Welcome to FiLumena Birth! My name is Laura and I am a PFA credentialed and certified Doula for Birth and Bereavement, Grief Counselor, Compassion Fatigue Therapist, and pre/post-natal mentor serving the Shenandoah Valley, Northern Virginia, and Fredericksburg areas. 

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I serve women and families in two capacities: as a Doula for birth and a Doula for Bereavement. To find out more about my services and philosophy as a Doula for birth, please VISIT HERE. 

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My work as a Doula for bereavement is particularly dear to my heart. FiLumena Birth and Bereavement's mission is to assist, support, and inform mothers and families who experience miscarriage, later-term miscarriage, or stillbirth, and to educate and inform health care professionals, pregnancy help providers, and clergy so they may better serve families who experience the loss of a preborn child. FiLumena Birth and Bereavement also seeks to serve, support and educate mothers who may be struggling with limited income or considered part of an "at risk" population by offering community birth Doula services at no cost. You can find out more by CLICKING HERE and HERE. 

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 Now, I would like to tell you about the name FiLumena.  The name means “daughter of light."  I believe that every woman should be treated as a daughter of the light when it comes to birth; in any trimester, in any situation, and in any circumstance.

 

I believe that every woman who is preparing for birth should have support. I don't believe money, situation, difficulties or special circumstances should prevent a mother from having a doula by her side. 

 

I believe that the most important aspect of my job is honoring and safeguarding your dignity, your baby's dignity, and respecting your ability to birth your baby your way. 

 

I invite you to look around this site and to learn about the various services that are available to you, discover why I have a passion for birth - whether that birth is at home, in the water, in the hospital, or a birth center, and why I believe that families anticipating a difficult or heartbreaking birth especially deserve to have a doula. Learn why I specialize in high risk births but love a homebirth too and get to know me a little. I hope that I may serve you as you embrace your identity as a Daughter of the Light in your particular and personal journey towards birth.