Chasing Rainbows Birth Services
Malden, MA Service range 20 miles
https://www.chasingrainbowsbirthservices.com/
Birth Fee
$1700
Postpartum Rate
$40
Birth Fee
$1700
Postpartum Rate
$40
2 years and 85 births attended
2 years and 30 families served
Type of practice: Solo practice
Clients per month: 1 to 5 births and 1 to 2 postpartum families
Postpartum limits/restrictions: Prefer Non-smoking clients due to allergy
Attends hospital births? All Hospitals
Please Inquire about hospitals I service
Attends birth center births? All Birth Centers
Attends home births? Some Home Births
I only attend home births when a licensed/certified Midwife is present. I do not attend freebirths.
BA/BS
MA/MS
March 2022-BADT Full Spectrum Doula Training March 2022- BADT Childbirth Educator Training March 2022- Queer & Trans childbirth 6 week Training March 2022- Crisis response for birth workers training March 2022- BADT Conception & Fertility Training March 2022-Abortion CEU Course August 2022-BADT Disabilities & Birth Current Board Member: Multiples of America(MMOTA-Founding Chapter) Current Admin: Massachusetts IVF Support Group & Pregnancy & Parenthood after IVF Heather is a queer Full Spectrum doula. She has worked with children much of her life and had an 18 year career working in Special Education in a local public school district. Although Heather serves many families, she is passionate about working within the LGBTQ+ community and bringing awareness to the many inconsistencies birthing folx in this community face. Heather has a trauma informed and evidence based practice. As a full spectrum doula, she is able support clients through abortion, fertility & planning, birth, postpartum support and more! Although, she is very passionate about fertility & birth planning Heather serves the greater Boston area, as well as Southern New Hampshire and her services are also available remote! Outside of doula work Heather is a fierce advocate in the disability community and the IVF/Fertility community and enjoys cooking and thrifting/antiquing. Heather lives just outside of Boston with her wife and their 3 children (including a set of twins).
I offer free phone or zoom consultations to see whether or not we would be a good fit. Discounts available for abortion/adoption/surrogacy doula services, as well as teen parents. I welcome ALL kinds of families: LGBTQ+ families, single-parent families, adoptive families, no matter what your family looks like you are welcome with me!
Malden, MA Service range 20 miles
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Post a testimonial for Heather Segal
7/28/2024
Heather was such a blessing to have during the first few weeks as a second-time mom. She helped care for our baby, kept pump parts and bottles clean, and provided much-needed adult conversation about things beyond baby care. She even whipped up a batch of lactation bites! Her support made our transition so much smoother. I am forever grateful that, with her help, I was able to enjoy this postpartum experience. Highly recommend!
6/26/2024
After going through IVF, I knew I wanted someone who would understand the incredibly long journey we went through to get our son. Heather was such a wonderful support and made us feel comfortable right from the start. She is extremely knowledgeable and doesn't tell you exactly what to do, but offers several options and will guide through everything. We are brand new parents and Heather instilled in us the confidence we needed while working through those delicate first few weeks. She taught us how to swaddle, baby wear with those tricky wraps, and got us through his first bath which seemed very scary at the time. When Heather showed up, I was 4 days postpartum with bleeding and cracked nipples from trying to breastfeed. She immediately reached out to her connections and found a lactation consultant who was available the next day. She knew exactly what I needed right away and took action to make sure I was cared for. Heather was also so incredibly loving and gentle with our son. She would care for him while we organized our home or while we'd run out for quick coffee date. I truly believe she has set my husband and I up for success and made us feel reassured that we actually do know what we're doing. We are so grateful for our time with Heather and the knowledge she has given us.
5/16/2024
Heather was wonderful with our twin girls. She took initiative in helping out with things they needed and also taught us some valuable baby skills, from more effective diapers, to how to do twin baths! She is great and easy to work with and was a tremendous help.
3/27/2024
Heather was a knowledgable and soothing presence. She really helped me demysify the process and helped my parter and I plan everything in advance so that we would feel comfortable. I highly recommend Heather!!
3/5/2024
I had a goal of a medication-free birth and felt that hiring a doula would help my husband and I navigate this new experience.
