A bit about me and my birth keeping journey.
I’ve always felt a pull toward pregnancy and birth, but never quite understood where it came from. Then in 2016, my mother shared with me that my great, great, great grandmother was a birthkeeper for my tribe, the Mashpee Wampanoag, helping women through childbirth and welcoming babies. I realized then that this pull was not simply an interest, rather a calling from my ancestral lineage, one that I’d dedicate my life to honoring. So my journey began. That year, I completed a DONA Birth Doula training and immediately began serving families as a birth doula. Over the following years, I completely immersed myself in birth work, training, education, apprenticeships, and volunteer work.
In 2018, I found out that I was expecting my son. I continued to work as a birth doula through my pregnancy! My first son was born in 2019 via cesarean. Shortly afterwards, I became incredibly passionate about breastfeeding. I experienced my own struggles with nursing, and if it were not for the support of my husband, I would have quit. I was disheartened by the lack of adequate support I received from medical professionals and even from lactation counselors. I knew I needed to put myself in a position to help others, so I completed training and certification to become an ALPP CLC while 6 months postpartum. Along with being a doula and Certified Lactation Counselor, I am also a Placenta Encapsulation Specialist, a certified Diagnostic Technician, and I hold a Bachelor’s of Science in Counseling Psychology from Lesley University. I had my second son in 2022 in the comfort of our home, with a wonderful team of midwives!
I am especially passionate about addressing the racial disparities in maternal and infant outcomes. As an indigenous woman, I have experienced first-hand the discrimination and inadequate care that women of color receive. As someone with so much knowledge of, and experience in the perinatal field, I was shocked that I experienced this discrimination. I naively thought it would not apply to me, or that I was immune to it, just because I was a birth worker. But before being a birth worker, I am a woman of color. And proudly so. Every woman who wants a doula should have one, especially women of color. For this reason, I am also a fierce advocate for quality and equitable maternal care for all. I have spoken on various panels about expanding access to midwifery care, the value of homebirth midwifery, the value of doula care, and I am currently fundraising for Every Mother Counts as part of the Falmouth Road Race Team EMC!
When I am not doing birth work, or talking someone’s ear off about birthy things, I can be found chasing my two boys around, hiking with my family, at the beach, baking late-night in my kitchen, buried in a suspense novel, running, or just spending time with my husband and family. I have a HUGE family, and am one of five children, so I love a crowd. My mother is my greatest role model (she’s phenomenal and doesn’t even realize it), my husband is my truest friend (we have known one another since kindergarten), and my sons are my gravity. I am a Cape Cod native, born and raised in Mashpee, though over the years I have also called Boston, Seattle, and Providence “home”. Enough about me… I can’t wait to learn more about you!