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About Held Doula Care
“Listen. All the awakened ones, like trusted midwives are saying, 'welcome this pain.' It opens the dark passage of Grace.” -Rumi
Birth always changes us. It also humbles us. At these moments of transformation, joy, awe and sometimes grief, the most natural and loving human response is to lean on someone who cares and let yourself be held.
Here at Held, birth came long before massage. As a doula, Jess has supported hundreds of birthing people in a style that's warm and relational, evidence-based, and holistic. Her priority is ensuring clients are heard, honored and in control of the decisions they make about their birth care.
She brings steadiness, clarity, and skillful touch to every birth - especially for those healing from grief, trauma, anxiety/depression or other difficult circumstances.
In addition to being a Licensed Massage Therapist, Jess is also a Certified VBAC Specialist and Postpartum doula, a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator, an experienced Homebirth midwives' assistant, and has advanced training in prenatal massage, trauma- and grief-aware labor support, Spinning Babies and many other supplementary birth skills for hospital, home and birth center births.
Dear one, you are warmly invited to be held through birth: in body, heart and spirit.
As a doula, childbirth mentor, maternal infant health researcher and advocate, Jess has spent many years promoting optimal and loving birth experiences for all New Jersey families. These complementary lenses allow her to equip families with the knowledge and support they need to move through birth in empowering, resilient and joyful ways.
Jess brings to every birthing family:
Skilled, nurturing support, including evidence-based holistic childbirth preparation and values-identification to help you decide what's important and right for you, plus guidance in effectively and confidently communicating with your clinical care providers. Loving and warm birth team facilitation means your partner/spouse will be supported and will learn how to be there for you, at their level of comfort. Finally, you can rely on continuous and skillful hands-on labor support - through shift changes, long labors, the unexpected and the unknown.
Absolutely no judgment or agenda. "What's right" is a fluid concept unique to each family and each pregnancy. It also may change over the course of your birth. Jess will help you set realistic expectations as you journey through pregnancy, birth and postpartum, so that you can confidently make the choices that are right for you.
Solution-focused and evidence-based approaches. Jess works with families to develop feelings of safety, confidence and resilience no matter what birth brings. Parents learn pain/intensity coping practices and tangible readiness strategies along with the flexible, strong mindset and knowledge of birth practices that research demonstrates can lead to optimal outcomes.
Honoring the rites of passage. Together you'll pause daily life to honor what this birth means for you and for your family. We move through birth to emerge fundamentally changed on the other side, so Jess helps families explore what's most important and what they need to engage with these changes in a framework that's deeply meaningful to them.
Particularly when it’s hard. Though childbirth is never easy, there are times when it is especially hard. Jess has experience and training in supporting families who've experienced prior loss and other trauma histories, anxiety, depression, and other circumstantial heartbreak that can make giving birth even more complicated.
Jess holds space for your unique experience with gentleness, skillful means and an extensive network of allied perinatal health professionals so that you will always have the right care for you.
Answers to your Questions
"Thank you so much for your support and magic. I’m so grateful I was able to give my second the birth I hoped for and start our journey with triumph. We couldn’t have done it without you!"
- F.
"Jess was perfect for our family. She educated us in a caring, kind way that helped us feel confident going into labor and understand what to expect. She guided us in a gentle, informative way.
During labor Jess did everything we needed her to do without being asked. She was selfless and showed up in an authentic, caring way that made our entire experience more comfortable."
- K.
"Thank you so much for your support and magic. I’m so grateful I was able to give my second the birth I hoped for and start our journey with triumph. We couldn’t have done it without you!"
- A.
"I 100% recommend working with a doula - it was because of her that I was able to do it! Jess Larsen Brennan was my doula and will forever hold a special place in my heart - she's absolutely amazing. Such a calming, caring and motivating support partner!!!"
- J.
"I honestly cannot imagine what my birth experience would have been without Jess’s steady, loving support. Jess helped me prepare for multiple outcomes (I was going for, and successfully had a VBAC, but I knew that might not have been the outcome).
She physically supported me with hands on and breathing techniques, but more than that she emotionally supported me, respecting and trusting me with every step. I felt truly held by her, and I know that even if I ended up with a repeat c-section, I would have felt the same."
- J.
"I just wanted to shoot you a heartfelt note this morning. Thank you for not only being here last night with us, for being so giving with your time and compassion and helping us find our path, but for being such a wonderful person. From candy apples to massages, from being a shoulder to lean on to a source of comfort, we really appreciate you endlessly and want you to know that ❤️."
- A.
"Jess did a great job helping me manage my pain so that I could deliver naturally without an epidural. She also provided amazing emotional support and encouragement during and after the birth."
- S.
"I’m so glad that we hired Jess because we know that no matter what happened we were in good hands. I wish that I’d had a doula for all of my births up to now - everything felt manageable in a way it wouldn’t have without her."
- E.
"At both of my births Jess was calm, reassuring and helped me feel strong and centered. I loved having her there especially since my husband could not be in the room with me. I don’t think I could have done it naturally without her especially with the intensity of back labor. And I loved the massage!"
- S.