Pictured above is my sweet family. I’m a wife to a wonderful man and together we have a little boy. We live in Central Illinois with our dog, Bennet. I love all things outdoors and birth as I feel it nourishes my body and deepens my appreciation for life and for our Grand Creator. As far as my work as a doula, well, it was a long time coming.

As a young teenager I remember researching potential careers and checking out colleges near me. I wasn’t exactly sure where I was going to end up but I knew that I wanted to be somewhere in the medical field. There was a Midwifery school near where we lived and that was just something that really stuck out to me. I’d grown up in a holistic household and everything about the midwifery model of care was impressive to me. It just made sense to allow the pregnant woman to do what God made her body to do without intervention (unless completely necessary due to medical complications). Birth isn’t dangerous. It is and always has been beautiful, natural, and normal.

Fast forward 4-5 years… I got married to the love of my life at 19 and by then I had decided to go to school to be a labor and delivery nurse. My passion for pregnancy and birth was still alive and nursing just seemed to be the right place for me. I was working through my prerequisites for nursing school when I had landed a job at St. Johns Hospital in the labor and delivery unit as a CNA (Nurse Technician). I am so grateful for the opportunities I had to learn there. It is a level 3 hospital so we treated a large variety of patients. After a while though, it became clear that several more years of college didn’t align with some of the other goals that I had in life. I quit college and soon after this, COVID hit. Due to budget cuts at the hospital, I was being transferred to units in the hospital where I had immense anxiety as I was not able to provide proper care due to lack of training in those units. Eventually, I quit as I felt it was an unsafe environment for me and my patients.

Let’s jump forward another year! I’m pregnant! I did some deep diving into all things pregnancy and childbirth. I listened to every evidence based podcast I could find. I read several books and articles that guided and prepared me for what was to come. I had questions in my “pregnancy” notebook for each prenatal visit. I had a workout schedule that I had researched thoroughly. I was eating as well as I could. Despite all of this, I was nervous. I had a lot of knowledge but I lacked the support I needed to feel absolutely confident in my ability to birth.

I had come across the HUGE benefits of having a doula in my research. From unwavering support to assisting with comfort measures during labor, I knew I wanted one. I needed one! So began the interviewing and hiring process. After we hired our doula, I instantly felt as ease. As we made decisions moving forward, my husband and I both felt confident. If ever there was a twinge of doubt, we called or texted our doula. Through the countless texts, phone calls, and Facetime calls we felt like we had everything we needed to have the birth I had worked so hard for. As a result of this preparation and the support from our doula, our birth went beautifully. My breastfeeding journey was an absolute success, with the help of our doula. I really couldn’t have asked for a better experience and I am absolutely sure that having a doula was a part of that.

One day my mother in law mentioned that I should be a doula. I thought about that for awhile. Doula work is really everything that I love about pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. I love seeing families kick off that part of their lives feeling prepared, strong, and confident! I love helping mama’s as they embrace the absolute miracle and incredible power of their bodies. I love seeing dad’s faces as they witness the miracle of life. After some thought, it was decided. I found a training and certification program, signed up, attended, and the rest is history. It’s a privilege to be here, finally pursing a passion that I’ve had for over 10 years.