About Us

Why 7 Swaddles?

Babies have commonalities, but are also unique. They also change very quickly, and their bodies need different positions for comfort as they grow. We also noted that parents seem to think there is only one swaddle and if they can’t do it, then they are failures of swaddling or that their baby doesn’t like it. We wanted to give parents enough options to see what would work the best for their baby at that particular stage. When we did some research, we noted that instructions on swaddling only recommended 1 technique, and that many of the videos were of poor quality and didn’t recommend safe swaddles, with unsecured blankets and arm positions that didn’t meet the developmental needs of infants.

I have been a doula since 2001, and now run a large group of doulas who help parents not only soothe their infants, but also help them understand and meet their baby’s needs, including the need for sleep. We take care of hundreds of very tired families, both during the day and during the night. Many parents have struggled with swaddling, as well as trying to get their infants to sleep on their backs. We have been able to innovate several different options for them over the years, and enjoy sharing these skills with other appreciative parents. We thought a video would allow us to reach a greater population outside of Portland, OR.

We have been teaching couples these options prenatally in Baby Care classes, teaching parents in their home during doula visits, and teaching moms in new moms group in their early months. Many parents asked for videos to watch later, but not finding our options on YouTube, we decided to make a resource that families could share. We have also tried out these swaddles with hundreds of infants, watching them work to soothe and help babies sleep, and helping their parents figure out a way that works for them. We hope that these videos will help parents continue to meet their needs, and specifically to help parents that aren’t able to attend our classes, moms group, or receive our doula care. While getting instruction in person is far more valuable, our hope is that these videos will give you realistic views of babies using these swaddles, and allow you to duplicate them at home.

Curious about how we began?

Doula work is such a unique job, and there are so many paths to it. I am happy to share mine/ours!  The ABC story started in 2000 while I was still pregnant with my first child. I was a nanny for 2 small children, and I happened to meet another doula at a park with her child. She shared with me about her doula work, and left me saying, “You should be a doula.”

I was amazed. Getting paid to work with infants and their mothers – who knew such a dreamy job existed? Nanny work was wonderful, but babies had always been my favorite, and I rarely could get enough of them!

After the birth of my son in a new city with no family nearby, I learned the value of postpartum support, and creating your mommy village. My mom was a great ‘doula’ to me, but she only stayed 5 days after my c-section, and then we were on our own, with my husband back to work and me struggling through breastfeeding alone at home with my son. I formed a moms group that met for 3 years in our tiny home. And when my son was 6 months old, I took my first doula training…and fell in love with doula work.

After working part time for the next year, I was hungry for more. My husband agreed to take on the childcare duties for a short trial to see if this work could support our family (he was a bit skeptical). Surprisingly, it did! Our few months trial turned into years, as my heart grew even larger through my doula work and our unconventional family style was born.

We added a team approach to doula care when I couldn’t handle all the jobs coming my way, and grew from 3 doulas that first year to a solid team of 10-14 doulas for the past few years. I also added a child to our family 9 years ago, and had a great team of doulas to support our clients during my early months at home.

I have since added teaching at 2 area hospitals, facilitating 3 moms groups a week, teaching doula trainings locally in Portland and in surrounding states, and become an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. This work is addictive, and the mom and baby field is ever growing and changing; a fascinating one to study and serve in.

After Baby Comes Doula Service grew out of my heart to serve mothers and their babies, and the women who join us are hand-picked and remarkable both personally and professionally. Some have served our clients for 7 or 8 years; I am proud that they choose to share their time with ABC.

Thanks for checking out our story, and if you are curious about starting one of your own, check out our doula trainings page for the next available training. Kimberly offers Postpartum Doula Training through CAPPA as well as Advanced Doula Trainings specifically for working with twins or triplets (one of our specialties!). Trainings are offered throughout the US; feel free to contact her to set up a training in your local area if you can’t travel to one already scheduled.

If you are an expectant parent in Portland, OR or Vancouver, WA, please check out our Baby Care classes page and learn the swaddles in person. If you are new mom local to Portland, OR, please consider visiting a new moms group. Kimberly’s groups can be found at www.Providence.org/classes; search for New Moms Group (first visit is free!). Moms groups are for moms 0-6 months, and do not require being part of the Providence system.

We hope that having access to these videos will help your baby (and your family) sleep better, help you become a more confident parent, and allow you to help others by passing them on. Please feel free to share this site, but we do ask that you do not copy the videos, download them, and share them without the www.7swaddles.com site link and credit. We did months of work and put in hundreds of dollars to make this available to parents, and would like the videos to remain the sole ownership of ABC Doula Service. Thank you and happy swaddling!