Lisi Grullon

Thank you so much for your interest in our company and our fine staff of Doulas and Doulas! By way of introduction, please allow Mother’s Care to share a bit about the Doula care provider you are considering to assist you during your pregnancy, labor, birth and the postpartum period.

Lisi Grullon has been a Certified Birth & Postpartum Doula, Lactation Specialist and Prenatal Educator since 2000.  She is an integral part of our Doula and education staff.  After working as one of MCs Doulas for several years, she proudly joined our administrative team as the Manager and Creative Arts Director which she continues to do today. This amazing journey has opened doors for her to assist many new couples as they become parents, teach in various venues as a Prenatal Educator, and guide new mothers as they learn to bond and feed their babies.  Through Mother's Care Education Program, she has also had the privilege of teaching future Doulas, Labor Nurses and other Maternal/Child Healthcare Professionals.  It would be an honor for her to have the opportunity to assist you before, during or after the birth of your baby!

CERTIFIED / EXPERIENCED BIRTH DOULA:

Lisi provides care to women and their partners before, during and after the birth of their baby as a DONA & MC Certified Doula. Her work focuses extensively on the prenatal period and education. Her belief is that preparation in both body and mind are essential to lay a strong foundation in achieving the goals laid out by a woman and her partner. She is trained in techniques such as Spinning Babies©, Birthing from Within®, Lamaze©, HypnoBirthing©, “Fear-Less Childbirth”© Childbirth, and Fetal Malpresentation Adjustment Techniques. “The prenatal time is a special and important time to work towards understanding how your body works and what techniques are available to you to assist you in having the best birthing experience. My role as your Doula will be to help you get ready by getting to know you and your partner’s goals and fears in regards to birthing while teaching you important strategies to get your body and baby ready!” said Lisi.  As an experienced Birth Doula she has worked with families expecting their first baby, full-term healthy moms and infants, families who are birthing the 2nd child (or more), high risk pregnancies with various moderate to serious health conditions and other special needs expectant families. Lisi has experience in supporting an expectant parent planning for, and achieving a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) and provides evidence-based information that can help you find a VBAC supportive & successful provide and birth location. Lisi assists clients who are birthing at home, in one of our South Florida Freestanding Birth Centers and in hospital settings between Miami-Dade & Broward Counties. She is one of our “HydroDoulas” who provides guidance and information on the use of water immersion during labor and / or water birth adding other tools like aromatherapy and MCs HydroDoula© Labor Pool!.

As a Latin woman, she understands Hispanic Culture and how culture can influence our birth and postpartum period. Family practices and traditions are important factors when having and raising children and our cultural background and practices also have a significant impact on what and how we perceive our pregnancy, labor, birth and postpartum period.  She knows firsthand the importance it is for some to involve extended family members into the birth experience and after the baby is born in a way that is comfortable for her clients so she often performs “rehearsals” with her clients and their family; suggesting various possible scenarios surrounding labor, birth and the postpartum so that the family can creatively think on how best to help the new mom and her partner. Lisi is always available to her clients and makes it a point that they know she is only a phone call or text message away when they need her. Partners feel especially grateful that they have her available for them as well. Lisi works extensively with a woman’s partner and any other member of the woman’s support team, educating them on how to properly support a woman during pregnancy, labor, birth and her postpartum period.

CERTIFIED / EXPERIENCED POSTPARTUM DOULA:

When working as a Postpartum Doula , Lisi’s primary goal is to understand what challenges new parents may be having with their young one in order to develop helpful techniques that can make the transition into parenthood smoother. With a focus on calming and soothing modalities, Lisi teaches couples and their infants that sleep for all is achieved by understanding newborn awake/sleep behavior and feeding needs. She believes in the concept of the “4th Trimester” which is a philosophy that slowly and gently integrates a newborn into the world outside the womb. She believes that teaching flexible routines and gentle structure, while remaining calm and collected is the best way to approach the more “high-need” infant. Lisi teaches and incorporates evidence-based techniques like the Happiest Baby on the Block©, Gentle Sleep Solutions© and others supported by the AAP,  the American SIDS Institute, First Candle, La Leche League for calming and soothing tools and strategies along with strategies related to breast and or bottle feeding (pumped breastmilk and or formula).

CERTIFIED / EXPERIENCED PRENATAL EDUCATOR & ASSISTANT DOULA TRAINER:

As a Prenatal Educator Lisi provides informational support and education to her clients in order to prepare them for their birth. Her training and course curriculum offers her clients the ability to learn from various philosophies of childbirth. With an extensive background on Lamaze©, HypnoBirthing©, Gentle Birth Choices®, Spinning Babies©, Birthing from Within®, Fear-Less® Childbirth and other known birth courses, Lisi's classes are interactive, fun, engaging and filled with a wealth of knowledge that clients and class attendees can glean from to help them reach their birth and postpartum goals based on the philosophy they wish to utilize. It is her belief when working with her birth clients or with those who attend the many classes she teaches, "If you are provided with as much information as possible and have someone who can answer your many questions, it is more likely that you will feel confident and prepared for the birth of your baby!"

