Your Edmonton & Area village through pregnancy, birth and postpartum
Ricky Issler (she/her)
My name is Ricky Issler and I live in Beaumont with my supportive husband and two wonderful teenage children. I have been attending births as a Birth Doula in Edmonton and surrounding areas since 2010. Having previously worked as a Pharmacy Technician for 20 years, it was time for a change. I followed my heart and found my calling in doula work and have never looked back since. About two years into doula work, I was looking to add childbirth education to my services and I discovered Hypnobabies. The program really resonated with me so I traveled to the States to take the training and was the first to bring Hypnobabies Childbirth Hypnosis classes to Edmonton. I see amazing results time and time again and am so thrilled to teach this class to expectant parents. Learn more about Hypnobabies here.
I was blessed with two very positive birth experiences with a doula by my side and I know firsthand how important their presence can be. I bring a warm, intuitive, professional, yet light-hearted approach to my work. I am passionate about birth and I work hard to ensure that my clients have a positive and memorable birth experience. My role is a calm, quiet, confident, reassuring, supportive presence for the mother and her partner. I am her advocate, but I do not speak for her. I am there to help ensure her desires and needs are met so that she may experience her child’s birth as she envisions it, making the choices that feel right for her and her baby. My goal is for you to feel informed, respected and for your voice to be heard by your birthing team in your chosen birth environment.
I also help to ensure that your birth partner (if there is one) is well prepared to support you on the big day and that he or she feels calm and confident in their role. The presence of a doula takes the pressure off of your partner because they will know that I have their back too! I offer them guidance if needed, but I also know when to fade into the background and simply hold space for the two of you as you work together to meet your little one.
As a doula, I am honored and privileged to be a part of a woman’s birth experience. I love to witness empowered mothers draw upon their inner strength and be guided by their innate wisdom. To witness a child’s birth is something that I deeply cherish and am grateful to experience each and every time. I am always there to comfort, encourage, support, and inform, helping to make your pregnancy and birth experience a joyous journey to new life.
Ricky sat on the executive board of the Doula Association of Edmonton for many years
Additional Training: Spinning Babies, Advanced Peanut Ball use, Rebozo Techniques, and various other workshops & webinars.
Birth Doula CD(DONA)
Holistic Doula (Matrona Certified)
Hypnobabies® Hypno-Doula
Hypnobabies Childbirth Hypnosis Instructor
Reiki Master
For more info see:
https://www.comfortinghandsdoula.com
Contact:
780-929-4669 (hm office)
780-977-4669 (cell)
Matrona Institute
Certified Holistic Doula
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Testimonials
Erin & Jeff Burton
“I cannot begin to explain how vital Ricky was to our birthing process. I am so grateful for her experience in hypnobabies, her gentle and calming words, her understanding of womanhood, and her guidance she was able to provide my husband; together they were the best team I could ask for. I am a nurse who has previously worked in labor and delivery and now work in a neonatal intensive care unit. Needless to say, the birth process has been very medicalized for me! I have always believed strongly in the importance of natural birth while being respectful of the changes that modern medicine has brought to the safety of mothers and babies. I did a lot of research to find a doula that would help me to “demedicalize” the birthing process and help me to get out of my head (sometimes ignorance is bliss!). Ricky absolutely met all of my expectations, and then some. My labor was lengthy and my delivery was not how I had anticipated it might go but Ricky was at my side, helping me to utilize my hypnobabies skills and guide my husband to be the best partner he could possibly be. When there was a change in plans, Ricky was supportive and helped me to accept what my birth story would be. I honestly feel that I was able to leave “nurse Erin” at the door and just focus on being a woman and a mother. I certainly will be including Ricky in our birth for our future children and am forever thankful for the gift she gave me in enjoying the birth of our son.”