Experience

As I worked toward certification, I joined various local doula groups, and became more familiar with the incredible community of birthworkers that Portland had to offer. In 2002 I was invited to join a collective called Renaissance Doulas. I was thrilled! I transitioned out of my nanny position, and began working with them full-time as a Birth and Postpartum Doula. I attended local classes on newborn care and breastfeeding, shared jobs with the other Doulas in my group, and learned quickly how to adapt my years of infant care experience and growing familiarity with birthwork to the realm of postpartum support.

In the year I spent working with Renaissance Doulas, I confirmed the feeling that had been growing my whole life: I was called to continue to expand my work with birth and new families, and would go on to study Midwifery. I left Portland in the Summer of 2003, and returned to the Bay Area to begin my studies.

I began by attending Elizabeth Davis' Heart & Hands Midwifery Intensives, and then moved on to apply to the National Midwifery Institute. Currently I am a student with NMI, working toward apprenticeship and studying with several different groups around the Bay Area, including the Zen Birth Project, a study group facilitated by Lucero Dorado, L.M., and a series offered by Stephanie Brill of Maia Midwifery called Deepening.