Her style of teaching makes her the perfect fit to teach prenatal education courses at the various facilities MC has partnered with.  She is one of the Childbirth Educators who teaches Comfort and Relaxation Techniques for Labor and Birth at the Hospitals that have named Mother’s Care as their preferred Doula provider. These hospitals include: Memorial Healthcare System (Memorials West, Regional and Miramar) and the North Broward Hospital District. Lisi is the lead Prenatal Educator for Mount Sinai Medical Center (MSMC) and teaches a full curriculum which includes Childbirth Preparation Courses and other prenatal classes like “Fear-Less® Childbirth", Introduction to Breastfeeding for parents, “Your Amazing Newborn” Care class and many others.  She is also the primary Prenatal instructor for “Shalom Baby”, a Childbirth Education Series specifically for Temple Bet Sholom in Miami Beach. As a Doula and Prenatal Educator who has worked in all of these facilities she is familiar with each hospital's “norms”, birthing culture, routines and practices as well as the many Obstetricians and nurses that practice in them.

Her love for education and teaching style has opened many doors for her.  Lisi teaches workshops and seminars as a Maternal/Fetal Education Guest Speaker on the “History of Childbirth in America and the Adoption of Non-pharmacological Methods of Pain Relief“, "Birth Doulas and Maternity Care", "Comfort Techniques for the Busy But Caring Labor Nurse" and more for various Colleges and Universities throughout South Florida. She has taught courses for Chamberlain School of Nursing, NOVA Southeastern University, Kaplan University of South Florida as well as in-service educational seminars for the various hospital facilities associated with Mother's Care. To share her knowledge and experience with future Doulas has been a deep passion for Lisi.  Working alongside Dr. Marlo Robinson (Founder and CEO of MC & Certified DONA Trainer) as an Assistant Birth Doula Trainer, she trains future Birth and Postpartum Doulas seeking certification through DONA International and or continuing education classes. Lisi has also assisted Dr. Robinson teaching Birth Doula Training and Education to future nursing students whose program requires them to attend a Doula Basics Training Course when they reach their Obstetrical rotation as a requirement toward becoming Nursing School Graduates.

WHY SHE CHOSE BIRTH & POSTPARTUM WORK:

“I became a Doula because I have always been awed and inspired by the act of giving birth and the process new parents go through to prepare and ultimately care for their baby. As a child, I marveled at how the pregnant body worked and as early as age 10 I knew that I had to do something in my life that would allow me to be a part of a pregnant woman’s journey!  When I was very young, a close family friend who also happened to be an experienced L&D nurse and later became a mentor in my life, became pregnant with her first child.  I was invited to attend the Lamaze© classes she and her husband took.  In those days, prenatal classes were 12 weeks!  I attended every one and soaked in as much as I could like a sponge.  Later, when it came time for her to birth her baby, she asked if I felt ready to observe the birth.  I could not wait!  I immediately said yes and counted every second until that baby was born.  I knew that the birth would change my life forever. What I did not know was that during her birth, my future career would be demonstrated in an unexpected way.  My friend had a Doula!  I watched utterly amazed at how this Doula seemed to hover around my friend during her labor. She massaged, stroked, encouraged and advocated at what seemed like the perfect moments.  I never heard my friend say, "I need help" or "Can someone do....". Her Doula intuitively KNEW what to do.  I so amazed by her it left a deep impression in my heart.  'If only there were a job like that!', I told myself.  Fast forward several years later, now a young adult, and in a conversation with another friend who was expecting twins, I was informed that they had hired a Doula. The same Doula! That second adult friend said to me, "You know, you'd make a great Doula!"  I dived into looking at what it was and it was like finding a long lost friend. I dove head first into birth work and never looked back.  All these years later I still have the same drive, love and passion for my clients as the very first one I assisted during my training as a Doula. I would be honored to meet and work with you and help you on your journey to motherhood!"

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT LISI:

Lisi is warm and friendly and quite funny. You will enjoy her comedic sense of humor and supportive, calming nature. Born in the U.S., she is a Miami native of Dominican/Cuban descent and is fluent in Spanish and English.  Her professional background is in Dance and Musical Theater. Before becoming a Doula, she traveled extensively with a professional Dance/Theater company performing for several years as a soloist and choreographer. She was also a member of a professional dance and performing arts company that provided artists for various musical Christian Pop & Worship artists. It's no surprise that she loves theater, musicals and all kinds of visual arts.  When not teaching or working clients during labor or for breastfeeding, you will often find her buried in a great book. Her favorites are fantasy-adventure fiction and "the classics". If gaming is your thing, though some folks find this surprising about her, we recommend you ask her about her love for Comic-Con conventions and chauffeuring the kids and their friends to the various larger and smaller gaming events during the year.

Favorite Quote / Scripture Verses:

“There is a secret in our culture, and it is not that birth is painful, but that women are strong” - Laura Stavoe Harm

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” - Matthew 19:26