Hello friends,
Thank you Angela for helping me to get this started. You are great. I am starting this blog to talk about being a doula, wife, mom, and maybe discuss homeschool as well.
Where I am right now.
I am working on my certification through toLabor. I have attended 9 births and have two more in the spring that are for friends who are expecting, and two in the late summer.I hope to get several more before then. I only need six birth to certify so I have that done. There are other requirements, I've gotten all the evals I need, and audited a childbirth class, and have done the training weekend. I am working on the written test and reading all the books. Reading is hard with kids. When they are asleep and I try to read, I usually fall asleep. But I have to work it out. Tim is really supportive and is very good about giving me time to go off and read. In fact he has been supportive throughout this whole process. It has to be hard to be married to someone who can be gone without notice at any point for any length of time. He has never complained. I am also very thankful for my parents, who can watch my children for me when I go to a birth when Tim is at work.
So despite the fact that I am not "certified" I am a doula. It is in my soul and in my bones and I know I was created to help women birth. Also, toLabor encourages you to do births even before you are "certified". It is the best way to learn. Some doulas have decided becoming certified is not necessary to being a doula. Supporting a woman in labor is often more about intuition than about books you have read. I do plan to finish my certification though as soon as possible. I want to know everything I possible can know.
I have been struck by the sense of community that the doula's around here have. I have gotten so much help from other doulas with getting started. There is no sense of competition and we often get together for social events and trainings. They are good women and I am honored to be amongst them. They are a wealth of knowledge and wisdom.
Thanks for joining me on this journey!
