Cleveland Doula Services · Birth Doulas, Postpartum Doulas, Prenatal & Postpartum Massage

Christie

Birth & Postpartum Doula, LGBTQ+ Ally

Christie decided to become a doula for many reasons: supporting other women is part of her personal and professional philosophy, the training and education has helped her to process her own pregnancies and births, and most importantly to assist in helping women and birthing people advocate for themselves and the experiences that they deserve.

After teaching for a number of years, Christie became an instructional coach, which could be described as “a doula for teachers”. She helped teachers make the best decisions for themselves and for their classes, listened a lot, and helped guide some of them through the hardest professional, and oftentimes personal, times of their lives. There have been a lot of tears, hot coffee runs, and warm hugs.

After giving birth to her two children, she realized the amount that, even as a person who read everything she could get her hands on about fertility, childbirth, risks, newborns, and parenting philosophies, there was still so much she didn’t know, and most importantly- wasn’t told. After learning about active vs. expectant management, implied consent vs. informed consent, and a more holistic approach to care, she is able to look back at her pregnancies and births with a more clear understanding of how it could or should have gone.

Over the years, many of her friends and colleagues have also experienced traumatic pregnancies and births due to many factors, many of which are preventable- especially with the help of an experienced doula. Christie hopes to help women and birthing people learn to advocate for themselves by providing information, encouragement, and whatever else her client may need to feel empowered.

Mothers need care and support, and frankly, deserve better, as they prepare to be born into motherhood. Additionally, Christie’s second son was almost lost at 18 weeks in utero and he spent a considerable amount of time in the NICU after a very medically supported pregnancy. She is interested in training high risk pregnancies, NICU support, and preparing for caring for a special needs newborn. She is also planning on continuing her education in postpartum depression and anxiety.

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