Mindful. Conscious. Family Led.
Providing Breastfeeding, Postpartum Care, and Education.
About Candice
I have been living and breathing all things birth since I was asked to attend my first birth over 15 years ago.  Through studying birth with traditional birth attendants, midwives and doulas I have gained a great respect for true physiological birth. I feel a deep innate knowing of the undisturbed birth process.  As an extension of my birth work I organically began supporting breastfeeding. Eventually, I became someone who midwives and other doulas called on to help families with feeding challenges. This role meant I spent a lot of time in people's homes unintentionally acting out the role of a postpartum doula. I enjoyed my time with families postpartum but until I had my own babies I didn't fully understand the importance of supporting someone through the postpartum period. Suddenly what I had always known, respected, and held space for I felt first hand. I now understood what it meant to be a sleep deprived anxious new parent. Acts of service for postpartum families now hold the same weight for me as attending people during birth does. Perhaps even more since it is so under supported. I love serving families while they are find their footing and consciously creating their bonds to one another. - Candice Johnson, Owner
Breastfeeding
My approach to breastfeeding is wholistic. I will work with you and your baby through the days, weeks, or even months as you find your way. My presence in your home will initially be over a few hours, observing feed(s), sleep, baby's behaviour, and the overall wellness of you and baby. I will bring my education and intuition as a breastfeeding counsellor, wrapped up with my training and skills as a postpartum doula. I am not a lactation consultant. I highly respect the amazing lactation consultants in our community and refer to them when their expertise are needed.
Cherish is inclusive of all genders and family make ups.
Postpartum

20% of women are reported to experience a postpartum dis-ease or condition of mental health. Knowing this stat is based on self reporting we can only assume the rate is actually much higher. Postpartum care should not be a luxury, it is a necessity. Your health is your baby's health, and healing happens with extended rest and support.
We have lost our village, and with it so much wisdom and knowing about how to be with new parents as they unfold themselves.
Postpartum care covers many tasks, it would be impossible to list them all, but you can think of me coming into your home as a member of your village. What would the people in the village do for a new family to support them? I will tend to these acts of service while bringing my training, education, and intuition for this period of life to your family.
"It takes a village to raise a child." Cherish is inclusive of all genders and family make ups.
Education For Doulas
Wise Woman Way of Birth Postpartum Doula Training

Upcoming dates:
2024 Course One dates: Saturday January 20 to February 24 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (Pacific)
Cost: $525 (Canadian) or $400 (U.S.)
6 Classes Live on Zoom, assignments and materials on Google Classroom.

2024 Course Two dates: Wednesday April 10 to May 15 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m (Pacific)
Cost: $525 (Canadian) or $400 (U.S.)
6 Classes Live on Zoom, assignments and materials on Google Classroom.

2024 Course Three dates: Saturday September 28 to November 2 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (Pacific)
Cost: $525 (Canadian) or $400 (U.S.)
6 Classes Live on Zoom, assignments and materials on Google Classroom.

Description:
This course will prepare you to be with families in the months after welcoming a baby. It includes all the aspects of the “fourth trimester” from practical feeding skills, to understanding the postpartum person’s body and how to support the family as a whole.Our societal structures provide little care for new families. Having a trained eye and calm presence in a home in the early days is invaluable. Postpartum Doula care is proven to improve breastfeeding success, family bonding, and postpartum dis-ease disorders. Postpartum Doulas are in high demand! Please email if you need more information or to register.
waterbirthinwoman@gmail.com







Wise Woman Postpartum Doula Retreat

April 5th, 6th, and 7th 2024
Bowen Island, BC

Join us for the 1st Annual Wise Woman Postpartum Doula Retreat. Wise Woman Way of Birth will be at the Xenia retreat center on Bowen Island for 3 days and 2 nights, surrounded by beautiful nature, soaking up the palpable spirit of these healing grounds.

A replenishing experience for your body, mind, and spirit. An immersive training in continued postpartum education. A connection for the postpartum doula community.

“I have been dreaming of this retreat for almost two years now, since moving to Bowen Island. I want to bring together the community of postpartum doulas that has been building over the last few years to connect deeper in person. There are so many brilliant, fascinating women doing this work, and we can all be supporting each other to better support the families we work with. It started as this zygote of an idea to give doulas some of the skills they have been asking for and has grown into this immersive, healing, cup-filling retreat with a dream team of speakers!” Candice Johnson

Trainings will be focused on postpartum body and soul integration and normalizing infant sleep. Guests will be given ample time to enjoy the grounds, which include a walking labyrinth, trails connecting to Killarney Lake, indoor meditation and reflective spaces, visiting the famous OPA tree, and enjoying the infrared sauna. Meals are included.

2“Xenia is a 38-acre Sanctuary in the heart of Bowen Island, one hour from downtown Vancouver and 90 minutes from our international airport. It is also surrounded by hundreds of acres of protected government forests and lakes. It is a place of safety and beauty. It is a place to heal, to rest, to play and to discover one’s true nature and inherent gifts.”

Please contact us for accommodation options and pricing.
Candice@cherishchildbirth.com604-786-5841