My story

Let me start the introduction by letting you know that when I had my two kids, my partner and I were no experts! My love and passion of all things birth, body and babies began after the birth of my second. So! Let’s begin….

My mother is a nurse and midwife so growing up I was constantly hearing about the way our bodies worked and how babies were made, and what an awesome system we had in place for bringing life into the world. I never remember thinking it was a scary or unnatural thing to have a baby. However, the more movies I watched, the more birth “horror” stories I heard, and as more of my friends had unplanned interventions and didn’t get the birth they wanted, the more uncertain and scared I became.

When I actually became pregnant it was a HUGE thing for me and my partner to make sure I could fly my mother out to be with me through the birth. My first birth had a few hiccups but what got me through was my mother holding my hand and reassuring me that what I was going through was normal. Not only did I “survive” the birth of my son, but I found I wanted to talk about it over and over and share the story with as many people as would listen! I think what surprised me the most was when my friends and acquaintances didn’t want to talk or brag about their birth stories. Some of their stories were much rougher than mine, but I thought they were beautiful and that my friends were beasts (in the best possible way!). I found that a lot of their stress and negative feelings came from lack of support both during and after the birth. A lot of their sense of helplessness and insecurity stemmed from a lack of knowledge both of what was normal and what they were capable of. How different would their story have been if they had the knowledge to take their birth experience into their own hands? I guess my advocacy started then. I hated thinking that, for my friends and family, the birth of their child wouldn’t be a purely joyous and euphoric event. I wanted to empower everyone I talked to about how amazing the process could be and how mighty you could feel at the end!

My second came not long after that, and even though I was feeling much more confident about my ability to handle the birth, I still wanted my mom there to support me and my partner. And again, having someone to support, massage, coach and reassure me was invaluable! That cemented the decision. My passion for talking birth, bodies and babies hadn’t lessened it had only increased. A couple months later I signed up for my Doula training and I haven’t looked back since.

Every Birth, Body and Baby is different so there is no guarantee of what you will experience, but it is my goal and passion to give every person EVERY opportunity to have the birth and the story of their choice. Whether your goal is unmedicated, total medication, or scheduled C-section, whether you are breastfeeding, or bottle feeding, whether you have support in your life or not, EVERY person deserves to have the chance at their birth of choice.

Give me a shout and let me help you write the beginning of your amazing story!