Our mission
The mission of Great Expectations is a simple yet powerful one. To provide a supported, informed, and empowered birth experience for every mom to be.
Meet your doula, Kasee Chiusano
My name is Kasee Chiusano. I am a certified birth doula living in Carlsbad, CA with my husband and four children. I've lived in California for 9 years now but spent most of my life growing up in the Midwest. I became interested in becoming a doula following the birth of my son, Robert. After earning my doctorate in Leisure, Youth and Human Services Administration and working in child and family services for 15 years, I decided to expand my services to include maternal and newborn health and start my doula practice. I’ve never been happier.
As your doula, I strive to provide emotional, physical, and educational support to you. A guiding statement in my practice is, “How will she remember this?” I will work hard to ensure that you look back on your birthing experience with a sense of accomplishment, empowerment, and joy.
What is a doula?
The Greek word doula means woman caregiver. We now use the word to describe a trained and experienced labor companion who provides the woman and her partner continuous emotional support, physical comfort, and assistance in obtaining information before, during and just after childbirth.
A birth doula…
recognizes birth as a key life experience that the mother will remember all her life…
understands the physiology of birth and the emotional needs of a woman in labor…
assists the woman and her partner in preparing for and carrying out their plans for the birth…
stays by the side of the laboring woman throughout the entire labor
provides emotional support, physical comfort measures, an objective viewpoint, and assistance to the woman in getting the information she needs to make good decisions...
facilitates communication between the laboring woman, her partner, and medical providers…
perceives her role as one who nurtures and protects the woman’s memory of her birth experience.
Retrieved from DONA International Birth Doula Manual, 2017
Benefits of having a doula
Women with continuous labor support from a Doula are:
39 percent less likely to have a cesarean birth
35 percent less likely to have a negative birth experience
15 percent more likely to have a spontaneous vaginal birth
Cochran Reveiw of Labor Support, 2017, National Partnership for Women and Families