about me

                        After earning my B.S. in Exercise and Sport Science from Iowa State

                        University in 2000 and beginning my career in fitness, I quickly found

                        my passion of working with pregnant and postpartum clients.  In 2002,

                        I completed my massage therapy certification, specializing in prenatal

                        massage.  It was then that I first learned the term 'doula'.  I attended a

doula training workshop through ALACE which opened my eyes to the way women

give birth in the U.S.  From there, I decided to go back to school for my masters in

public health to learn more about women's health issues.  In 2006, I earned my M.P.H.

in Community Public Health with an emphasis on Maternal and Child Health from New

York University.  I completed another doula training through DONA in 2007 and,

shortly after, I had the honor of attending my first birth as a doula for a very good friend. I became a Certified Doula through DONA in September 2009.

                       

With my beautiful son who was born at home

Through years of educating myself on pregnancy and birth and realizing how few women are truly prepared for their marathon of labor through exercise, nutrition, stress management, and, most of all, childbirth education and knowing their birth options, it became clear to me that this is the work I want to do.  Every woman deserves to have an empowering birth experience, respectful that her body knows how to birth.  Not only can a positive birth experience have a profound effect on a woman's self-esteem, but it also begins her journey into motherhood with an extreme confidence and the ability to bond with her child right from the beginning.