My Journey

I recently certified as a Childbirth Educator in February of 2021. While doula work is separate from teaching childbirth education, the two go hand-in-hand very well. After completing my doula training in 2018, I desired a more in-depth knowledge and understanding of the birthing process. I thought that in order to best serve my doula clients, I would have to be equipped with as much knowledge on childbirth as possible that didn't just come from real-life experiences supporting birthing people in labor, but also from books, classes, trainings, and more. This is why I decided to pursue my certification to become a childbirth educator, and then beyond that why I chose to pursue an advanced degree in Maternal and Child Health. The whole journey has been quite a ride, and I'm excited to share with you some of what that journey has looked like.

Doula training, 2018

After completing my birth doula training in 2018, I understood that in order to be a "good" doula, all you really need to do is hold space, be present, and help your clients advocate for their wishes. While this is true, I looked for more resources on how to educate myself on topics related to pregnancy, labor, birth, and postpartum. I found Evidence Based Birth's website. There, Rebecca Dekker writes about the evidence on doula support: Doulas provide emotional support, physical support, advocacy, and informational support. The presence of a continuous support person is shown to "increase the likelihood of a spontaneous vaginal birth, reduce the likelihood of using pharmacologic pain relief measures, decrease the chance of cesarean delivery and negative feelings toward their birth experience (Evidence Based Birth).

Subsequent Trainings

In order to feel confident enough to provide the "informational support" aspect of doula services, I signed up for the Spinning Babies Ⓡ workshop, which helped me become more aware of the anatomy of pregnancy and delivery, and the importance of positioning. Here I learned that there is more than one way to measure progress in labor--there's dilation/effacement/ripening of the cervix, station of the baby, position of the baby, and contraction strength/timing. Then, I attended Gena Kirby's rebozo workshop, which was both a bonding experience with other doulas and an educational exhibit of the cultural history and functional uses of the rebozo, a beautiful Mexican hand-woven shawl that is used in pregnancy, labor, and birth for comfort measures.

Childbirth Educator Class

After these trainings, I enrolled in the Boston Association of Childbirth Education's childbirth educator course. This was a 10-week program at Newton-Welleley Hospital taught by some of the best and the brightest educators in the city, Kathy Beans and Shari McBurney. There was required reading (Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn by Penny Simkin) before it began. Once the course began, we met weekly and got to "talk birth" for 4 hours on Tuesday nights. I was attending Boston College while I was completing this training and it was the highlight of my week to leave campus, where I was learning all about accounting, marketing, and strategic management, and get to go talk about the thing I am most passionate about: birth! There was homework each week involving readings, preparing presentations, cultivating curriculum, and completion of the higher education modules from Evidence Based Birth. I graduated from college the day before I completed my BACE training. And then I spent many months perfecting my curriculum, which I would then tweak a million times thereafter.

To get certified, I had to interview a new mother and a midwife, complete a certain number of continuing education credits, and, most importantly, teach a trial series to at least three pregnant couples/individuals. This happened to be during the covid-19 pandemic, so plans changed a bit as I was now teaching on Zoom. I taught my trial series with my supervisors observing and completed my certification. It was a very proud moment!

Masters in Public Health

Finally, as someone who believes in life-long learning, I decided to pursue a Masters program in Public Health. After applying to many programs, I chose to attend Boston University School of Public Health to concentrate in Maternal/Child Health and Community Assessment, Program Design, Implementation, and Evaluation. I am currently completing this degree and am excited to see where it takes me. Already, I feel well-equipped to provide my doula clients with substantial information that they can use to make more informed decisions in regards to their labors, and to encourage shared decision making with their providers.