In Birth as a Journey we honor birth as a rite of passage, a significant transformative event – a deep shift from being a woman and a man, or a couple, to being a mother and a father. In modern birth culture it is common to hear words like success or failure surrounding birth.  If we try to approach birth as something that if we prepare for it well enough then we can control it, then we are dependent on the outcome to define how we feel about what happened. Did we succeed or fail?

With this unique style of preparation you are not preparing for one specific outcome.  You are preparing for the unknown. There may be a difference between what you were hoping for and what actually happens.  If you come with one specific outcome in mind you are limited.  If you come with coping skills and flexibility and self- compassion, you are deeply prepared for whatever may happen.

This childbirth preparation philosophy was inspired by Pam England, a midwife from New Mexico and the  creator of Birthing From Within.  Her own personal story was what inspired her.  She was first a homebirth midwife before she was a mother.  When pregnant with her first child she prepared for a homebirth, with the confidence that she understood birth and had the information and knowledge she needed to succeed.  When her birth ended in a C-section she was shocked.  This sent her on a long and winding journey to seek a different kind of knowledge,  the kind that you find first within yourself.  Changing the way we talk about birth was one of the biggest gifts her journey gave us.  Again, it is not about success or failure – it’s about a journey of growth, an opportunity to learn not only about ourselves, but also to let go of judgements and adopt a language of compassion.

Pam gave us the gift of using the Labyrinth (an ancient symbol) as a map for the unknown territory of birth.  She gave us the gift of storytelling as a form of a more soulful preparation.  These were the building blocks of Birth as a Journey. In the doula course, I bring the wisdom of my many different teachers and I’ve added from the pool of my own personal knowledge and what I’ve learned from walking the path of introspection and growth.  My curiosity is insatiable.  I am always learning and connecting the dots, always excited for another layer of understanding to reveal itself.  Over 28 years ago I jumped down the rabbit hole of birth and discovered that the whole world was there. It still excites me to share this with the couples, and with new doulas.