We worked with Heather because we appreciated her incredibly supportive spirit, as well as her ability to balance the current evidence with her professional experience. She was wonderful in helping me navigate the end of the third trimester; I had a slightly complicated third trimester due to a severe growth restriction that would likely lead to an induction and I was nervous about how that might affect my birth preferences and goals. I asked her all my questions: she was available and responsive. She really helped me think through what questions to ask my provider at my prenatal appointments so that I was confident in making decisions that were informed and personal.
In the end, I was able to have the birth that I had mostly envisioned and felt so incredibly empowered by the entire experience. Heather was reassuring, helping me navigate the choices in front of me at each point during my induction. She was liewise paramount in supporting my husband as he supported me. She was incredibly helpful in suggesting effective strategies to keep me focused, as well suggestions of when to transition to a different strategy to help progress labor. I undoubtedly believe that she was the key to my labor progressing so quickly and smoothly due to her timely suggestions, and effective support.
She is everything that I had hoped a doula would be for our birth situation this time around. She filled the gaps between myself, the birthing person; my husband, the birth partner; and the medical providers, beautifully-- seamlessly bouncing between them all so that I was able to focus 100% on childbirth. I am incredibly thankful for her support, and my husband and I have a beautiful and empowering memory of our daughter's entrance into this world.
3/1/2024
We LOVE Heather! We are so grateful to her for being there for us through one of the toughest and most rewarding parts of our lives!
Being a first time parent can be scary, and Heather’s compassion, expertise, and knowledge was extremely valuable and ensured that the birth of my son was a positive experience. I experienced a challenging pregnancy with many complications, yet I felt assured and supported the entire time with Heather as my doula. Heather has a calming presence with a rare ability to interpret complex medical situations that can help you understand your options.
As a larger bodied woman, I was nervous about trusting a healthcare system that can often be unkind. Heather helped us prepare and communicate our preferences, and alleviated any stress around this area for me. With all of my complications, I ended up having to go through an emergency C-Section and I’m so glad we had Heather in our corner through this experience. She knew our hospital and doctors very well, and was able to steer us in the right direction with them. Additionally, she helped us prepare for postpartum and I felt like I could ask her anything about my new life as a mom. I can’t say enough about how wonderful Heather is and how much we appreciate her support! If you're wondering if you need a doula for your birth, you DO and her name is Heather!
2/28/2024
Heather has been an important part of my post-partum experience. As a post-partum doula, she supported our family by watching our little one so I could get a break and providing encouragement and support along the way. I am grateful to have had several weeks with Heather, and we will miss her terribly!
2/27/2024
Heather was my postpartum doula for a couple of months after my first baby was born. She was such a great help and really made a tough time a little bit easier. She showed me how to give him his first bath, washed bottles, helped feed him and get him to nap, and most importantly, gave me some much-needed time to myself while taking great care of my baby. She also went out of her way to get him certain formula that was difficult for us to find around where we live. She is wonderful and I would take her help again in a heartbeat.
1/13/2024
Heather was so supportive through the prenatal, birth and postpartum phase. She was always a source of comfort, advice and resources. I feel so fortunate we got to work with her for our twins, especially given her own experience with twins and how she understood the anxiety of an IVF pregnancy after loss. She truly became part of our family and we are so grateful!
12/4/2023
Heather was the perfect addition to our birth experience. As second time parents we felt more prepared than we did the first time around but still knew we wanted someone there with us in the process. Heather was just that person. From our initial phone call to the postpartum visit she felt like a natural fit with our family. She is a wealth of knowledge and a calming presence. While my birth ended up being the complete opposite of my first labor and delivery I felt comfortable and supported through every minute. Heather found ways to meaningfully involve my oldest child and understood the many complexities of IVF pregnancies. We are forever grateful for her support.
11/29/2023
Heather was nothing short of amazing! I had extreme fear and anxiety of giving birth and Heather put my mind at ease throughout the entire process. She was extremely informative, supportive, kind, and gentle. Heather was always available to answer any questions I had and has a plethora of resources and information regarding all things birth, postpartum, and motherhood. Once I went into labor Heather was there to help support me from beginning to end. She went above and beyond to make me feel comfortable and informed of what was happening, always told me all the options I had when an issue arose, and held my hand throughout it all. I highly recommend choosing Heather as your doula - she is one of a kind!
