✅ Inclusive Birth Planning: Assist in creating highly personalized birth plans accounting for sensory sensitivities, communication preferences, and stress triggers.
✅ Sensory and Communication Assessments: Evaluate individual needs (e.g., lighting, sound, physical touch) to create a calm and supportive environment.
✅ Trauma-Informed Support: Acknowledge and navigate trauma histories that might intersect with birth experiences.
✅ Education and Information in Neurodivergent-Friendly Formats: Use visuals, plain-language guides, or videos to explain processes and options. Offer written summaries of meetings for memory and processing.
✅ Routine and Predictability: Provide clear, step-by-step timelines for prenatal care, labor, and postpartum.
✅ Advocacy Preparation: Help clients identify self-advocacy preferences and strategies for interactions with medical staff.
✅ In-the-Moment Sensory & Emotional Regulation: Support with sensory tools (weighted blankets, essential oils, fidget items). Cue cards for non-verbal communication or meltdown management.
✅ Familiar Faces & Trusted Relationships: Consistent doula presence to reduce transitions and overwhelm.
✅ Flexible Coping Techniques: Integrate client-preferred comfort measures (music, touch, movement) and tailor pain management strategies.
✅ Medical Advocacy: Help clients communicate needs clearly with medical professionals, ensuring understanding of any neurodivergent-related concerns (e.g., overstimulation, anxiety).
✅ Sensory-Safe Postpartum Environment: Guidance for creating a soothing, low-stimulation environment at home.
✅ Neurodivergent-Friendly Newborn Care: Support with adjusting to sensory challenges of baby care (e.g., noise, touch, feeding).
✅ Mental Health & Emotional Support: Recognize the unique postpartum mental health risks in neurodivergent communities (e.g., postpartum depression, overwhelm). Offer resources for specialized mental health care if needed.
✅ Routines & Schedules: Collaborate to establish predictable postpartum routines that honor executive functioning challenges.
✅ Accessible Breastfeeding/Chestfeeding Support: Tailor lactation support to sensory and regulation needs.
✅ Support Circles & Community Connection: Facilitate small, neurodivergent-friendly support groups or virtual connections to reduce isolation.
✅ Compassionate, Non-Judgmental Space: Provide calm, respectful, and emotionally validating support.
✅ Tailored Grief Processing: Respect diverse grieving styles (some neurodivergent people process grief differently). Use written or visual tools to help clients process and share their experiences.