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My passion for birth started 20 years ago, as I started to learn about my body and what it takes to grow and birth another being. That passion has continued to grow and I am so excited to be on this journey. About 15 years ago one of my beloved aunts became a birth doula and I hoped that one day I would be able to follow in her footsteps.
When my husband and I decided to start a family I started looking for a birth center and midwives. I decided on Puget Sound Birth Center and the Eastside Midwives, I also called my aunt. I was so excited to get to meet with a midwife and start to build my birth team. I met with the midwife early in my pregnancy, which ended up being very helpful as my first pregnancy ended at 10 weeks.
After going through the early steps of pregnancy, I told my husband that I thought I wanted to be a midwife, we talked through the process and I looked at starting my prerequisites to enter midwifery training. I applied to a local community college and signed up for my first class. When I got pregnant a second time and the early pregnancy sickness took over I realized that I would need to wait as I was exhausted!
My first labor and delivery at the birth center was a wonderful experience and it only increased my interest in birth work. Just over a year later, I had the opportunity to attend my sister's first birth and during that experience, I learned that while I was very interested in supporting birthing people and their partners and families, I did not want to be a midwife. It was such an incredible experience!
When I got pregnant for the third time, with my second child, I knew I wanted a home birth, I stayed with the same midwives and started preparing. My second child was born in late February 2020, just weeks before the first shutdown. The job I was on leave from was in a healthcare clinic and I knew that I didn't want to go back to that environment in the early days of Covid with a small baby at home, I also knew that I didn't want to put that small baby in daycare. So after many discussions, my husband and I decided that, for the time being, I would stay home full-time with our kids.
After coming out of the 4th trimester, those early morning/late nights, of the first 3 months of my new baby's life I started to think about what would be next. It was then that I started to seriously consider becoming a birth doula. In the coming months and years, I would train, shadow, and talk with trusted friends and mentors about my new life journey. I have learned so much and look forward to continuing to learn and grow my skills.
Now as my aunt is moving into retirement from birth work I am picking up the mantle for my family line to continue the work in this space.