Reflections from your doula.

I opened up a text message today from a client of a few months back. The video she shared was made with her memories from the first few months after delivering her beautiful boy and shared her experience as a new mom. The song in the background a sweet Taylor Swift song called “Never Grow Up”. The video shared pictures of her little one and her birth and the time surrounding her baby’s first days and weeks. The smiles the joy and the sweet music played in the background. It brought me back to the laboring together on that special day as her doula. The moments we shared, holding hands, tears and hopes and stories and memories, singing Taylor Swift and watching music videos while we waited through the epidural, the difficulty of her epidural failing, and the joy of seeing her most beautiful boy after working so hard and so successfully and the relief that her baby was born vaginally. Covid threw some bumps into her plan and her support system was limited and not what she had hoped for. And to know that despite it all, she was not alone and she had the support of a doula throughout the process. Someone to hold her and make space for her and take care of her in this time. All these moments in a very special day that will always be remembered.

Watching the video brought tears to my eyes. This is why I do this work. This is why I doula. This is why I serve other laboring and birthing moms. I find this work touches my soul and brings a depth of experience my life craves. I enjoy the bond and the relationship. Its a deeply intimate work. The connection and deliberation of communication and thoughtful approach to each client. I say a prayer before I come to each birth that I bring what each individual mom needs and that I am the best doula for that mom in that day. I hope that I have been the doula of her hopes and wishes. Each client has been my honor and each baby my true blessing and joy. Thank you for sharing your story and the special moments of your birthing with me. The happy, the sad, the pain and the love. It keeps me present and connected to a slower reality. I look forward to this slowing down of time and depth of the present experience with each labor process that I support. The time when I get to be in the minutes and moments and just be with what is. The raw reality of the present time. I love my work as a doula and it gives me so much, maybe even more than I ever give to others. Every moment of it.

Thank you for sharing your baby and video and experience with me. Your baby’s birthday and your birthday as a mom will always be cherished in my heart and soul.