As I start out on this new journey, I thought it would be important to let you all know why I have started down this path.
I had two beautiful and wonderful births. Both girls were born unmedicated at a local birth center with a wonderful and knowledgeable midwife. Adi, my eldest, was born after 8 hours of active labor and Mari, was after 4 hours of active labor. Guided by my midwife I was able to make informed decisions, properly prepare for labor and childbirth and feel in control. I then saw friend after friend of mine not have a similar experience - not well informed, supported, or in control. As I thought about all of these wonderful, strong, extremely capable women who didn’t get the birth that they were looking for I couldn’t help but wonder - what could I do to help future women have a more informed and supported birth?
After Adi’s birth was the first time that I considered becoming a doula because I found all things pregnancy interesting, but at the time I didn’t have the courage to make the leap.
I have spent the last 10 years in the wine industry - it is interesting, fun, and ever changing - but also extremely male dominated. After the birth of my second daughter in early 2018, I battled postpartum depression. While trying to deal with the consuming anxiety and depression I was confronted with a world that didn’t understand, support, or even care about me. Through my own pain, I found a calling - to help women like myself. I started to explore my options and kept coming back to being a doula, not just birth, but postpartum as well. I started signing up for certification programs, training courses, getting involved in doula facebook groups - needless to say, I was hooked. I found a world that I was passionate about, that I didn’t feel like I was an impostor, and felt that I truly had something to offer. My friends stated that they didn’t realize I was so into babies - my answer “I’m not…I’m in it for the moms”.
So now, on the eve of me giving my notice, I sit here looking at how far I have come in the last 10 years. I have grown into a mother that knows she needs more in life than just a job - especially just a job in sales. I need to help mothers, to be an example for my girls -so they see women being empowered, and to help other women find their way in the life long task that is motherhood. This need has grown from a small desire to an all consuming fire.
As I step out into my new world, I am not afraid that I will be alone - I have already met and connected with more amazing, encouraging and warm women than I have in the last 10 years, and I haven’t even started yet. I look forward to working side by side with empowering and strong women, learning from them and letting them shape how I view the world. I look forward to doing the same for the mothers that I work with to help them reach their full potential in parenthood, and ultimately life. I look forward to making a difference.
xoxo, Ann