Sweet Peas Baby, LLC

About

Autumn Bessire Tattenham, CD, CLC, NCS

Doula, Lactation Counselor, Newborn Care Specialist, and Educator

Serving Clients Face-to-Face in Monterey County

Virtual services available everywhere.

I have always loved babies; I sometimes say birth, postpartum, and newborn care are my native languages! As the oldest of six, caring for babies came to me naturally from a very young age. After raising three children of my own to adulthood and years working as a nanny and then as a newborn care specialist, I realized that providing evidence-based support for parents is the most effective way to ensure babies are off to a great start. By combining my birth and postpartum doula support with my expertise in newborn parenting, lactation, and relationship foundations, I offer a unique mentoring and educational approach to supporting new families. I'm there for you & your family through your pregnancy and birth…and what comes after! 

Credentials

I'm a trauma-informed, certified birth and postpartum doula, an INA (International Nanny Association) credentialed newborn care specialist (NCS), a certified lactation counselor (CLC), and an Evidence Based Birth® Instructor. I have decades of experience in perinatal care and am exceptionally skillful at guiding first-time parents through pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, and the earliest phase of their babies' lives.

My Approach

My passion is to use my extensive training and experience to ensure that new families get reliable information and unbiased support right from the beginning of their parenting journeys. Whether working one-on-one with a new or expecting parent, teaching group childbirth classes, or holding workshops for other birth professionals, my goals are to reduce overall perinatal stress and increase the safety, enjoyment, and well-being of everyone involved as new parents welcome their babies into the world!

Training & Certification

As a life-long learner, besides my doula, newborn care, and lactation certifications, I hold certifications in pediatric CPR and first aid, Spinning Babies birth practices, pediatric sleep shaping, managing multiples, postpartum mood disorders, and infant loss/bereavement support. I have taken extra steps, received an NCS certificate from CACHE, formerly known as the famed National Nursery Examinations Board (NNEB) in the UK, and completed Level I-III certification in Relationship Foundations for new parents with Elly Taylor of Becoming Us out of Sydney, Australia. I'm an official Hypno-Doula through Hypnobabies® and a current professional member of Evidenced Based Birth®, Postpartum Support International (PSI), the Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association (CAPPA), the International Nanny Association, and the Newborn Care Specialist Association (NCSA). I'm a Greater San Diego Birth Collective member and a member of the Birth Network of Monterey County. I volunteered for several years as a birth doula and doula mentor with the UCSD Hearts and Hands program. I'm a certified Parenthood Tour Guide through Becoming Us, which allows me to provide relationship-informed guidance and a deeper level of family-centered support to the people who choose me as their doula.  In April 2024, I completed a 9-week mastermind under Jojo Hogan, the founder of the Slow Postpartum Movement, to further my understanding of international practices in postpartum care. This year, I became an Evidence Based Birth® Instructor, and can now offer classes to expecting parents and continuing education workshops to doulas, nurses, midwives, and physicians.