I truly believe becoming a doula is a calling in my life. I had my first child in 2012 at Health Foundations Birth Center in St. Paul. I was originally planning a hospital birth with an OB and a doula. I transferred care to the birth center at 27 weeks and decided that since we were going to be at the birth center with a midwife, I didn't need a doula (how wrong I was). I had the most amazing and difficult birth I could ever imagine. Even though I didn't have a doula, I had an incredibly supportive and skillful birth team. Looking back, we could have benefited from having 3 doulas. I came out of my birth feeling the most empowered I have ever felt in my entire life. I knew I needed to be apart of this incredible work. I felt a calling to help other parents have supported and empowering births.
A year after my daughter was born (2012), I took my DONA approved doula training workshop with Enlightened Mama's Liz Naylor. I was a doula intern at Health Foundations Birth Center immediately following my training. Over the next 2 years I began working as a doula and continued working towards finishing my DONA certification. In that time, I had my 2nd baby (at Health Foundations, with a doula!) and finished my certification on May 28th, 2015. I have supported people in all types of births, from natural out-of-hospital births, natural hospital births, inductions with and without pitocin, epidural births, and planned cesarean births. I believe there is no right or wrong way to birth your baby. Every birth option is a personal decision that each family needs to make for themselves. As a doula one of my many roles is to help you navigate through all your options and help you make the most informed decisions you can. My goal for every birth is for the new parent to look back on their birth, regardless of how the birth ended up going, and feel they were supported 100% of the way and that they had the tools, resources and voice to feel confident in the choices they made. I believe this crucial step a mother and birthing person goes through as they starts their journey of parenthood is so important. No matter what a birth looks like or turns out to be, a parent should always leave feeling supported and empowered.
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A year after my daughter was born (2012), I took my DONA approved doula training workshop with Enlightened Mama's Liz Naylor. I was a doula intern at Health Foundations Birth Center immediately following my training. Over the next 2 years I began working as a doula and continued working towards finishing my DONA certification. In that time, I had my 2nd baby (at Health Foundations, with a doula!) and finished my certification on May 28th, 2015. I have supported people in all types of births, from natural out-of-hospital births, natural hospital births, inductions with and without pitocin, epidural births, and planned cesarean births. I believe there is no right or wrong way to birth your baby. Every birth option is a personal decision that each family needs to make for themselves. As a doula one of my many roles is to help you navigate through all your options and help you make the most informed decisions you can. My goal for every birth is for the new parent to look back on their birth, regardless of how the birth ended up going, and feel they were supported 100% of the way and that they had the tools, resources and voice to feel confident in the choices they made. I believe this crucial step a mother and birthing person goes through as they starts their journey of parenthood is so important. No matter what a birth looks like or turns out to be, a parent should always leave feeling supported and empowered.
(visit me on Facebook)