11/28/2023
We were happy to have Heather as support during the birth of our child. She helped us to talk through our preferences before the birth, and was knowledgable, straightforward and non-judgemental, truly happy to support whatever paths we chose. During the actual delivery, when preferences changed she had no problem pivoting to help in whatever way she could, and was attentive to our needs. We would happily recommend her to anyone seeking a doula.
11/15/2023
We can not say enough good things about Heather! This was our first baby and having someone to text with every "is this normal" was amazing. She worked with us to make a birth plan and to pivot when the baby ended up being breach. She kept both of us calm and thought to ask for things we didn't think of when our c-section got pushed three hours and Ariel started to become lightheaded because she was not allowed to eat. When Chris was freaking out because it took them twice as long as they said to place the spinal and Chris was left in the hallway losing her mind Heather knew just what to say. Growing and having a baby is an intense experience Heather was the perfect rock and tether for that experience. Thank you so much Heather!
8/6/2023
We signed up for Heather's services to support us during the birth of our first child. We had our first session with Heather prior to delivery and another session post partum. Of course, Heather arrived promptly prior to delivery at the hospital and was a phenomenal support for my husband and I.
Heather is easy going, sensitive, informed and extremely responsive !! We were first time parents and Heather went to great lengths to explain the birthing process and hospital logistics. The first session with Heather was mostly an informational session - Heather spent several hours with us and answered all our questions / concerns. She was prompt with follow ups throughout the process - she would check in periodically (even during her vacation) to see how our doctor visits were coming along, provide us with helpful educational resources and answer our adhoc questions. During the delivery, Heather arrived well in advance and remained with us the whole time. She worked with the medical staff and ensured that all instructions were clearly understood and that there was no information lost in translation. Post partum, Heather met with us and guided us on recovery process and provided several informational resources! Also, Heather was kind enough to bring in some brand new supplies donated by some of her other clients!
Overall, my husband and I are extremely glad to have had Heather's support!! She is absolutely absolutely terrific and I would strongly recommend her!! THANK YOU Heather!
8/2/2023
My husband and I couldn’t recommend Heather enough. As first time parents, we were not sure what to expect from a doula but after working with Heather we could not imagine my pregnancy and labor without her. I was diagnosed as a high risk pregnancy fairly early in the process and told that I would most likely need to be induced before 40 weeks. Heather was an incredible resource for in depth explanations of what to expect from an induction and was readily available to address our questions and concerns as my pregnancy progressed. Heather also played a key role in my labor, advocating for my needs and helping me through my contractions, but was also great at respecting my and my husband’s privacy and space through both the pregnancy and birth of our daughter.
7/5/2023
I cannot say enough wonderful things about Heather! From our initial meeting with her, my husband and I knew she would be an amazing doula to work with. Throughout my pregnancy she was an incredible resource, always providing me with articles on pertinent topics, answering all of my questions and provided me with immense support. She checked in periodically and was always there to provide positivity and guidance! Leading up to my due date, Heather helped my husband and I to feel very prepared for the birth of our first child. She calmed many of our nerves as that due date approached! During the actual labor and delivery of our son she was calm, supportive and extremely helpful. She helped us both to feel confident and informed on how the day was unfolding. Following the birth of our son, Heather came to visit us at our house and having her check in on us was a breath of fresh air during the challenging newly postpartum time. She continued to provide us with resources after that visit which was greatly appreciated. It was such as pleasure to work with Heather and we are so grateful that she was our doula!
5/24/2023
Heather is a fantastic doula! She attended our son's birth and came to our home for four postpartum sessions. As a same-sex couple it was important to us to have a queer doula, and Heather was perfect: affirming, supportive and so knowledgeable. She helped us feel prepared for birth, calmed anxieties as labor approached, and was a reassuring presence during delivery. During postpartum care Heather both provided us with much-needed rest, and gently yet expertly taught us how to care for our new son. We highly recommend Heather! Thank you so much Heather.
5/15/2023
Heather was the most wonderful addition to our care team as we transitioned to a family of 3! We truly could not have asked for a better doula to have by our side! From our initial meeting, Heather made us feel welcome, supported, and heard. Her demeanor was calm and positive, and talking to her was SO reassuring for both my husband and I. She was a wealth of knowledge throughout my pregnancy and gave us tools to feel empowered to make decisions that felt right for our family. When our baby decided to come a month early, in the middle of a snow storm, Heather still made sure she was by our side in the hospital. As my birth preferences evolved, Heather’s demeanor made me feel confident and powerful. When baby and dad got transported to the NICU, Heather stayed by my side, ensured I got food to eat and relayed messages and baby updates to me in the first hours of my recovery. We are so thankful that we had the opportunity to work with Heather on this life changing journey!
