But, Why Birth?!

When a friend of mine asked me to attend her birth as her doula, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. I loved the idea of being there for her and providing support during such an important event in her life. Her husband was deployed and wasn’t able to come back in time for baby’s debut. My dear friend was about to go through a medically necessary induction without her spouse and she really wanted to avoid pain meds. She needed company. She needed comfort. She needed encouragement. She needed an advocate. And she chose me.

Her induction was quick and as gentle as it could have been. Luckily, baby boy was ready to come out. Mom was strong and determined and incredible. She roared that perfect little boy out on all fours and he came out with a hefty power behind his cry. It was such an inspiring experience that I knew I would never want to forget.

Fast forward a couple of years, we had baby number 5 and I decided to go to chiropractic school. The weekend we had planned to go look at houses near my school we were told they couldn’t do showings because of covid. Little did I know, this disappointment would be translated as a blessing soon after, as life changed so much for the entire world. While in pre-chiro school I wrote a couple of papers about birth, one of which discussed racial disparities in childbirth.

The stats I stated in that paper still haunt me to this day. I knew I had to do something about it. Number 6 was a surprising discovery in the spring of 2021, and it was about then that we decided chiropractic school was just not in the cards for our family, plus, my heart had already headed in a different direction- birth. I had done some virtual support for moms during the height of covid and when hospitals decided to start letting doulas back into the birthing rooms, I decided to move forward with that role with ferver.

I am apprenticing with several midwives with the goal of becoming a CPM. Being a student midwife is incredibly intense, though, so I have been taking it slow. My babies are still so small, I don’t want to look back someday and wish I would have waited. So, as I continue to gain experience in the birth world by offering hands-on support to expecting mothers, educating, and lifting them up, I keep my passion for birth in the front of my mind, and continue to research and gain real-life and educational knowledge that will serve my clients for decades to come!