Doula? What is a Doula?
First and foremost, we just want to acknowledge what an honor it is to be featured on Amy’s blog. She is such a genuine and committed professional, and an amazing personal trainer. She has kindly asked Serenity Mama to guest blog for her this week and share our thoughts on what a doula is and what being a doula means to us. This is one of our most favourite questions. It is not a black and white answer, but rather one that is fluid and constantly changing, as can be expected when you are lucky enough to be living your passion. I imagine Amy would feel similar if you asked her the same question.
Doula is a Greek word meaning “a woman who serves”. It has taken on many forms over the years but in modern times, it has come to mean a woman who provides emotional, spiritual, or physical support and comfort to another woman through pregnancy, birth, and into the post partum period. At Serenity Mama, we provide pregnancy and birth support. We are also passionate about caring for the woman in the critical early days with her baby, as this is where they is a gap of care in our society, and very few women are prepared for the adjustment that becoming a mother is. In our post partum care packages, we visit our clients before their baby arrives, bringing with us a collection of nourishing broths which are frozen to provide nutrition after the birth. We also make our own line of nourishing herbal teas and have a collection of body care and sitz bath recipes to aid healing. All are inspired by ancient wisdom.
Being a doula is by far one of the most rewarding careers there is. There are few times in life where the human body is stronger than when a woman is birthing her baby (except for maybe when you’re working with Amy;). Every birth is another reminder of how powerful, brave, and beautiful we are, and how perfectly designed birth is. Doula’s get to experience this every “shift”.
We also get to be there when a woman accomplishes something she didn’t think was possible and we get to coach her through it. We live in such a fear based society that has most young women dreading pregnancy and birth long before they even experience it. Past traumas, horror stories from loved ones, media. All these things lead us away from believing in birth, and trusting that it will happen exactly as it is supposed to. Doula’s help bring you back to the belief that you innately know how to have this baby, and that you are strong enough to do it. There is nothing more rewarding than when a woman says to you “Because of you, I didn’t give up”.
Finally, being a doula for us means hope. Hope that if women can remember how powerful they are and can take control of their pregnancies and births, that maybe we can return to a time when birth was viewed as a normal event instead of one that needs to be medically managed. And hope that if babies start their lives in the peaceful, gentle, loving way that they were intended to, that 20 years from now, the world will be a better place than it is now.
If you would like to learn more about us and our services, please feel free to check us out at http://www.northvancouverdoula.com.
Love is in the details,
Julia and Ellie