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  • Hi. I’m Kelly Vossberg, a postpartum doula.

    I feel so fortunate and honored to support families during such an important time in their lives. The postpartum period although filled with excitement and joy, may also present challenges that can overwhelm even the most prepared families. During this time of transition, I provide parents with nonjudgmental support and encouragement as well as practical advice and resources so they feel confident in their new roles.

  • About Me

    As an at home parent for over 15 years, I know firsthand how easily feelings of doubt and inadequacy often undermine your confidence as a parent. My experience and training provide me with the insights and strategies to ensure a positive postpartum transition for you and your family. I am trained and certified as a postpartum doula through DONA. I completed my Lactation Educator Counselor training and certification through the University of California, San Diego CLEC program. I am also certified in both infant and adult CPR.

    I am a lifelong resident of the Twin Cities and I love all things Minnesotan, including snow! Married to my childhood sweetheart for 21 years, we are the proud parents of two sons, ages 18 and 15 years old. In my free time I enjoy running, remodeling projects, rock concerts, and spending time with my family and golden retrievers at our cabin in Alexandria, Minnesota.

  • Formal Education and Training

    • DONA International Postpartum Doula Certification
    • DONA International Postpartum Doula Training
    • Certified Lactation Educator Counselor (CLEC) University of California, San Diego
    • Master of Education, Elementary Education, University of Minnesota
    • Bachelor of Science, Urban Studies, University of Minnesota
    • CPR Certified, Red Cross

  • Experience

    • Multiples
    • Baby Wearing
    • Prematurity
    • Addiction Recovery
    • Over 40

Services

Emotional support and encouragement

Emotional support and encouragement

Guidance with newborn care

Guidance with newborn care

Self-care opportunities

Self-care opportunities

My services are tailored to your individual needs. I charge an hourly rate of $35 per hour.  I do not require a minimum number of hours for you to utilize my services beyond my retainer fee of $150.

A typical schedule that often works well for many postpartum families is for me to provide support for four hours a day, three times a week. Some clients benefit from just a few shifts to help them build their skills, while others desire support over a longer time period as they adjust to their new roles as parents. We will work together to determine your anticipated needs and adjust the schedule as needed.

After an initial complimentary consultation to discuss your anticipated needs and schedule, as well as to ensure our compatibility, I will schedule a prenatal visit to your home.  At that meeting, we will create a plan to foster a positive experience during the postpartum transition. An individualized support plan may include any or all of the following services:

  • Emotional support and encouragement
  • Guidance with newborn care (bathing, feeding, baby wearing, and comforting the baby)
  • Self care opportunities (time to rest, recover, and reconnect)
  • Breastfeeding education and counseling
  • Positive interactions with siblings
  • Household maintenance (laundry, vacuuming, tidying the house, dishes, and pet care)
  • Preparation of light meals and snacks
  • Referrals to other professionals as needed
Breastfeeding education and counseling

Breastfeeding education and counseling

Household maintenance and preparation of light meals

Household maintenance and preparation of light meals

Referrals to other professionals as needed

Referrals to other professionals as needed

The Value of a Postpartum Doula

A postpartum doula’s most important role is one of
non-judgmental support.

Teaching Skills and Providing Resources

The excitement of an impending birth and all of the preparations leading up to it often focus more on the labor and delivery of the baby than the needs of the family once the baby arrives. While likely prepared for sleepless nights and a chaotic household, parents often underestimate the emotions and feelings of inadequacy that life with a newborn may present. The real value of a postpartum doula lies in her or his ability to provide emotional support and encouragement in addition to teaching practical skills and providing resources during this special time.

Encouraging a Positive Start

Making sure the mother feels rested, nourished, and confident in her new role is crucial to the support a postpartum doula provides. Doulas do an excellent job modeling a variety of self-care strategies as well as suggesting ways caregivers can provide support for the new family. Postpartum doulas also work to help create smooth transitions for the entire family. If the mother is experiencing issues in any of these essential areas, it is the doula’s job to assist those involved with her care and support to create a positive environment and provide referrals when needed.

Non-judgmental Support

Although they may have support from friends or relatives, parents sometimes feel obligated to maintain the perception that they are doing great, despite feeling overwhelmed physically and emotionally. In addition, extended family relations are not always ideal and may be further strained by the arrival of a new baby. This may compound even normal feelings of sadness, confusion, and disappointment. Supporting parents with sincere words of encouragement, active listening, practical strategies, and sometimes a simple hug, all help to create a positive environment where families can grow.

