Thank you

21 girls and 15 boys make up the 36 births I have attended as a doula.

• 8 were cesarean sections
• 28 were vaginal births
• 7 babies were born at home (of those 7, 2 were born in the water)
• 29 babies were born in hospital
• 21 were attended by midwives
• 15 attended by doctors 

Every single mama was a warrior for her baby. No two births were the same. Each has their own story and each left me in awe of the process, the journey, the experience and the incredible strength of women.

I started my path as a doula in 2002, after the home birth of my son. I developed a massive crush on my midwife and was very sad when our time together came to an end. I really wanted to spend more time with her as she was pretty much the coolest person I had ever met, but having more babies just to get to hang out with her didn't seem practical. Learning how to become a doula seemed like the next best thing.  I am only half kidding about that......

I have always been fascinated by babies and pregnant bellies, drawn to them.  My experience with my midwives throughout my pregnancy and birth left me wanting to know more about normal birth, to be a part of a movement to embrace it, empower and support women, and overcome the fear of childbirth.

I took my training in 2002 and then managed to convince my girlfriend Tammy to let me attend the birth of her first child (conveniently her midwife was also my midwife - win win), and after some convincing her husband also went along with the idea.  I think back then he had a vision of some hippy dippy, voodoo magic stuff happening, crystals and chanting, the midwife and I dancing naked under the full moon. For the record, Tammy and Mike might be the least hippy/voodoo people I have ever met in my entire life.  On Oct 11, 2002, Kate Burgess was born and it was the craziest most amazing experience I had ever been a part of. I cried (sobbed) when she was born, being on that side of things blew my mind. I was hooked.

In the beginning I just took the odd client here and there, friends, friends of friends, a couple of clients a year, simply because I loved it. As my kids got older I started to take on more clients, but never really made the leap to becoming a doula full time, I guess I was never quite brave enough to give up the security of my day job and give it a real go.  Looking back, I don't think that was a bad thing, just doing a handful of births each year was enough to give me my baby fix.

There were ups and downs, marathon births that were exhausting and lightening fast births that were like something out of a movie. Birth rarely goes as planned and there were births that left me feeling like I had let the mama's down, births that scared the shit out of me and a handful of births I had taken on as a volunteer that really rocked me to my very core. I learned the hard way why midwives advised me to not work for family and friends. I never had a bad outcome and in the end there are 35 beautiful, healthy babies who are extraordinarily loved.

My journey as a doula has ended for now. I have been conflicted for a while now, between my work in government and my work as a doula and have made the decision to focus 100% on my career in government, it was not an easy decision at all but one that is the best for where I am right now in my life.

Thank you to all the families who let me in to the most intimate, personal experiences of your lives, I am so incredibly honored to have been there to witness the moments you became parents.

Thank you to the incredible midwives, nurses and doctors who taught me something new at each birth, I am in awe of all of you.

35 babies, each one forever in my heart.