4/27/2023
Hiring Heather as our Doula for the birth of our first child was the best decision we could have made. I was terrified of giving birth and Heather took the time with us to demystify everything about the birth process. She helped us create a birth plan that worked for us, and was non judgemental and fact driven and so incredibly knowledgeable about pregnancy, birth, babies and post partum. She was always available to me prior to and after the birth to answer absolute any of my questions and guide us. She calmed me down when I needed it and made me feel better about every situation. During the birth she was in control, so helpful and empowering, making my birth experience better than I could have imagined. Do not hesitate to hire Heather- she is the absolute best and you will not regret it!
4/26/2023
It was an absolute pleasure to have Heather with me for pregnancy and birth support, and then for our transition to a family of four. Heather is flexible, knowledgeable, upbeat, easy going and just a genuinely pleasant and kind person, the type of person that you want to have around during the delicate immediate post partum period. She was super helpful with meal preparation and cooking, and easily found her way around the kitchen. She also knows a lot about family services/practitioners/events in the Greater Boston area and offered lots of suggestions not only for our newborn but our older child as well, and also offered lots of helpful suggestions of how to help our older child adjust to having a new sibling. She ways really like a doula for the whole family! Regarding birth preparation/support she gave great advice/suggestions on how to navigate prenatal appointments. I really liked that she took the information from me for what I wanted in my birth plan, and put it all together in a draft for me. My pregnancy brain especially appreciated that! I cannot recommend her enough for anyone looking for birth and/or post partum support.
4/26/2023
We had a fantastic experience working with Heather for the birth of our son. Heather was always responsive to my pregancy questions and worries, providing prompt reassurance and guidance when needed. Prior to birth, she met with us to discuss our birth preferences and prepare us for what birth would involve. On the day, Heather integrated seamlessly into my healthcare team to provide support. Her demeanor was a perfect fit for us. Heather is professional and assertive but also casual and genuine. We never got the feeling that she was judging our choices or even that she had an opinion on what we "should" do. It was all about what we thought was best. I can't recommend having a doula highly enough; it is essentially like having access to a birth expert 24/7 during your pregnancy. Heather was truly incredible, we would hire her again in a heartbeat!
1/18/2023
After having a diffiult time postpartum with my first child, I was looking for a birth and pospartum doula when preparing to have my second. To get ready for the birth we met with Heather ahead of time and talked through all the possible scenarios, what medical interventions I would be comfrotable having, and what aftercare would look like. She put together a document summarizing all these details so that we could easily share it with our medical team. Coincidentally my baby was born in the two hour window when Heather was unavailable but she was in concatct with me virtually and she quickly arranged to have another doula cover at the hospital. The whole time I felt appropriately cared for by Heather, despite the poor timing.
Postpartum, Heather was fantastic. She was supportive of the decisions we made around the care of our baby and was able to provide ideas based on her wealth of experience as a doula, educator, and mother. We utilized her both during the day and for night time visists and I always felt comfortable when she was taking point with childcare allowing us to catch up on much needed sleep. Heather was an essential part of our childcare village and I can't thank her enough for the support she provided to my family.
1/8/2023
Heather was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. Everything we could have ever wanted in terms of support before, during, and after the birth! My wife and I are first-time parents and this was my first pregnancy, so we had a lot to learn! Heather was there for us every step of the way. I have some complex health issues (and past medical trauma) that made me really scared to give birth. Heather has so much experience and knowledge as a doula and parent herself, and she has such a calm presence about her. I was so nervous going into my c-section, and she made me feel relaxed and prepared. This was exactly what I needed!
Heather helped us so much with things such as deciding what my "ideal" birth would look like (and all the contingencies if that didn't work out), what to pack for the hospital, tips on how to communicate with medical providers and advocate for myself when issues came up, questions we had about newborn care, and challenges I encountered with breastfeeding. Heather goes above and beyond to make sure you are supported, both emotionally and instrumentally. Over the holidays, the problems I was having with breastfeeding escalated and I almost gave up on breastfeeding due to the pain/frustration. Heather connnected me with multiple IBCLC's, and if it weren't for Heather going the extra mile to help me find a lactation consultant ASAP over Christmas I'm not sure I would still be breastfeeding at this point! I'm forever grateful.