“Asking for help is not a sign of weakness.
In fact, it can be a sign of real strength.”
-Mister Rogers

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I hire a postpartum doula even if I did not have doula at my birth?
Positively! Any family that would like to feel supported and cared for during the postpartum period can hire a postpartum doula. The end goal is to help parents achieve independence and confidence in their parenting skills as they bond with their baby. First time parents welcome the care as they adjust to their new roles and families with older children often benefit from the practical support. A postpartum doula may also be especially helpful for a woman who is recovering from a caesarean section or a complicated birth.
Positively! A doula supports the entire family, which includes the partner. The household tasks and care of other children often become the sole responsibility of the partner, which leaves little time to bond with the new baby. The doula can help minimize the strain on the partner, while providing nonjudgmental support and encouragement to both parents during this time of transition.
Positively! A postpartum doula specializes in a ensuring a healthy recovery for the mother while promoting a positive, supportive environment for the whole family. The doula helps the extended family understand the mother’s needs, and encourages them to honor her and her partner as they find confidence as new parents. Also, support from friends and family tends to peak within the first few weeks, but parents often need help for a longer period of time.
Positively! The needs of a mother during subsequent pregnancies and the postpartum recovery period may be completely different than her other experiences. Both parents might encounter new challenges unique to this pregnancy, while also trying to balance the needs of their older children. New parents are often surprised at how exhausting simultaneously caring for an infant and younger children can be.
Positively! It’s just as important for parents who begin their families through adoption or surrogacy to have support and encouragement of a postpartum doula as they transition into their new roles. New parents have the same questions regardless of how their baby came to be part of their family. Also, postpartum support can be especially helpful to adoptive families as they often face several uncertainties in anticipation of their baby’s birth.
Positively! Postpartum doulas are trained to provide families with multiples with practical and efficient ways to organize their home so infant care is as streamlined as possible. They also accomplish as many household tasks as possible for the parents so they can focus on bonding with their babies as individuals. Doulas understand that although all parents face their own challenges during the postpartum transition, there are unique needs among families with multiples.
  • To have a calm grown-up to help keep our son and baby engaged and for me not to be alone with two children while still recovering from a rough birth and clean dishes and laundry, oh my, amazing! Kelly also wore our baby while I rested so I still felt like she had the attention she needed. Kelly is amazing! Our son keeps asking when she is coming back!

    Kara S.
  • The most valuable aspect of Kelly’s support was her enthusiasm for giving attention to our newborn’s older brother. He absolutely adored her! Thank you Kelly!

    Chris S.
  • Kelly provided me with informative handouts, help with my older son while I pumped and nursed my newborn. She also took care of household chores I was unable to do and made sure I had time for myself. Kelly does an amazing job!

    Douachee L.
  • My husband and I hired Kelly after we came home from the hospital with our new twin baby girls. Kelly is an awesome postpartum doula!. I highly recommend Kelly to assist with postpartum care to make your new life as a parent as peaceful and comfortable as possible. It’s a big life adjustment becoming a parent and Kelly sure made it easier by easing my mind and some of the vulnerable feelings I had. Hire Kelly! You will enjoy her positive energy and the balance she creates for you.

    Michelle P.
  • We had a truly stressful first few months of our baby’s life due to medical reasons and I felt as though I was about to lose my mind not having any additional support since my family are all back in the UK. After an initial phone conversation, I felt confident Kelly would be a good fit and I couldn’t have been more right! Kelly is wonderful! She is warm, friendly and makes you feel completely at ease. She’s efficient, organised and willing to help wherever needed (one day we moved the nursery furniture upstairs, including taking apart the crib!). In addition, she’s amazing with my cats, my daughter adores her and she makes me laugh, which is icing on the cake at this point in my life! I highly recommend Kelly, 100%!!!

    Sarah B.
  • Choosing Kelly as our doula was one of the best postpartum decisions we made. She arrived each day with fresh, positive energy and intuitively knew just what to do to keep everyone happy and our home organized. I was able to relax and take a nice long shower and nap every day that she was here! Even though this is our second baby, we learned a lot from Kelly such as new techniques for soothing the baby and she let us practice with her ring sling carrier. Kelly got us through the first few chaotic weeks with our newborn and I like knowing I can reach out to her again in the future for help, support and advice.

    Josette H.
  • Kelly was a huge help to our family, I recommend her highly. She helped around the house, showed me how to wear my baby in a Maya sling and best of all was a caring person to talk to. We could not have had Thanksgiving this year without her help! She was always punctual, kind, understanding and super helpful with household chores. Thanks Kelly!

    Katy N.
  • We love Kelly! She provided much needed peace of mind on my first day at home without my husband. Her simple breastfeeding tips gave me the confidence that I needed to start breastfeeding at home after experiencing issues with breastfeeding at the hospital. In addition, she showed me how to breastfeed while side lying which is a lifesaver for breastfeeding at night. We’re still using some of the calming tips she suggested when he cries, and the shower and extra sleep I was able to get while she was here helped give me a much needed reset. Thank you Kelly!

