My Decision to Become a Doula

Hi! I'm April and I am a Birth Doula and Lactation Counselor. I wanted my first blog post to be a window into my decision to become a Doula. Now please bear with me, as I am not a professional writer and this is my first blog post EVER.

I first learned about Doula's after the birth of my daughter in 2008. After being the key word here. My birth didn't go exactly as planned and intervention methods were used, that I had little to no knowledge of while they were being suggested and preformed. I remember thinking "I just wish there were things other than this that we could do". Well, I found out at my first mommy and me group that there was a profession for people who know certain activities that can be done before you get to a medical intervention place and those people were called... (say it with me) DOULAS!

Say what!? You mean I could have had my own birth advocate with me during the whole process and letting me know the risks and benefits of what was being suggested? Sign me up, right? I thought to myself "next time, I am for sure getting a doula." Still not knowing that this would become my career path years later.

I became a pregnancy resource for my friends and friends of friends who heard through the grapevine that I was an open book about my pregnancy and birth story and sounding board for their questions and concerns. I loved being able to help women realize that they are capable of this wonderful thing called birth and motherhood. My unofficial motto sort of came out as 'you got this, girl!'. Something I still find myself saying.

Lets fast forward 2,921 days (8 years for those of you who have math skills similar to mine) of working in the corporate world and just not finding myself satisfied or proud of what I was doing, I knew i needed to make a change. Then one night it happened, while talking with my husband, he made the best and truly life enhancing comment "Babe, you've talked about becoming a Doula since we met, now's the time, go do it, you'll be great at it and I know it'll make you happy." I think i went on a total body high in that moment, feeling so happy and thankful that he said the words that I know deep down I was just waiting to hear someone else say it out loud.

Now the next part, Fear! Which, honestly, I find a little ironic, since we use the phrase "Birth without fear" all the time. Here we go, quit my job while thinking 'Holy Cow, am I making the right decision? Can I really do this? I told myself my unofficial motto, You got this, girl! So, I signed myself up for birth doula training with DONA International. I learned so much during the training time, that I was just amazed at our bodies and what we are capable of doing for ourselves.

I feel proud to tell people I meet that I am a Doula and even more proud when I tell people who have know me for a long time that I have chosen a new career path that speaks to me. I find myself feeling all the right feelings when someone who knows me well, tells me how they know that this is the right path for me.

So, join me for the future adventures of Doula life!

Xoxo, April