In addition, I have severe asthma/allergies and fragrance is one of my biggest triggers. Heather was able to provide her services while being entirely fragrance-free -- something that is hard to find! Heather also took extensive COVID-19 precautions (e.g., testing before seeing us, wearing a mask), which we really appreciated and made us feel safe.
We can't wait to hire Heather for more postpartum doula services, she truly is the best!
1/7/2023
My partner and I were expecting our first little one and I wanted some support for when we got home from the hospital. From the first zoom consultation call, I knew Heather would be a fit for us. She was straightforward with what to expect, how she would communicate, and her availability. Heather's background as an educator shines as a doula. She was always a welcome reality check, which is much needed in the newborn vortex. As a first time parent, there is nothing better to hear than "that is completely normal". Heather's grounded sense of humor and warmth was always appreciated. And most of all, she was a kind, supportive ear that was dependable and accessible.
1/6/2023
Heather was my postpartum doula for my second child. I already had a lot of infant care knowledge from my first (I totally wish I could have worked with Heather the first time!) so our work was more focused on caring for me, which was nice. Heather provided recipes for lactation snacks and made them several times. She also helped prep breakfast sandwiches and fruit which helped a ton after my husband was back at work. I talked with her about a pumping schedule and she washed pump parts for me. She was so helpful with doing and folding baby laundry, of which there was so much. I was able to take much needed time for myself and to take care of my own health needs (from as simple as taking a shower to attending my own appointments) with the peace of mind that my daughter was in excellent hands. She gave my daughter a bath - it was nice to have that off my plate for a day! She accommodated my schedule to provide extra support when I was solo parenting both of my kids which I really appreciated. Heather is warm, caring, and very knowledgeable- I would definitely recommend her to others for doula support!
1/1/2023
Heather was incredible to work with as our overnight postpartum doula! My wife and I were first-time parents struggling with little sleep, had a family emergency, and we knew we just had to reach out for some help. Heather is extremely warm, knowledgeable, with a calm and loving demeanor, and we just knew we could trust our little one who was only 4 weeks old with her right from the start. She is very supportive, always available to answer questions (whether prior to or during the visit), and offer any knowledge or tips with regards to taking care of our then-newborn! She understood our concerns about being very cautious with covid, flu, RSV and offered up safety information before we even asked, which is greatly appreciated. We found it easy to open up to her, have a chat during some down time about parenting and our struggles. Having raised 3 kids herself, Heather's definitely got a ton of experience up her sleeve! Thank you Heather for all your help and advice!
11/13/2022
I am a single mother by choice. Heather was my doula post-partum, two mornings a week for 3 months. She started when my daughter was 3 weeks old. Heather offered me the break I needed every week to take care of other aspects of my life and take care of me. I knew I can only make my daughter happy and take great care of her if I was happy and rested myself. I selected Heather because of her own experience with children.
1- Heather is kind and reliable with kids. I was comfortable letting my daughter with heather while I was going grocery shopping. My daughter was always smiling and talking to Heather. She also helped my daughter positioning for belly time.
2- Heather was a great emotional support. My daughter had excessive gas and had dyschezia. It was time and energy consuming to constantly try to cheer up my daughter, mainly at night time. I could easily talk about it to Heather even my text message when she was not here. Heather also prep some food for me and give me the time to take naps and longer showers.
3- Heather is a wonderful and useful source of information. Heather offered me countless great tips, eg. with daycare and different aspects to make things easier. She made great recommendations for breastfeeding consultant, chiropractor, and doctors. Heather is still a very good source of information despite she is no longer my & my daughter’s doula.
4- Heather is easy to work with. It is very easy to arrange time if the normal schedule does not work. I also took a infant CPR class, which get rescheduled for the following day. Heather made herself available from 6-10PM despite this last min change.
5- Heather respect the safety. Heather wears a mask for the whole time around my daughter and wash her hands as soon as she arrives, which is important to me.
I am very thankful for Heather!
= Available. Calendar last updated: 09-09-2024
= Available. Calendar last updated: 09-09-2024