About Me
Compassionate Support
As a doula, I accompany women in labor to help ensure a safe and satisfying birth experience. I am fully committed to offering compassionate support to families during their childbirth journey. My role is supportive and completely non-medical. I am focused on a family centered experience where I encourage the partner and other family members to actively participate in labor support. I will help you all with active movement during labor, position changes to support movement in bed, comfort measures and breathing techniques.
You will be heard!
As A Mother’s Voice my purpose is to use my voice of experience to remind you of your goals and to help you maintain control of your choices during your birth. Your birth options are up to you, whether it is an unmedicated birth, epidural birth, home birth or hospital birth, I can help!
Training
I have received education approved by DONA International for the doula's role from Jacqueline Starkey, R.N., IBCLC, Certified Childbirth Educator, DONA Labor Doula. I am also a volunteer doula at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital under her direction.
I have read several books, articles and position papers and I have attended a 20-hour DONA certified course preparing as a doula. I’ve also observed a six-week childbirth education class and a breastfeeding class.
Experience
I have six children, four children of my own plus two step-children. My births consisted of all vaginal deliveries, two medicated and two unmedicated. I also breastfed all four of my boys.
I attended five births supporting family and friends before making the decision to become a doula. Those five births include two vaginal births of full-term babies, an emergency caesarean section of twins at 26 weeks and an unexpected vaginal birth of a stillborn baby at 24 weeks where I offered postpartum support while the family grieved.
The support I have provided to these families, both physically and emotionally, paired with my own birth experiences and the education I have received have prepared me for the very important role of being a doula.
I’ve worked with many families during unmedicated and medicated births, vaginal and caesarean section deliveries, as well as families during the delivery of sleeping babies