A is for Attunement

What is attunement?

Attunement is the ability to get inside the mind of another person. It’s about anticipating their wants and needs and knowing how they may react to certain situations without even having to ask them. There are many times we attune in our everyday lives without even realizing it. Think about a friend who is having a hard time, a child and parent relationship or career fields such as psychology, education or medicine. No matter what walk of life we are from, it’s likely that we all have at least tried to attune to someone at some point in our lives. Attunement is everywhere, and when done well, can be a powerful gift for the giver and recipient.

Doulas can attune too!

Did you know that a huge part of the training our doulas go through involves learning to attune to another person? It’s actually pretty important, and tends to be why our clients love us. The birth and postpartum periods can be vulnerable and exhausting, even for the seasoned parent. It can often be difficult for our clients to verbalize exactly what it is they need in terms of support.

Hiring a professional doula takes the guess work out of figuring out wants and needs, and in turn gets them met in a way that the entire family can function in harmony as a unit. This attunement can appear in many different ways, but allow us to name just a few.

• Knowing when a birthing person is uncomfortable, and offering helpful options
• Anticipating when the partners may need to eat or rest
• Seeing when a big sibling is having a difficult time with new changes
• Initiating a supportive conversation with a parent who is overwhelmed
• Knowing a restless parent may need to hear that it is okay to go lay down
• Sensing when parents need to bond with baby, and when a break is needed

Attunement feels GREAT!

Having someone around who can attune to us can be one of the most amazing feelings in the world. During the birth and postpartum period, our needs can change in the blink of an eye. Having a professional to anticipate these needs changing and adjust to the family’s needs can make all the difference between surviving and thriving.

As your doulas, we want to make your experience the best it can possibly be, and while you’re always free to tell us what is on your mind or what you need, you can rest assured that if this is a difficult task for you, we will always be working very hard to figure it out and then support you in a way that will make sense to your individual journey.

Want an attunement expert in your birth and postpartum experience? Give the NY Baby Co. a call today at 518-712-9767 to schedule your free consultation!

Authored by:

Kimberly Francis