A Little About Me

I haven't really introduced myself yet on this blog.

I am the mother of two, a six year old boy and a 2 year old girl, well she'll be two in a month! I am married to my high school sweetheart for 7 1/2 years. I love birth!

My love affair with birth began with the birth of my oldest. Though it was a difficult birth, I fell in love with the entire process of bringing a new life into the world, the wonder, anticipation, excitement.

I pursued a bachelor's in nursing so I could be around birth every day. I landed my dream job in labor and delivery right out of college- a difficult feat, it's not an easy specialty to get into. I, of course, was estatic.

I became pregnant for a second time while working this job. Slowly things began to change. There were things that went on in the hospital that I wasn't completely comfortable with. I wasn't able to spend enough time giving support to the actual women who were in labor. To me, they should be the most important focus, yet it wasn't that way. I felt bound by hospital policy that served only the hospital and the doctors, not the women or babies. I learned there are certain things you're simply expected to keep your mouth shut about. It's difficult to question physician orders and I didn't feel I could give my patients truly informed consent.

Informed consent is being able to make a decision by having all of the information available- risks, benefits, options. A lot of information in the hospital is one sided. I couldn't outright tell my patients what their doctor wanted to do was not necessarily in their best interest.

I continued to educate myself, research, and I eventually discovered an entirely different world of birthing- the one with homebirths and midwives, the one where birth is regarded as a natural process and respected. Long story short, I hired a midwife, had the most transformative experience of my life as my daughter was born in my bathtub into the awaiting hands of my husband, and subsequently quit my job in labor and delivery.

I much prefer being able to give my clients information about all their choices in childbirth so they can make the best choices for themselves. I'm now working as a doula and loving every bit of it.

I also encapsulate placentas! I am also keeping a blog devoted to this journey. More info on that can be found at http://www.azplacentaencapsulation.com/. I offer discounts for my doula clients.

In my spare time- what tiny bit there is- I love to write. I have a forthcoming novel about birth that should be published in the next few months.

My doula website is http://www.azbirthdoulas.com/. I'm based in Chandler, AZ. It's a great place to live!