Experienced in Birth, Virgin Blogger

 

Finally I’m ready.  Finally going to get this rolling.  This idea for a blog has been rolling around my head for years.  To use the imagery of the topic at hand, the gestation long, labor prodromal now active. Now the birthing the blog.  Push and breath and work with the process.

b.b.birthstory is a place I intend to record and reflect the work of the last 10 years of my life.  I began birth work within my first year of motherhood.  This, you may guess, is not the ideal time to start a vocation that demands an on-call work schedule with potential heavy emotional and physical demands.  But new into motherhood and feeling freshly scorned by my Obstetrician, I answered the call to train and serve as a doula.

Doula, what is a doula?  I’ve answered that question a time or two.  A doula is a professional labor coach.  I have honed my skills in emotional and physical support of the laboring mother. Encouraging and looking out for the partner is also an important aspect of doula work. I am full of information and answers when it comes to the topic of pregnancy and childbirth.  I am not a nurse and not a midwife and I do not provide any clinical care to my clients.

Doula work led me to the doors of several local Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs).  These midwives took me in, educated and trained me to assist them at homebirths.  After a few years of assisting midwives and doula work, childbirth education crossed my path.  Its’ been about 3 years now since I taught my first class and I am surprised to find my introvert self eager to sit down with a room full of strangers and talk about the nitty-gritty of birthing. 

I describe myself as a “seasoned” doula.  I’ve attended nearly 200 births over the course of my birth work.  At this point I turn down more work than I take on, which I know is a privilege.  I am not afraid to say no if the opportunity doesn’t suit my family schedule.  Don’t get me wrong I am still passionate about my work after all this time.  But not in the snarky, homebirth at all cost, natural is the only way to do it kind of passion.  Joy comes to me in those moments when a woman gains confidence, encouragement, dignity and empowerment through her childbearing experience.  That joy is what keeps me shuffling my kids to the sitter at the last minute or getting out of bed at 3 am to attend a birth.

My aim for this blog is to make a space to record my journey as a doula and discern how my birth work changes and guides me. I will not be divulging any kind of gossip on local midwives, poking at political hot topics,  or scandalous birth stories. I promise to protect the privacy of the people that I have served and worked along side. 

So here I go, come along if you like.