The American Academy of Pediatrics describes the role of the Child Life Specialist as follows:

Child life specialists focus on the optimal development and well-being of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults while promoting coping skills and minimizing the adverse effects of hospitalization, health care encounters, and/or other potentially stressful experiences. (click here to read the entire statement)

At Child Life Doula, we aim to provide Child Life services outside of the hospital walls as we know that life is filled with stressful experiences, not just medically related ones. And if your family is struggling with medically related stress, continuity of care is important. Once discharged from the hospital, families often lose access to the invaluable support system that was their Child Life Specialist. We want to fill that gap.

Topics that can be covered with Child Life services include but are not limited to:

• stress around an upcoming doctor’s appointment

• new diagnosis education (either the child’s or a family member’s)

• development of coping skills to aid in stressful moments

• processing of grief and loss (i.e. death of a loved one, a pet or a life-changing event)

• sibling support (if a sibling has a brother/sister with a medical diagnosis and is struggling with coping/understanding)