborn care. She loves attending, supporting, and assisting all births from scheduled c-sections to unmedicated vaginal births both in and out of the hospital. She believes each birth is as beautiful and unique as the birthing mother.
Karen has taken opportunities over the last 8 years to further her skills through doula training, lactation conferences, and other educational opportunities. She has enjoyed teaching childbirth education the last several years as well.
Karen lives close to Indianola with her husband and children. When she’s not doing something birth-related, you can find her homeschooling her children and exploring nature. She’s excited to officially take on a doula role after years of voluntarily stepping into this role when her clients requested the support and her nursing responsibilities allowed.
Meet Michelle
Michelle Wiedmann, Doula
Founding member of Nightingale Doula Services.
Michelle has dreamt of the day when she was able use her knowledge and experience while being on call for families during the days leading up to the labor and birth of their baby as well as provide education, hold space during labor and birth, follow-up in the immediate days postpartum and assist with the needs of a new, growing family.
Michelle has been a registered nurse working in labor, delivery, postpartum mom and baby care since 2008. She has worked along-side physicians, midwives, doulas and families in both in-hospital and out-of-hospital settings. Michelle believes that labor and childbirth is a normal, physiological process and that the woman should be left to her own instincts in most cases.
In the years Michelle has worked as a birth worker, she has sought out extra training as a labor and birth doula, has taken grief doula classes, she is a childbirth educator, lactation counselor and infant massage instructor. Michelle has experience working as a firefighter and EMT-B on a fire department, teaching Basic Life Support as well as a nurse on a cardiac floor.
Michelle lives in Des Moines with her husband, 3 kids, 2 dogs, and countless chickens. She enjoys everything birthy and is excited to work as a doula to support and hold that space for mamas during life-changing moments.
Meet Sarah
Back-up Doula
Sarah’s love of birth goes back to her days of nursing school where she spent her preceptorship on a Labor and Delivery floor at a small hospital. Out of school, Sarah explored other areas of nursing, but after her own pregnancy and the birth of her first son, she felt set on fire with a passion for educating, empowering, and supporting women through pregnancy, birth, and motherhood.
Sarah has been a registered nurse since 2009 and she has had the joy of working in the birthing community since 2018 at Broadlawns Family Birthing Center, as a birth assistant for community midwives, and with nutrition support within her business at Whole Momma Nutrition.
Sarah’s passion for educating, empowering, and supporting Mothers stems from her own life experiences. She has had the opportunity to further her education to include a Bachelors in Nursing, Nutrition Therapist Master, Certified Lactation Specialist, Professional Doula, and a Restorative Wellness Practitioner. She has had the honor of supporting many women through the miracle of birth.
During her free time, Sarah homeschools her three boys (Dreyer 4, Danger 2, Dekker 4 mo) and her niece (Hayden 5), loves to garden, loves cooking with her kids, and loves working on the homestead with her Husband Darson.
We can help.
Our Mission
To provide physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual support to mothers and families throughout pregnancy, labor, birth, and the 4th trimester.
Our Method
To inform mothers of all of their options so they can confidently make their own informed decisions and then support both the mother and her decisions to the best of our ability.