Not a birth worked, but I enjoyed reading about your finding a new path. I am about 2.5 years postpartum with my second and also had a kind of…optimistic reawakening lately. A burst of energy where things we’d been thinking about suddenly felt possible. We got chickens! We are moving across states!
You might enjoy the Substack Small Things Growing by Robina Khalid. She is a midwife, who trained immediately after finishing a PhD in history (also a sudden shift). She also has young kids.
Yes! It’s so amazing how that space just sort of opens up when the postpartum period wanes — like surprising spaciousness! Big things! And thanks for the rec, I’ll look her up! 🥰
I love this! I have so enjoyed observing your journey through post-partum with all its honesty and tenderness. I think you will be wonderful in this role. I have also been feeling the pull towards post-partum/birth work for a long time and have so nearly pushed the enrol button...wondering which course you decided on? Erin x
I went with Birthing From Within’s dual doula/cbe course, and I’ve just started but it really feels like the right place for me to learn what I’m hoping to learn — something really deep and well-rounded and applicable both within and beyond birthwork . It’s a pretty intensive program though, there are definitely less costly (both time and money) programs out there, so you just have to weigh what you’re really looking for and what resources you have available in this season! 🥰
I am so intently following this development! Similar to you, I flirted with the idea while pregnant with my baby girl, and tiptoed around the idea in postpartum life (mostly because my experience with my doula, Chelsea Gomes, was *so* earth-shatteringly beautiful that I wanted to follow suit). Funnily enough, I had this same pull to death doula work. It got me thinking: there are doulas for beginnings and ends to life, but what about the in between, the liminal spaces we spend most of our time in? Writers and creatives are this “kind” of doula, no? You and your work have been so very influential to me—especially in my journey to and through motherhood—that I see you as this kind of laborer (pun intended) already. I can only hope my writing and words shine this loudly.
You are so equipped for this!
I hope that is good food to take with you on your journey, wherever it decides to lead you. I’ll be following along!
Oh my goodness, this is so encouraging! Thank you! And that insight about the need for doulas for the in-between parts — I feel that really deeply and I hope to make space for that within whatever doula practice I end up building! I want to push beyond birth, because change and challenge does not END there for people! Matrescence Doula, can that be a thing?! (The answer is yes!!) Thank you for the encouragement, it means so much, especially as I vulnerably embark on something new! 💛
Can relate to a lot of this! I chose to take a childbirth educator certification course and am now *begging* people to let me attend their births (I have to attend 3 to certify). I’m excited and nervous and don’t know what to expect! Maybe when my kids are older I’d follow the doula path but right now I’d prefer the predictability of conducting classes. Happy for you!!
Yay! Yes, I’ll need to attend four births before certification and that feels like a hurdle, but attending my friend’s birth was definitely confidence building. I hope you’re able to find a connection soon! Are you near to the end of your coursework? Exciting!
I love this resurgence of energy for you! I’ve been following your sewing content on Instagram since before your first pregnancy. And your life on your personal Instagram as well. Currently 14 weeks pregnant with my second and totally get what you feel about that energy returning around 2 years postpartum. My son is 21 months and when I decided to get pregnant again I could see there was a light at the end of the tunnel that motherhood felt like I was journeying through.
For me it was a really all consuming and life altering time the first time around and I can’t imagine what this next phase will bring ❤️
Not a birth worked, but I enjoyed reading about your finding a new path. I am about 2.5 years postpartum with my second and also had a kind of…optimistic reawakening lately. A burst of energy where things we’d been thinking about suddenly felt possible. We got chickens! We are moving across states!
You might enjoy the Substack Small Things Growing by Robina Khalid. She is a midwife, who trained immediately after finishing a PhD in history (also a sudden shift). She also has young kids.
Yes! It’s so amazing how that space just sort of opens up when the postpartum period wanes — like surprising spaciousness! Big things! And thanks for the rec, I’ll look her up! 🥰
I love this! I have so enjoyed observing your journey through post-partum with all its honesty and tenderness. I think you will be wonderful in this role. I have also been feeling the pull towards post-partum/birth work for a long time and have so nearly pushed the enrol button...wondering which course you decided on? Erin x
Echoing this! I’ve also felt a pull but choosing a program/route has been overwhelming and would love to hear more about walking that path!
I went with Birthing From Within’s dual doula/cbe course, and I’ve just started but it really feels like the right place for me to learn what I’m hoping to learn — something really deep and well-rounded and applicable both within and beyond birthwork . It’s a pretty intensive program though, there are definitely less costly (both time and money) programs out there, so you just have to weigh what you’re really looking for and what resources you have available in this season! 🥰
I am so intently following this development! Similar to you, I flirted with the idea while pregnant with my baby girl, and tiptoed around the idea in postpartum life (mostly because my experience with my doula, Chelsea Gomes, was *so* earth-shatteringly beautiful that I wanted to follow suit). Funnily enough, I had this same pull to death doula work. It got me thinking: there are doulas for beginnings and ends to life, but what about the in between, the liminal spaces we spend most of our time in? Writers and creatives are this “kind” of doula, no? You and your work have been so very influential to me—especially in my journey to and through motherhood—that I see you as this kind of laborer (pun intended) already. I can only hope my writing and words shine this loudly.
You are so equipped for this!
I hope that is good food to take with you on your journey, wherever it decides to lead you. I’ll be following along!
Oh my goodness, this is so encouraging! Thank you! And that insight about the need for doulas for the in-between parts — I feel that really deeply and I hope to make space for that within whatever doula practice I end up building! I want to push beyond birth, because change and challenge does not END there for people! Matrescence Doula, can that be a thing?! (The answer is yes!!) Thank you for the encouragement, it means so much, especially as I vulnerably embark on something new! 💛
Can relate to a lot of this! I chose to take a childbirth educator certification course and am now *begging* people to let me attend their births (I have to attend 3 to certify). I’m excited and nervous and don’t know what to expect! Maybe when my kids are older I’d follow the doula path but right now I’d prefer the predictability of conducting classes. Happy for you!!
Yay! Yes, I’ll need to attend four births before certification and that feels like a hurdle, but attending my friend’s birth was definitely confidence building. I hope you’re able to find a connection soon! Are you near to the end of your coursework? Exciting!
Birthing is sacred. Restacking this, with a twist from my own future ambition — death doula care.
I love this resurgence of energy for you! I’ve been following your sewing content on Instagram since before your first pregnancy. And your life on your personal Instagram as well. Currently 14 weeks pregnant with my second and totally get what you feel about that energy returning around 2 years postpartum. My son is 21 months and when I decided to get pregnant again I could see there was a light at the end of the tunnel that motherhood felt like I was journeying through.
For me it was a really all consuming and life altering time the first time around and I can’t imagine what this next phase will bring ❤️