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.  Natalie Grillo has been an integral part of our doula and education staff since 2008. She has served many Mother’s Care families and would welcome the opportunity to serve your family.

Natalie is considered to be one of our most experienced and sought after Doulas for both Birth & Postpartum.  Her training and years of experience have opened doors for her to care for families that range from general pregnancy, labor and infant needs to those who require specialized care due to medical challenges or special needs that affect their pregnancy and ultimately their birth and postpartum experiences. Whatever your specific needs are, Natalie is trained and experienced to help you address those needs and care for you.

As a Prenatal Educator, Natalie teaches private and group prenatal education classes for Mother’s Care and hospital-based prenatal education classes such as those taught for Mount Sinai Medical Center.  Her energetic and fun personality make her the perfect fit to teach education courses, so she is one of our Childbirth Educators who teaches full Childbirth Preparation Classes (Lamaze-Based), Breastfeeding Classes & Newborn Care/Postpartum Recovery Classes.  She also specializes in teaching Comfort and Relaxation Techniques for Labor and Birth. Natalies teaches for the Hospitals that have named Mother’s Care as their preferred doula provider. These hospitals include the Memorial Healthcare System (Memorials West, Regional and Miramar), the South Broward Hospital District and Mount Sinai Medical Center.  Natalie is also one of the special guest speakers and Prenatal Instructors for “Shalom Baby'', a Childbirth Education Series specifically for Temple Bet Sholom in Miami Beach.

When working as a Birth Doula, Natalie’s approach to working with her clients is to provide them with as much information as possible and to answer their many questions so that they feel confident and prepared for their birth. Natalie has provided doula services to clients birthing in all of the facilities mentioned above and is very familiar with each hospital's norms and routines as well as the many Obstetricians and nurses that practice in them. Natalie also provides Birth Doula Support for clients who are planning a home birth or birthing at a birth center.  With experience at different birth locations, she offers a unique perspective as a Birth Doula who can infuse elements of home and birth center modalities for clients birthing in the hospital setting. Doula work has also allowed her to work with various healthcare providers such as obstetricians, hospital-based midwives and home and birth center midwives so that she can give clients a first-hand account of what each practitioner can offer them and how to make the most out of your prenatal visits with your doctor or midwife.

Natalie cares about the prenatal preparation of her Birth Doula clients so she focuses heavily on the visits she performs during the prenatal period. She reviews natural pregnancy and birthing techniques like  Spinning Babies and Lamaze and is trained to provide support for clients using HypnoBirthing or client’s who have taken Mother’s Care’s unique Fear•Less”® Childbirth Class. Be sure to ask her about what kind of information and techniques she reviews with clients during prenatal visits when you interview her! You’ll be amazed at how much she can offer to help you prepare.

As a Postpartum Doula and Lactation Specialist she is knowledgeable with the care a new family and a new baby needs. Natalie has extensive education and training in observing and assisting a newborn to breastfeed. While all MC Postpartum Doulas have training and experience assisting clients who breastfeed, Natalie is one of the specialists who are called upon when there are severe breastfeeding complications.  She is specifically contracted by clients for whom she has served as a Birth Doula and clients seeking breastfeeding assistance only in order to teach them proper feeding and latch-on techniques and address the common and uncommon challenges that might arise when nursing an infant. Her strength as a Postpartum Doula is seen in so many areas but primarily among those clients who need overnight care.  She reviews known and proven calming techniques that you can implement during the very early postpartum days when your baby is first born.

Natalie and MC want to provide up-to-date, evidence-based support and information for our clients in every area we participate in.  As a Postpartum Doula, Natalie is often asked what approaches parents can take when dealing with calming a crying infant and sleep routines.  Research has shown that newborns and very young infants are unlikely to adapt to strict “sleep training” or respond well to “cry-it-out” programs when they are introduced too early.  Strict schedules and other training methods  imposed too early more often than not, negatively impact behavior, growth and can interrupt breastfeeding or impact breastmilk production. An infant's evolutionary biology requires them to rely on the safety, warmth, protection and food provided by their parents. The closeness you have with your baby is promoted by a link that binds you both together, known as “attachment”. Evidence demonstrates that attachment is maintained by parents and babies ‘creating’ and responding to ‘cues’ – crying, visual contact, touch. When this is disrupted by strict, inflexible routines too early in the baby’s life and or “crying-it-out” methods the mechanisms that maintain balance and attachment are disrupted and both the parent and the baby’s hormonal stress responses increase.

As Doulas, our hope is to help you develop a gentle, yet simple and organic structure that will help you bond with your baby, get the rest and sleep you need and not disrupt your bonding experience with your baby or other important areas. Natalie is trained to teach new parents that just because your baby may not be developmentally ready to sleep training early, it does not mean you can’t or shouldn’t learn gentle calming and sleep methods that can be incorporated into your night routine. Natalie is an expert in this area and will guide you on what you can do while also providing newborn care that includes but is not limited to diapering, burping, changing infant clothes, swaddling, bathing and feeding (whether breastfeeding guidance or bottle feeding). Along with the fundamentals of breastfeeding (if your goal is to breastfeed), Natalie can provide guidance and assistance which includes pumping and breastmilk collection and storage info.  She can also provide instruction and information on formula use and safety if you choose formula/bottle feeding.

Natalie has a reassuring and fun-loving style to her care. Her clients love her sense of humor and positive outlook. Her approach is to make sure that a new mother remains confident and calm so that she can better care for herself and her baby. She is warm and friendly and quite funny, you will enjoy her laughter and supportive nature. Families who have worked with Natalie report feeling fully prepared for birth, supported and confident during their labor and excited about how well they are doing once they are home with their baby. They affirm that the advice she offered superseded any expectation they may have had and were so happy with their decision to utilize Mother’s Care and Natalie during this important time.

On a personal note, Natalie is of Cuban descent and is therefore fluent in Spanish and English; speaking and expressing both clearly. She understands how culture and traditions can influence our birth and postpartum period and therefore knows the importance of recognizing the various elements that can impact your experience.  An example is the integration of family to decision making on everything from birth plans to how to care for your baby.  Involving the extended family during the birth and after the baby is born in a way that is comfortable for her clients is an area that Natalie discusses and how to best approach sensitive family dynamics. Natalie is also an avid reader.  She keeps a tradition of reading certain books every year around the same time and enjoys discovering book stores that offer antique or unique books.  She shines in trying new and innovative ways to cook and bake, especially vegan recipes! Ask her about her favorite vegan inspired health dishes or her favorite books.

We are pleased that you will get to know Natalie and possibly have her assist you during your birth and/or postpartum experience! We promise her confidence and expertise will prove to be invaluable during your pregnancy, labor, birth and/or when you have your baby home with you! Thank you for considering Mother’s Care to serve your family!

Natalie’s Favorite Scripture/Quote:

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts fear out, because fear restrains us. Indeed, the one who is fearful has not been made perfect in love." - 1 John 4:18