William Christopher

Well my oh my, at 41 weeks this little boy was ready to rocket on out into the world. After giving his momma many days of prelabor contractions he decided she could use a break. Her water broke on Friday afternoon, we arrived at the hospital at 7:30 PM and Liam was born without complication or medication at 9:50 PM the same night. He sure knows how to make an entrance! I was blessed to have been a part of this family's first birth experience and now am just over the moon for their new addition.

Testimonial

Posted on 2/14/2008, but only just discovered today. It was a true blessing to uncover such heartfelt support for the work that I do.

"...Katherine...is great at what she does and has incredible passion [for] being a doula. She was our doula for our daughter's birth in August [2007]. I can't imagine not having had her in the room with me, she made me feel safe and kept me believing that I was made to give birth, that I could do it. I believe it is because of her that I was able to have an unmedicated birth..."
- S.

To read the full text click http://www.mamasource.com/article/looking-for-a-doula.

Thankful for Summer

Summer allows me to be a truly active doula. I can take on a few births and not worry about overlapping schedules of nursing school coursework or the usual barrage of day job tasks. I can focus on what's important to me instead of relegating birth to my daydreams of happy, expectant couples as I tend to need to do in the middle of winter. I am thankful for the two births I have coming up and for the good-natured people I have the pleasure to work with.

Ironically, once Labor day arrives I will no longer be able to take on births at the same rate. Nursing school classes will take over and I will surely miss some incredible birth opportunities.

But, for now, I relish the time I have with these couples, their existing, growing and ever changing families and am just thankful in this moment.

Advice to a Pregnant Daughter-in-Law

by Charles Darling

Avoid sharp things like corners, scissor points,
words and blades and cheddar cheese. Eschew
whatever's heavy, fast, and cumbersome:

meteorites, rumbly truck and stinky bus,
hockey players, falling vaults, and buffalo.
Steer clear of headlines, bank advices,

legal language, papal bulls, and grocery ads.
Every morning, listen to baroque divertimenti,
romantic operas, Hildegarde von Bingen hymns.

Evenings, read some lines from Shakespeare's comedies;
do a page of algebra; study shapes of clouds
and alchemy; make fun of your husbands feet.

Practice listening like a doe at the edge
of the earth's deep woods, but learn to disregard
most everything you hear (especially your father

and father-in-law). Learn some Indian lullabies;
speak with magic stones beneath your tongue.
Finally, I wish, avoid all tears—except

that the world and time will have their way
and weep we must. Perhaps enough is said
of grief and happiness to realize

that any child of yours will live a lifetime
utterly beguiled (as my child is)
by your bright smile, your wild and Irish laugh. 

"Advice to a Pregnant Daughter-in-Law" by Charles Darling, from The Saints of Diminished Capacity. © Second Wind Press, 2005. Reprinted with permission. (buy now)

Proof that the presence of a doula does wonders for babies!

During a recent visit to a client's home I spent time with the very first baby (who is now a big girl) that I helped into the world. They're expecting their second at the end of July and she will be an incredible big sister.

Cinco de Mayo and the Benjamin Blessing

This little one was very comfortable in the womb. He was supposed to be born on his dad's birthday in April, but waited until Cinco de Mayo.

I was honored to be at this birth. Mom and Dad worked very hard, using breathing techniques, music, chanting and movement to achieve the birth they envisioned and it paid off. A natural birth, in hospital, with no medical interventions. A great triumph!

The Newest Endeavor: Nursing School

When I realized that my passion for birth was driving me toward midwifery I had no idea how to achieve this goal. To be fair, I'm still not certain. At the time it was something that felt like it had to happen to me.

I left a job working for a non-profit company in New York organizing women's health trainings at Family Planning facilities that was rewarding in that I was doing "good work," but exhausting and I was burning out. I took a slower-paced, desk job that I thought might provide me with some time to get my ducks in a row, but more than anything it made me restless. I knew I could not go on working in this reliable, but less interesting environment if I didn't have a passionate component to balance me out.

I started going through the thought process one might when thinking about re-entering the academic world. Could I get into a midwifery program here in New York? Columbia, NYU, and SUNY Downstate all had them. The first two had accelerated programs, but that would take me out of my job that was willing to pay for part-time school. The last option was a direct-entry midwifery degree where you would earn a degree as a CM (Certified Midwife), but that degree and title might not translate or safeguard you as well in New York State as say, a CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife). I thought, "It couldn't hurt to go through nurse's training," I would not only be happy helping women as a nurse, but I would gain valuable experience for midwifery school. So after much consideration, I decided to delay my gratification of working with many clients as a doula during the year and I decided to apply to nursing school.

On December 18th, 2007, I got my letter of acceptance and enrolled as a part-time nursing transfer student and started classes in the Spring of 2008. I'm slowly chipping away at pre-requisites and am working towards going full tilt at the nursing core curriculum courses.

It seemed counter-intuitive to take less births as a doula, in order to one day be able to help women deliver their babies, but I feel good about my course of action. I am confident that I can still be an incredible birth advocate who occasionally takes a birth as a doula, a great nursing student and aspiring midwife all in one. No matter how long the process, in whatever capacity I'm able, I will continue to welcome the children of a new generation into this world.