A tech nerd turned birth & motherhood nerd 💕

A few things I’ve been all my life: an empath (cancer sun, cancer moon), a nerd, an athlete, and a creator. If you’ve clicked on this page, then here’s the long story of how I got here, as a doula and “life coach” if you will.

Before doula life, I worked in tech.

I earned a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Technology and a Master of Science in Technology Leadership from Purdue University. I’ve always been a nerd, and my caregivers/teachers encouraged me to pursue engineering. I definitely had the competence, and I am definitely a problem solver, but that wasn’t it. Without the knowledge of myself though, I pursued what I thought I was supposed to. The corporate world met me with open arms, and I thought I was broken because I couldn’t "grind it out", turns out, I just didn't know who I was. I'd been following the path that others wanted from me. How did I do everything I was supposed to and was miserable with the results? Still, I kept going, assuming, eventually the money would make my feelings go away.

In 2016, while pursuing my Master’s degree, I became pregnant with my first son. I started on my health, wellness and overall journey of "waking up" before my pregnancy & his birth really took my love for social science, homemaking, and family health to the next level. I read the books, did the research, labored at home for 15 hours, and arrived at the hospital to be told, I wasn’t in “real labor” and should go home and take a Tylenol pm. I was back at that hospital less than two hours later crowning and pushing out my beautiful baby boy. That was a lesson in trusting my instincts.

I give thanks for that experience because I learned what natural, physiological birth was and how I truly could handle it. Knowing what I know now, had I labored in the hospital for majority of my labor, I would not have been prepared. The truth is, I stayed away from all the ‘scary’ facts during my pregnancy. I didn’t want to hear about interventions, poor birth outcomes, maternal mortality, etc. Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth was my BFF and even though I was birthing in a hospital (my options for out of hospital & midwifery care were very limited at that time), I did not learn about navigating the healthcare system.

There were a few things that made me realize something was off. The differences between the way different nurses treated me during my recovery at the hospital and my doctor telling me my pelvic pain were normal during my 6-week checkup and beyond. Fitness was a huge part of my life, and my healthcare team gave me zero suggestions on how to overcome pelvic pain and return to exercise. I avoided the exercise I’d always done because it hurt. So bad. Then I learned, I was doing it all wrong. My expectations were wrong, and I needed to learn how to heal my core and pelvic floor. Basically, rebuild my body before I could do things the way I’d done them before.

I am a holistic & evidence-based doula, prepared to serve mothers & their families birthing at home, in a birthing center, or hospital setting. I experienced two very low-intervention, unmedicated hospital births. I am a natural birth enthusiast! I believe that healthy women should have zero - low intervention birth, and all women have the right to choose the best way to get their children earthside safely. Whether working toward a spontaneous vaginal birth or preparing for a purposely-planned cesarean, I help women to believe they can have a loving, supportive, empowering, never-want-to-forget childbirth experience. We only get to birth each child once. I encourage women to connect with their babies, their bodies, and their families. Eat real, whole food. Move our bodies lovingly. Find every. little. pocket. of gratitude. Remove the things in our lives that take us away from our peace and add in the thoughts & habits that will bring us closer to being the mothers we want to be.

I'm not trying to save the world, but I am trying to walk with you in this experience and be a vessel of information, a mentor, a coach, and a & supporter in pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
Here's a long shortened version of my story:

I quickly earned a personal training certification and became a certified nutrition coach (game changer) - all really just to learn for myself. I didn't plan on what was to come. Then I started training women for "body goals" while still in school and then working in corporate. My focus shifted to wanting to help other new mothers, once I figured it out for myself, so I trained as a Pre & Postnatal fitness coach and started my first online coaching program. It was during that time I realized, many women were still healing from their birthing experiences. Unplanned cesareans, birthing trauma, lack of education. It was deeper than I imagined and that’s where the rabbit hole went deeper.

Around that time I became pregnant with my youngest son, and I planned to do everything differently. I hired a homebirth midwife and took the utmost care of my body and mind. I’d already completely trusted the process of natural childbirth and wanted to birth my baby at home. After convincing my husband of all the benefits, I experienced midwifery care and my mind was blown. Unfortunately, we still had to transfer to OB & hospital care due to my son having a lung defect. It was all good though, I was ready that time.

Becoming a mother for the second time was both easier and harder. I prepared myself for every aspect of postpartum care. The nutritious freezer meals, the healthy snacks, and a gentle & effect return to exercise. I slept when my baby slept. And BOOM, COVID happened. I found myself like many others, facing some internal battles that I couldn’t run from. And empathizing like crazy with all of the women who were forced to face childbirth, alone. At the hands of strangers.

The questions I faced internally were related to exploring my own feminine energy. My values. My self-love & self-worth. That’s when I found Queen Afua’s book Sacred Woman and immediately enrolled in the Sacred Woman Rights of Passage program. I'd never heard of a doula until then and became fascinated with the skillset of birth keeping and womb care. I was also feeling the calling to home-school my children. So in the summer of 2021, I left my corporate job for good, began homeschooling our children, and took my first doula training. As of today I've attended 21 births and served 11 postpartum contracts.

Ps. You can Click Here to jump to my doula training & education

Being the nerd that I am, I’ve attend taken three doula trainings to date:

Mama Shafia’s Full Circle Doula Training (a wholistic birth and postpartum training focused on traditional African-American doula & midwifery practices)
DONA Birth Doula training with Nikia Lawson - The training that truly prepared me to support women in a hospital setting (check out Nakia’s FREE monthly childbirth education class in my resources)
The Doula Training program with Kyleigh Banks (the Autonomy Mommy) - This training was the icing on the cake, I learned a ton about supporting women holistically, navigating the medical system, and building my business.

As an Evidence-Based Birth Pro member, I continue to take regular training on evidence-based care. I am a Girls Gone Strong Pre & Post-natal coach, and a Certified Precision Nutrition coach as well. I was an ACE-certified personal trainer, but I chose not to renew my cert recently because I do not actively train clients. I continue to attend new training and pursue education. Not so that I can know everything, but because it’s truly how I’m wired and I love being able to use the knowledge and skills I get to help my community.

Everything in business is learnable, fixable, and figureoutable.

You don't have to be a workaholic
to be successful. Really.