Meet Pam Diamond of First Daze & Nightzzz

Today we’d like to introduce you to Pam Diamond. 

Hi Pam, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I felt overwhelmed and confused after the birth of my first child more than 29 years ago. I had no extended family in the area to teach me about feeding and caring for my new baby, and my husband had to return to work soon after our son was born. Then I remembered a brochure I found while pregnant and made a phone call. That’s how I hired my postpartum doula, who was a like an angel dropped into my life. The guidance and support I received helped build my confidence as a mother while also planted the seeds for my future career! 

I trained as a postpartum doula and baby sleep coach to come into the home and support parents in the first days, weeks, and sometimes months after bringing home a new baby – or babies, as the case may be. I specialized in lactation assistance, newborn basics and bonding, nutrition, safety, infant development, soothing techniques and establishing healthy sleep habits, healing practices, and also postpartum adjustment. 

My passion is empowering parents with knowledge, confidence, and skills needed to perform the most important job in the world – parenting. Now, after 20 years of service in the Triangle, I lead a team of doulas – aka baby whisperers – who share the same passion, working with families and helping them get off to the best possible start. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The main obstacle has been the name of what we do – postpartum doula. When people hear “postpartum,” it makes them think that we work only with mothers experiencing postpartum depression or mood disorders. And yes, we do work with families experiencing perinatal mood disorders, but that’s a small portion of our clients. I’ve started calling myself a newborn and parent coach since what I do is help parents navigate the world of new parenthood, but the title postpartum doula is still what’s widely used. 

Another obstacle that ended up being a launch pad is that early on, I could only help so many people as one person doing this work. That’s what led me to having a team of FANTASTIC doulas working with me. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
As postpartum doulas and sleep coaches, we help mothers and fathers navigate the world of new parenthood. We help them learn how to feed their baby (or babies as the case may be) and establish good feeding habits; we help them learn how to set the stage for establishing healthy sleep habits right from the start; we aren’t just people who love babies, though of course, we do. We are trained professionals who take pride in helping parents learn to read their baby’s communication and how it relates to caring and comforting, including around feeding and sleep. And, of course, all of this is to help form healthy bonds and attachment that will last a lifetime. 

Many people say we are baby whisperers, and that may be true, but ultimately, we aim to help parents be their own baby whisperers. We offer guidance and education to help build confidence and support families getting off to a smooth start. After 20 years in the business, I’m proud of the wonderful reputation we have in the community. I often run into a parent who will tell me how much our services helped them in the early days of adjusting to their growing families. Current and former clients continue to be our best referral source. 

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
A change has certainly happened, and now doula is a household word. You see it in sitcoms and movies – “Who’s your doula?” So, more and more people are getting smart about lining up support for after their baby arrives. In other countries, sending a newborn specialist to the home for several visits after a baby is born is the standard of care. I hope that we will see this happen in our country as well. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://firstdaze.com
• Instagram: @firstdazenightzzz
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dazeandnightzzz
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pameladiamond/