Support and love from a doula can help you feel more calm, get better prepared, and feel supported in birth. It can make all the difference just to have someone on your team, on your side, who knows and works only for you.

When I became a mother, I felt traumatized and blindsided when my planned home birth turned into a medical emergency, and a cesarean. With ongoing work and learning, I came to know that birth is inherently unpredictable and uncontrollable. But that doesn’t mean we have to be hurt by that process, or that we can’t prepare for it.

Knowing how to keep my calm in a storm, to navigate the ins and outs of a hospital or a home birth setting, and how to lead others toward feeling peace in the midst of things out of their control has become my work, and my honor. I would be blessed to help guide you through what I had to learn by experience, and to help you create memories surrounding your pregnancy, birth, and postpartum that fill you with joy for a lifetime.

 

My Training

I completed a 4 month training course and became certified with the International Doula Institute in both birth support and postpartum support. The core competencies covered in this training included:

  • The normal physiology of childbirth

  • Common interventions in the hospital

  • Evidence-based care

  • Comfort measures for childbirth

  • Breastfeeding and infant feeding counseling

  • Utilizing emotional intelligence to maximize clear and effective communication among the birth team.

Caring for, and understanding the needs of:

  • the postpartum mother and partner

  • the newborn or infant in the first year

  • the older siblings and the home

  • the whole family with the utilization of emotional intelligence.

I am certified in Aromatherapy for Birth, through 2 organizations. This allows me to:

  • Recommend oil usage for certain indications

  • Recommend safe usage of oils, and recognize an adverse effect and apply first-aid in case of an emergency.

  • Work with oils within my scope of practice, never using them to treat an ailment that might otherwise be better served by a health practitioner.

  • Supply and sell oils from reputable companies, or make recommendations for how to choose where to source your own oils.

 

What would it be like…

To have a Professional best friend on call for you from the moment you decided to start a family?

 
 

My beliefs

  • I believe a good doula can be whoever you need them to be, and can be flexible in the role they play in your birth. For you that might mean someone to help your partner be an effective support for you, or it might mean staying very hands-off and coming in the room only if needed, or that might mean someone to help you advocate for yourself or use comfort tools in labor. The way it looks is dependent on YOU and what you need in your journey.

  • Whatever your expectations, your journey into motherhood is about YOU, not me, and I am here to support your well-informed choices and to cheer you on throughout!

  • I believe a good doula can hold space for the birthing person, which means: active listening, acting on direction from the birthing person, and putting the doula’s own needs and feelings and judgments aside in order to make the birthing person the center of attention.

  • I believe doulas are there to advocate for, not speak for, the birthing person. That means amplifying your own voice to make sure all your needs are met.

  • Formal training is not required for good doula work, but good doula work necessitates training. I am certified, and am always investing in opportunities to advance my areas of expertise.

  • I support causes of social justice for POC and the LGBTQ community.

My Career

May 2018: Trained as a birth and postpartum doula with International Doula Institute

August 2018: Certified as a birth doula with International Doula Institute

August 2018: Attended my first birth as a doula

August 2019: Certified in Essential Oils Safety with Brilliant Birth Academy

August 2019: Certified in Essential Oils for Birth with Daily Nectar Essentials

October 2019: Certified as a Pregnancy and Infant Loss Advocate with Quietly United in Loss Together.

October 2019: Trained in Rebozo for birth with Gena Kirby

January 2020: Trained in Trauma-Informed Breastfeeding counseling, and Spinning Babies, started certification with Stillbirthday

February 2020: On track to train in Neonatal Resuscitation for emergencies

If you have a concern, or would like to provide feedback, positive or negative, please let me know and I’d be happy to utilize that to become a better doula. If you feel I have worked outside my scope of practice in some way, please contact my training organization for support: