I grew up with horror stories about birth with hospitals, doctors and procedures. But the central theme in all of these stories was fear. Despite all of this I have known my whole life I wanted to be a mother.
So naturally when I fell pregnant for the first time this was what I was expecting. My story however ended up the polar opposite, with the right support around me I birthed without fear and without medical intervention! I beautifully birthed in the water and I pulled my own baby straight to my chest. At 4.55am on 5/3/13 my daughter Addison was welcomed into the world and it was nothing short of amazing.
My birth was empowering, I was untouchable!
Then came mother's group classes and I met an amazing group of ladies, most of which are still my close friends today, but as we were talking about our births I was once again hearing those all too familiar stories full of fear and pain, and I'm not talking the obvious physical pain, I'm talking deep emotional pain! My heart was breaking for these beautiful strong mummas.
The key thing for me was the lack of knowledgeable and one on one support. This is what brought me to Doula's. The idea of someone who is knowledgeable, takes the time to get to know you and what you want for your birth experience, someone who is constant and non judgemental.
I believe that every birthing woman deserves this, and so here I am learning with every birth I attend how to best do this for the women I work with.
I hope that every woman I work with will leave their birth feeling empowered and strong knowing that every decision they made was informed and the best for her and her family.
No matter where or how you birth you deserve this kind of support!