Meet Sara!

Postpartum Doula

Hi! I am Sara! The concept of a doula was sort of new to me before meeting some West Valley doulas in my search for community. I've always been fascinated by the birth world and honestly a bit bummed I didn't know more about this community 5 years ago! When we found out I was pregnant, I didn't call my mom or a bestie, I made a primary care appointment. We were so excited and needed to confirm with a professional, right? My family is states away and my husband works long hours - “What in the world do we do? Where do we start?” I've realized a doula would have been the missing puzzle piece for me. Luckily the birth team that was provided to me made me feel safe and cared for, but many moms don't have the same experience. Looking back, I wish I had an extra set of hands setting up my home for baby, an extra brain to pick when I had so many scary questions...just an extra voice when mine couldn't muster up the right words.  

My motherhood journey:

Somewhere around 10 weeks a very quiet ultrasound tech found a "mass" in my stomach. It was a large cyst that needed to be removed. They couldn't tell me how it got there or what was in it but they explained it was taking too much space where the baby would need to grow - and I needed surgery as it could burst. We had to wait until 16 weeks for the baby to be strong enough for surgery. They successfully removed my cyst, asked if my case could be used in some medical studies and my sweet baby was born with no complications a few months later.

Throughout the whole process, with my hormones and emotions running high, I needed someone knowledgeable to present choices I feel the hospital may have chosen to skip over. Someone to have my back, say the thoughts that I couldn't put into words. I needed someone to explain things to us who wasn't eager to move on to the next patient. I almost slapped a doctor who insinuated removing the cyst was more important than keeping our baby. I shook the hand of (and then cried with) a woman who said she'd be in the operating room and her job was to literally reach in my body while I'm cut open and keep my son out of harms way. The people you surround yourself with during this time are so vital.

 
Something I really remember and appreciate was the care I felt from the doctors and nurses that let us listen to heartbeats, kept me comfortable and ultimately, delivered my sweet baby boy. The logistics were taken care of, they had the tools for the blood draws and the ultrasounds, the medicine for the induction and epidural - but besides my husband who is legally obligated to be nice to me at this point....could anyone reach that weird pain on my hip? Tell me I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, experiencing completely normal pregnancy symptoms? Show me that giving birth on my back isn't the ONLY way? Sneak me a snack after the doctors cut me off? Looking back, a doula would have added that missing piece to the birth of my son.

Having a doula can brighten your experience and really help you *own* your birth story. The good and the bad, your doula is there for unwavering support and I think that is so beautiful. We are flexible, we are strong, we are smart and we are here anytime to ease your worries and pain, educate when you're hungry for knowledge, and run out and pick up a snack when you're hungry for anything else =)