Support from your first weeks to your first meeting
Founded by Maggie Decker, a DONA certified birth doula and lactation educator, Blueprint Birth supports families through pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding. From your first weeks of pregnancy to your baby’s first latch and the first weeks and months to follow, we offer knowledgeable guidance and care customized to you and your family.
About Maggie Decker
Hi, I’m Maggie! For over a decade, I’ve had the honor of walking alongside families through pregnancy, birth, and those tender first weeks at home. I started Blueprint Birth in 2012 after becoming a DONA International certified birth doula. From 2013 to 2014, I worked as a midwife assistant at Del Mar Birth Center in South Pasadena, where I helped with prenatal visits, labor, newborn care, and those very first latches.
Along the way, I’ve added postpartum doula training through Bini Birth, placenta encapsulation training through Full Circle, and lactation education through BreastfeedLA. I’ve completed all the education and clinical training to become an IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant), and I’ll be taking the board exam in 2027.
To me, birth is one of life’s most profound transformations, a sacred rite of passage where a woman becomes a mother and a family is born. In generations past, that wisdom was passed down from mother to daughter, and new mothers were surrounded and cared for. Our modern culture has lost much of that, and too many families are left to navigate this season on their own. I believe this season of life deserves to be honored and supported, and it is truly a privilege to be a part of your journey.
Certifications
- Lactation Education Specialist training (LES), Breastfeed LA
- Certified Doula CD(DONA), Ana Paula Markel
- Certified Placenta Encapsulation Specialist, Full Circle
- Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP)
- Basic Life Support (BLS)
- Bloodborne Pathogens Certified
- California Food Safety Certified
Doula Services
Whether you want start-to-finish guidance or only a birth doula, every service can be chosen on its own or grouped into a package that suits your needs.
- Unlimited phone and email support
- 2 prenatal visits and 1 postpartum visit
- Prenatal visits to get to know each other, talk through your options and procedures, and create the birth plan that best suits you and your partner (with an example plan to start from)
- A postpartum visit, usually the day after birth at home or in the hospital, for questions and to make sure you have the support you need
- 24 hour on-call from 2 weeks before to 2 weeks after your due date
- Continuous physical and emotional support once active labor begins, through 2 hours after delivery (no time limit on labor)
- Support with your first breastfeeding experiences
- Referrals for any of your specific needs
Prenatal visits may also include
- Nutritional counseling, supplements, herbal support and an exercise plan
- Birth plan review and childbirth education resources
- Finalizing your birth plan and support strategies
Postpartum visits may also include
- Breastfeeding support for parents
- Troubleshooting and recommendations
Lactation Services
2 hr Postpartum Lactation Visit
- Immediate lactation concerns
- What to expect in the first few weeks
- Normal newborn behavior and early hunger cues
- Building and maintaining an adequate milk supply
- Proper latch and positioning
- Lactation nutrition into your postpartum period
Private Prenatal Lactation Class
- What to expect in the first few weeks
- Normal newborn behavior and early hunger cues
- Building and maintaining an adequate milk supply
- Proper latch and positioning
- Lactation nutrition needs
Nutritional Counseling
The importance of a healthy diet, adequate in calories and nutrients, cannot be overstated. Your health, your baby’s health, and a pregnancy free of complications depend in great measure on the quality of your diet. A prenatal vitamin offers some insurance, but it can never replace the nutritional value of whole food. Together we will look at your eating and exercise habits, herbal tonics in pregnancy, and ways to support your immune system.
Placenta Encapsulation & Tincture
Encapsulation
The placenta is picked up within the first 72 hours after birth. Whether you deliver at home or in a hospital, it will be placed in an enclosed container; just store it in the refrigerator once you are home. It is prepared in a sterile environment with sterile equipment, dehydrated, and encapsulated into as many vegan capsules as your placenta provides. Directions come with your capsules at drop-off.
Tincture
A tincture can be used alongside and long after your capsules are gone. A small piece of the placenta is steeped in high grade alcohol and can be used in times of trauma, emotional distress and transition for both mother and child. Add drops to water, tea or juice to extend placenta therapy.
Reported benefits
After childbirth many moms experience blood loss, fatigue and a major hormonal shift. The placenta houses your pregnancy hormones and can help the healing process by replenishing iron and proteins. Moms report:
- Fewer baby blues
- Less iron deficiency
- Less postpartum bleeding
- Better sleep
- More energy
- Enriched milk
- Balanced hormones
- Quicker recovery
Packages
Choose a package, or build your own from individual services.
The Plan
- Personalized birth plan guide
- 2 prenatal visits
- Birth doula
- 1 postpartum visit
The Foundation
- Enrollment in recommended childbirth education courses
- Personalized birth plan guide
- 3 prenatal visits
- Birth doula
- 2 postpartum visits
The Framework
- Start-to-finish personal baby registry
- Enrollment in recommended childbirth education courses
- Guide to hospitals, midwives, doctors and birth centers
- Personalized birth plan guide
- Prenatal care: nutrition, herbal and exercise guidance
- 4 prenatal visits
- Birth doula
- 2 postpartum visits
- Placenta encapsulation and tincture
What is a Doula?
A doula is professionally trained to support and encourage you physically and emotionally from early labor through your first hours with your baby, offering comfort measures like relaxation, breathing, positioning, massage and movement. A doula helps everyone play their role in supporting mom, including acting as an ally for the partner. Doulas attend hospital, home and birth center births, and provide non-medical support only.
Studies have shown that having a doula present can:
- Lower the risk of serious complications
- Lower cesarean rates
- Shorten labor
- Minimize forceps deliveries
- Minimize epidural use
- Reduce infant hospitalization
- Reduce maternal fever
- Reduce oxytocin use
Let’s plan your birth
Maggie Decker (LES), CD(DONA)
blueprintbirth@gmail.com · 626.616.1103