How I came to this work

I was a Physics major in college, which I loved, but I didn't connect with the careers in physics. I started studying birth independently around 1996. I had a longing to be at births that I couldn't yet verbalize or identify as a possibility. 

Much of this was sparked by my very feminist mother who took me to Ina May Gaskin's Farm when I was a child, her book Spiritual Midwifery, that was in my home when I was growing up, Marcy Tardio, CNM, who is a close family friend and homebirth midwife practicing in NYC, my aunts homebirth when I was 10, and stories from my grandmother who had worked at the Maternity Center in Manhattan, the first free-standing birth center in the city, which was the precurser to Elizabeth Seton Childbirthing Center. 

In 1998 I had my first child (at Elizabeth Seton). I breastfed, went to La Leche League meetings, and I became the friend to call when you had breastfeeding issues or were looking for pregnancy and birth information. With my two boys, I breastfed back-to-back (or really front-to-front!) for about 4 years. I had my second baby in 2000 (homebirth in Albuquerque, NM) with a doula. I discovered that there are more options than just midwifery for doing the birth work I had in mind. I decided around that time that I would become a doula, and I already had most of the books!

My first two doula births, one in 2003 and one in 2006, were amazing and affirming that I could do this work.  I knew that when my children were older, I would doula full-time. In the meantime I worked in various positions in communications and technology.  

Summer 2010, Marcy urged me to realize my passions and finally come to birth work full-time. That summer she trained me alongside her as her assistant attending births and prenatal/postpartum visits. I completed the DONA training October 2010 and left my office job shortly after.  Most of my births have been since then. 

While its been a long, winding journey, it has brought me back to where I came from. When I worked in the corporate world, the goal was to move up their ladder. My goal now is to get closer and closer to my center.  Giving birth is as real as it gets. To provide support, I am meeting women where they are in that very primal state. My doula work is an extension of who I am--intuitive, calm and nurturing.