DOULAS, DOULAS, DOULAS!!
My hope is that as doulas, we are changing the way women interact with women – that we are caring for our clients (and friends and family), in a way where support and nurturing are commonplace, and judgment and conditions are irrelevant.
My hope is that my daughters will feel educated and informed about their options in pregnancy and childbirth (MANY years from now), that they will feel confident and supported in the decisions they make.
My hope is that my daughters, and all of the women who will labor before them, will feel respected and empowered…. When they are pregnant, when they birth their babies and when they become mothers.
On Monday, January 21st Northeast Doulas held a Postpartum Doula training. Women came together to talk about how to support women; what that support looks like, feels like, sounds like. They learned how to help a newly postpartum woman discover herself as a mother, and rediscover herself as a woman.
For a woman, navigating through this transformative experience it can feel like every person she sees has an opinion to share, advise to give, wisdom to impart. Becoming a mother is so deeply personal; every question, every decision should come from within that woman.
The amazing thing about training doulas is to see a group of women who GET IT, who already understand how it should be and how great it can be, and see them soak up every word, every piece of wisdom, every drop of information. They are looking to better themselves so that they can GIVE to another woman, so they can speak her language, meet her needs.
The doulas we train are women who start out being AMAZING! Women who want to be that judgment free rock for their friends, family and clients to turn to. Women who take pride in supporting and nurturing and empowering their “sisters”.
My hope is that we create a domino effect – that each woman who feels the support and judgment free KINDNESS and COMPASSION of their doula, pays that feeling forward to the people in their lives. My hope is that as doulas, we’re not just turning anxious women into confident mothers, but that we are creating an awareness and a sense of responsibility for our actions, our judgments and our words. That we recognize the impact we can have on someone else, and that we take that responsibility seriously!
My hope is that everyone will know what a doula is, everyone will know the greatness of a doula and the world will be a better place…
