When I was still pregnant with my first child and learned about doulas for the first time, I thought it sounded like something I might like to do myself one day.

As a child I wanted to be a veterinarian, and in college my goals shifted to higher education, dreams of teaching college students as a professor. Those academic interests led to a Bachelors in Psychology, and then a Masters in Biological Sciences. Birth support and doula work was an intriguing combination of all my interests. People and interpersonal interactions. Biology and physiology. Education. Birth. Medicine. Families and babies. It felt as though I had been preparing for my whole life to do something like this.

Following my amazing doula supported birth experience, I began thinking more about becoming a doula myself. However, with my young son, and plans for future children, I thought the dream of entering doula work would be a decade down the road when it would be more feasible for our family. 

Obviously, life had different plans.

When my son was about nine months old, I decided to become a birth doula sooner rather than later. In a stroke of serendipity, that very weekend, my own doula Marsha was teaching a DONA International birth doula training workshop, right here in Lincoln, NE, and she had one more spot open. I completed the workshop, and one month later I began attending births and working towards certification!

I have been able to make this dream a reality with superb family and friend support (especially last-minute childcare!), hard work, dedication, and I am grateful for the ability and opportunity to support women in birth!