It’s understandable if expectant mothers don’t want to do a lot of running around during a pandemic. A Northern Virginia-based company offers virtual pregnancy help online so those expecting don’t have to leave their homes.
“Instead of someone going to the hospital to take the childbirth education class, it’s now available to them at home,” said Arrow Birth co-founder Tara Campbell Lussier.
Campbell Lussier and co-founder Mari Stutzman Smith, both Herndon High School graduates, have been doulas in the region for more than 10 years, and they launched Arrow Birth online about nine months ago. They’re now raising their kids in Loudoun County, Virginia.
Did they have a crystal ball back then knowing there’d be increased demand?
“The answer about the crystal ball? No, we did not have it. We just thought it was forward thinking at the time,” Campbell Lussier said.
Arrow Birth provides two services for fees: personalized consultations on nearly two dozen topics, and the childbirth education and early parenting course.
The childbirth class prepares expectant moms for a natural birth, a medicated birth with an epidural and a Cesarean birth.
“Then, we thoroughly go over postpartum stuff as well, lactation stuff, and then also easing back into work-life balance and going back to work,” Campbell Lussier said.
Creating content for the childbirth course involved interviews with 40 professionals on what they know best, similar to a Master Class. For example:
- An anesthesiologist teaches about epidurals
- A doula teaches about labor comfort measures
- A midwife teaches about signs of labor
Also available for on-demand advice are 22 consultants of various specialties.
“Anyone that you would meet in the fertility, having a baby and new parent journey, we have a consultant that can get on a video call with expectant or new families within 24 hours,” Campbell Lussier said.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Arrow Birth has discounted its typical fees. A personalized consultation typically costing $199 for 50 minutes now costs $125. The rate for 25 minutes has been cut from $99 to $65. The Discover Childbirth Education course that usually costs $349 is now discounted to $174.