    Caroline C.
  • My husband and I hired Kelly to help us the week after we brought our twins home from the hospital. She helped us establish a routine and gave us a lot of wonderful suggestions to stay organized. Kelly allowed us to nap during the day while she somehow managed to care for both babies while doing all our laundry and dishes. She was extremely supportive and enthusiastic, while also having a calming presence. Kelly made me feel in control and confident that I could successfully care for two babies at once. I would highly recommend hiring Kelly as your postpartum doula!

    Kara W.
  • Kelly has been a God-send. Truly. I recently discovered postpartum doulas (we have a six month old boy) and was unsure if she could still help us since our baby was a bit older – boy, am I glad we connected! She has been a tremendous source of support, encouragement, and good advice; introduced me to baby wearing, and made me feel like I know what I’m doing! I’m an over-40 mom and was struggling to balance my old life and new normal. Kelly has reassured our family (including our 19 year old) that we are doing well and coping just fine. I can’t say enough about how helpful, kind, and knowledgeable she is – I wish I would have connected with her when my son was a newborn!

    Mary W.
  • Our experience with Kelly was absolutely wonderful. My husband and I often refer to hiring Kelly as one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. The first day Kelly came over alone was worth more than we paid her in total! Completely overwhelmed as brand new parents four days after our daughter was born, Kelly arrived and just saved the day. She taught us some game changing things around breastfeeding and comforting techniques that relieved so much pain and stress. She proactively started completing tasks that were being neglected. She even made me lunch! All while being a comforting presence, putting us totally at ease. Every visit was like this. If you’re a new parent and on the fence about hiring a postpartum doula like I was, just hire her. 🙂

    Bridgette H.
  • Our family’s experience was wonderful! From our consultation, I knew she would be a great fit for us. Kelly is continously positive and helpful. During Kelly’s time in our home, I felt so much love and support to be the mom I wanted to be during that time frame. From an emotional viewpoint, because let’s face it, its a very hormonal time period after birth, Kelly was my rock. If I was having a rough day, she let me have a rough day. She was always there to offer a kind word or just a listening ear, with no judgement. She continuously validated me as a mom and wife. We miss her daily, but know that we can’t have her forever. The next family will be getting a fantastic support system in Kelly! We wish her much success!

    Katie M.
  • Kelly was such a source of support the first two months of our baby girl’s life. She was warm, knowledgeable, and productive. Kelly came to our home twice a week and would get to work taking care of baby, making sure our house was cleaned up, and provided me whatever help I needed at that time—whether it was breastfeeding, bottle feeding, or just providing conversation. We highly recommend hiring her as it was the best postpartum decision we made for our family.

    Tracy P.
  • I’m not exaggerating when I say that the smartest new mom decision I made was hiring Kelly as our postpartum doula. I had almost no newborn experience and struggled with breastfeeding out of the gate. It was such a relief when Kelly arrived during those first chaotic weeks. She helped me troubleshoot everything from nursing to napping to the best ways to soothe. She would literally study our daughter and come up with the best strategies for her care. Kelly has so much wisdom and advice to share that it made my adjusting to being a mom much smoother than it would’ve otherwise been. And it was magical to get a chance to catch up on sleep and then come downstairs to find all the laundry and dishes done as well as a very happy baby. I would highly recommend Kelly to any expecting family.

    Annabelle S.
  • As a new mom, I hired Kelly to help me after my baby was born. I am so glad that I found her! At every visit, she brought positive energy, encouragement, and practical wisdom. I looked forward to her visits because they left me feeling relaxed, more knowledgeable, and more confident as a new mom. Just one out of so many examples of how Kelly helped me was her mentoring about baby wearing, which is one of her many areas of knowledge. I was interested in learning how to use a baby carrying wrap, so we practiced together, and now I’m confidently wearing my baby daily. Kelly also has a unique ability to understand what babies need, and to calm them – I call her the Baby Whisperer. She is always proactive, making her visits super productive with helping around the house without much direction at all. She is also a great listener – providing perspective and advice from her own experiences with no judgement. I learned so much from Kelly, and my time with her got the entire family off to a great start with our baby. I will forever be thankful for Kelly’s positive impact on my postpartum experience, and her authenticity as a genuinely nice, caring, and loving person. She is truly special, and if you’re thinking of hiring a postpartum doula, you should definitely reach out to her!

    Elizabeth D.

I’d love to hear from you!

Kelly Vossberg
PCD (DONA), CLEC
Positively Postpartum, LLC
[email protected]
612.702.2720
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