Today begins the celebratory week of Doulas, World Doula Week~ March 22nd through March 28th. This week has become a time for reflection on how I came to know this work and how it has changed me as a caregiver and a person. If you don’t know what a doula is, well, I’ll just start by telling you what they don’t do: deliver babies! 'If you know, you know.' If you’re a doula, you’ve likely been asked this. What we do is support the mother from the time of conception to delivery, through postpartum, and often through the baby’s first year of life. In the Greek language, doula means a woman who serves. We serve the mother during a time when talk of the baby might feel like it silences her inner voice, telling her to reach out for extra love and tenderness. We serve her because often we’ve felt times in our own womanhood/motherhood journey when we’ve desired this level of support, a listening ear, and a calming essence. Someone to validate our feelings and not pass judgment...
Helping mothers feel supported and confident