Becoming a doula
In 2014 I became a doula, quite by accident.
I saw the sweetest little caravan, Ruby, when walking on the esplanade on market day one Sunday in Torquay, on the Victorian surf coast. I poked my head inside to find Ruby had been loved up in shabby chic by her owner Kellie Whiskin. Kellie welcomed me warmly, and we spoke about my passion for women's reproductive wellbeing and her work as a doula.
She was about to run a doula course, training women who support you through pregnancy, labour, and the postnatal period. Guess where I ended up? For the first time, I experienced a circle of women and learned about pregnancy and birth in a completely different way than I had before.
The work was woman-centered, the mother being at the heart of her pregnancy and birthing experience. A doula will listen to her, support her, and have trust in her own body. This empowers her as a woman and mother, as well as, significantly improves birth outcomes.
It is also here where I had the opportunity to heal. Heal from; how long it had taken to get pregnant, the shock I felt after the birth of my first child, my miscarriage. Here I celebrated becoming pregnant again. Here I learned that an empowered birth meant providing women with broader, more complete information than they would otherwise have. I met courageous women, who believed in 'radical' ideas like home birth. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d become one of them, until I birthed my daughter at home in March 2015.
I knew then that empowering the woman was the missing ingredient in fertility. Giving you the sense of validation that comes from being heard and reassured.
Empowered Conception is more than a business name. It's an approach. A wish for the future.
Empowered Conception is much more than trying to get you pregnant. It’s about enabling you with ways you can take your fertility and wellbeing into your own hands. To enhance your fertility, reduce both health and mental health risks and improve your child’s health for life. Regardless of whether you go on to use further treatments. It’s more than simply giving you the information you need, sending you off, and hoping for the best. It’s about giving you a space where you can access the guidance, tools, and encouraging support to achieve it. It’s about how you feel when you arrive at parenthood, being the confident and capable mother you long to be, and your family's life-long health and wellbeing.
Learn more about Empowered Conception's Fertility Support and Preconception Care Programs on offer here.
Would you like to join a community of women, who are just like you, looking for support and what you can do to improve your fertility? Come and join us here at Fertility TLC for A Positive Approach to Restoring your Fertility.
