Trust Your Gut.

A birth doula is the ancient role of an experienced woman helping a mother birth a child into the world. My studies to become a postpartum doula taught me this and in the value of laboring with one. There is no joke in calling it Labor.

In current times, a birth doula is there to support a woman in labor which includes navigating the myriad of obstacles a woman may face while birthing their child. If a woman would like to birth their child naturally with no interventions, having a birth doula increases their chances of doing so significantly.

I knew I wanted to birth my child naturally. Contrary to what I had learned both culturally and socially (what a great tactic to promote abstinence by showing seventh graders a baby coming out of a woman's vagina), our bodies are designed to give birth. I wasn't about to miss how this felt. I wanted to experience it to the fullest no matter how painful it may be.

I knew I wanted and likely even needed a birth doula to help me pull off this significant feat. My quest to find a birth doula began. When looking for a birth doula, you need to find, I'll just say it, your perfect match. Giving birth is a very personal, intimate, raw experience.

I knew a wonderful woman who was a birth doula and a yoga teacher and I thought of course she would be a good person to seek out. After I made contact, I started to realize maybe I didn't want this person staring at my vagina. Nothing against her. It's a me not you scenario. That really can be true! My quest continued.

I found in my search that doulas fall into three categories. One, there are your peers that may be fantastic at the job, but have no personal experience giving birth. Two, there are the moms that have birthed a child somewhat recently so their memories are fresh but likely their energy is taxed, now understandably so. And third, the wise mothers, the mothers of mothers. Ok, I am a little biased because I LOVED my doula.

My doula I hired was the last person I met on my quest, I guess because I knew she was the ONE. I could tell right when I met her, our energy aligned. She was calm, she was experienced, she was a mother of mothers. She told me she acted as a Sherpa to guide women through the experience of birthing their child. I could feel it in my gut that she was the one to guide me through this process. Trust Your Gut. This is a primal instinct. It is there to guide you.