Why birth work?
In the words of Patricia Gonzales, “to respond to the elders’ call to take care of all life on this planet.”
For me, life feels like one great lesson in taking better care: of the spirit, the body, the plants, the waters, the land, the ancestors, the young. It’s why I’ve studied permaculture, tended a garden, cooked loving meals and medicines. It’s why I’ve hosted women’s circles and sang all night in ceremony. It’s all part of one effort, to go back to Gonzales’s words, “to sustain that which is considered sacred.”
How could I claim to dedicate myself to sustaining that which is sacred, and leave out birth? Birth, the site of life’s first miracle, the epitome of the phrase “rite of passage.” The origin point. There is so much to learn in that sacred, liminal space. I look forward to learning together.
For years before becoming a birth doula, I was already walking people through what I call ‘thresholds:’ those intimate, life-changing moments of our life that shape us into the people we are. I spent my young adult life between New York City, where I worked as a bodyworker, and Colombia, where I worked and studied with indigenous elders of the Kamensta tribe. There, I learned the ways of earth-based and ancestral healing, and had the privilege of witnessing and assisting hundreds of people move through deep healing work. Transitioning to accompanying birth and postpartum felt like the most natural evolution. Since then, I have had the opportunity to study and strengthen my work under the guidance of traditional midwives in Colombia and Ecuador.
How’d you get here?
Teaching lactation techniques with traditional midwives in Ecuador.
Birth + Postpartum Doula Training and Mentorship | Happinest Birth
Mother of Midnight Abortion Doula Training | Mujer de la Tierra
Natural Fertility/Fertilidad Natural | Laura Torres (ongoing)
Childbirth Educator Training | Birthing from Within (ongoing)
Additional doula trainings + classes:
International Residency | Partera di Anaku
Andean Traditional Midwifery Intensive | Ruro Caituiro Monge
Home Birth for Doulas | Carriage House Birth
Art of Birth | Naoli Vinaver (ongoing)
Hypnobirthing (audit) | ClearMind Hypnobirthing
Non-doula related trainings:
Mystical Mentorship | MINKA Brooklyn
Reiki I & II | Glowing Heart Reiki
What are you trained in?
Texts:
Birthing from Within: An Extraordinary Guide to Childbirth Preparation, Pam England
Red Medicine: Traditional Indigenous Rites of Birthing and Healing, Patricia Gonzalez
The Ecology of Gentle Birth, Robin Lim
The Great Cosmic Mother, Monica Sjoo and Barbara Mor
Teachers:
The work of midwives Naoli Vinaver, Ruro Caituiro, Ina May Gatskin and traditional midwives throughout history.The life and births of my teacher Carolina Juajibioy, who initiated me into birth work, and Martha Arotingo who I learned from in Ecuador. My doula mentors, Hannah Gray and Cady McVay.
Experiences:
The way our first mother, the Earth, teaches us about unconditional love. Watching a mother choose her own sovereignty, even in the face of fear. A baby’s first giggle. Seeing a circle of cascading praise be shared at a Mother’s Blessing. Getting to be awed by the love of resilience of new parents, every time.
