Supported Birth Care

About Us

Lauren Ryan and Elizabeth Bedolla provide clients with a definitive level of service to meet  specific needs and circumstances. Their passion is to advocate for birth people and their families; by  providing knowledge, experience, energy, security and resources to create a healthy start.

Meet Elizabeth,ICCE,CLC

Elizabeth has over 16 years of experience in maternal and child development. She is a certified childbirth educator, lactation counselor, BLS instructor,  and a birth and postpartum doula. She teaches at Providence St. Joseph Hospital, The Pump Station and does private classes as well. She is the founder of The Lighthouse, a non-profit organization that supports mothers in need.
Elizabeth is the mother of two boys. During her first pregnancy, fear took over her. As a preschool teacher, she decided that knowledge was the answer. She felt that if she understood the birth process, it would dispel her fears and empower her to embrace this imminent monumental event.

 

Enrolling in a childbirth education class turned out to be a transformational experience! The class opened her eyes to a whole new world. What she learned gave her the confidence to choose how she wanted her birth to go and took away her fear of the unknown. Most importantly, it also set her on her current life path.

 

In class, she learned the role of a doula from her inspirational instructor, Sherry Rumsey. Seeing the importance of a dedicated support person, she hired her to be her doula.

 

Her first labor was long (36 hours) and she labored mostly at home before moving to the hospital. Sherry came and provided such wonderful support-- never leaving her side, yet respecting her space and needs. She also attended her second birth at home, as her midwife.

 

After her second baby, she realized how much love she had for her doula. She had carried her gently from prenatal to postpartum. Her respect for the women who provide this priceless support, knowledge, and love to a laboring mother grew. In 2009, She became Sherry's mom-on-call (caring for her children when she goes to births). Over the years, while observing her mentor, her passion for the work of a doula increased. She had found her calling.

 

Since then, she has attended numerous trainings and lectures. She has been overjoyed to assist many women in their own journeys through labor, birth, and into motherhood.

Meet Lauren

Lauren, the founder of Supported Birth Care, teaches childbirth education classes at The Pump Station in Santa Monica and Newborn Care at A Mother's Haven in Encino. She also is a Community Educator at Providence St. Joseph's and is the proud  author of Newborn 101, available on iBooks, featuring over 25 how-to videos and over 300 pictures. 

 

Lauren took Supported Birth childbirth education classes when she was pregnant with her daughter in 2000.

 

After taking the classes, Lauren felt confident and excited about giving birth. She had an unmedicated birth after 15 hours of labor and went home from the hospital the next day. Lauren felt that her positive birth experience was greatly connected to the childbirth class she and her husband took. During the labor and birth he offered amazing support and made her feel safe and cared for.

 

The Director of Supported Birth, Jana Wernor, approached Lauren about getting certified to be a childbirth educator and Lauren loved the idea. She got certified in 2003 and has been teaching private and group classes since then. In 2006 Lauren got certified as a Supported Birth Doula. After being certified she starting attending births, doing postpartum work and teaching newborn care classes.

 

Lauren likes to read, organize, ride her bike, practice yoga and go to amusement parks. October is her favorite month because she was born then and it has the best holiday, Halloween.

 

Lauren loves her job because she gets to meet all different types of parents-to-be and knows how important it is for them to go into parenthood feeling relaxed and confident.