Meet Your Doula
Hi. I’m Amanda.
Born and raised right here in the Ohio Valley. I had an aching hunger as a teenager to run away from the small city of Steubenville, but now as an adult that feeling has shifted to a burning love or maybe pride for my hometown. It isn’t perfect and it sure as heck has a long road ahead before it returns to its vibrant roots, but I love being a part of the change. I am a wife, boy momma, and birthworker. If you had the chance to be a fly on our walls for a day, you’d find yourself in a loud house that is full of laughter, dog barks, and some 3 year old tantrums. You’d see a house that is lived in… and most likely toys finding a place in each and every room. Did I ever imagine life being this good? Nope. Never. Do I still forget that it is good on some days? Sure do.
I am married to the most supportive man in the world. He has encouraged me to chase after my dreams from day one. Zach truly is the real MVP. We have two boys. Jacob is 14 and is our bonus son… a true blessing from God. Jude is 3 and the sweetest little guy. Both boys play a major role in the inner workings of why I do what I do. Talking about my family would not be complete without talking about my niece, Jenna. She has been my mini me since she was a little girl and she has taught me so much about life. She has inspired me to look at the world through a different lens and I am forever grateful for her. Lastly, there is Ruby. She is our 11 year old dog and the ruler of our house. She runs the show…. then Jude… then Jacob…. and then there is us. Truly, I wouldn't have it any other way!
Being a doula wasn’t my first love. It also wasn’t my second. It took me a while to find my way here. There were choices, heartaches, and many milestones that led me to the silver lining that is my life now. I fully believe that my path was meant to lead to birth work. I’m grateful for the people and situations along the way that supported and molded me into the person I am today. A little background of love stories, if you will…
Love story #1
It’s not what you’re thinking… it’s not a person. It’s what makes me tick inside (outside of my relationship with God). Meet Chemistry. There is something about breaking everything down to the tiniest and simplest form and learning why it behaves the way it does. Seeing it backed by tangible evidence made me giddy. So, this love took me to college and to earning my bachelors degree and entering the industrial field as a qualitative analyst.
Love story #2
In 2017, teaching entered my world and expanded my heart. So, back to school I went. Earning my masters degree, I dived into teaching at the secondary and higher education level. Supporting students through some of their roughest years was the icing on the cake when it came to teaching. I loved the relationships I formed with them and watching them grow each week and over the years. This same love happens as I support families during pregnancy and during birth. We form a bond that sticks around far after the baby is born.
This is where it gets good…
Love story #3
For the longest time, I was the person that said the typical - “yoga is not for me”.
I was a lifter. I was a go, go, go type of person and all of my experiences with yoga were just blah. So, when my gym started offering yoga classes, I didn’t expect to enjoy it, but I gave it a shot. I didn’t expect to enjoy it… at all. I was pregnant and it gave me a way to express myself while being gentle.
After giving birth, the instructor who offered yoga at my gym opened her own studio (Empowered Wellness). I jumped back into yoga at 3 weeks postpartum to ease my way back into physical activity. That’s it. Just physical….what came next shed light on a part of me I didn’t know existed.
A week or two into my postpartum yoga journey, Amanda led as through breathing in Supta Baddha Konasana (reclined butterfly pose) with one hand on our hearts and one hand on our bellies. I remember breaking down in tears as I felt my soul grieve the empty space of my womb. I felt my inhales trace a connective path between my heart and womb. I realized that I missed having my baby in my womb, safe from the world, not to share with anyone. I had no idea what I was doing as a new mom. I wasn’t sure if I was enough…
In that moment, in a small yoga studio, I moved from grief to awareness, to peace. I pictured my baby still within me and saw my breath trace over my heart to him. I saw all the love I breathed into him each day as he was snug as a bug within me. My yoga practice transitioned then and there from just a physical practice to a healing journey. Did I imagine teaching it? Not at that point
As I moved into birth work I knew that training as an instructor would help me be a better doula. The anatomy alone would help me better. My love of yoga has led me to continue my education about the pelvis and the pelvic floor.
But Why Birth Work?
When I became pregnant with my son in 2019, I knew that I wanted to attempt an unmedicated birth. The pandemic had other ideas for me and so did Jude(my son). My birth experience left a nasty taste in my mouth for a very long time. I know now, full heartedly, that if I had a doula at my birth I would have had a different experience. Researching, I found little to no information on doulas in the Ohio Valley. With personal hardship and irritation with our lack of resources, I was inspired to make a change. Diving head first into birth work opened my eyes to an entire new world. A world where birth does not have to be manipulated, does not have to be dark, does not have to be lonely or negative.
I started my birth doula business in April 2022 and completed my certification through DONA International in April 2023. During 2022, I expanded my offerings to include prenatal and restorative yoga. Bringing the only prenatal yoga class to the valley created an outlet for pregnant mommas each week. It’s not just about yoga or stretching, it’s a place to take the journey through pregnancy together and form lasting bonds. In 2023, I expanded my offerings again to offer placenta encapsulation and childbirth education classes. The pandemic turned the birth world upside down and unfortunately the valley was hit hard. Support was denied access to hospitals, childbirth education classes were discontinued at local hospitals, and intervention rates continued to increase.
My goal as a birth worker is to help educate growing families on their options during labor and birth, to provide evidence based knowledge and resources, and to help reduce negative birth experiences. How do I do this? I support you in a personal way that is going to help you have a calm, comfortable, and fast birth. What worked for others may not work for you… and that is okay. I’m here to help you find what works best for you. I guide you through position changes or breathing techniques that will help you and baby move through labor. Hopefully, comfortably and calmly. I offer evidence based advice to stir conversations between you and your support person that will help you make tough decisions. In all that I do, I remove my idea of the “perfect” birth for myself and focus on how I can support your envision for an ideal birth.
This doula is not silky or crunchy, but a mixture of both. I am scrunchy. It doesn’t matter if you are planning an induction or cesarean, planning on getting an epidural, or having a home birth. Everyone deserves support. Everyone deserves to walk away with a birth story that fills them with oxytocin. Everyone includes you.
Fun Facts:
Favorite part of a birth: seeing husbands or partners step up during labor and instinctively know what their wife needs and using what they’ve learned during prenatals to provide it.
Least favorite part of a birth: waking up in the middle of the night. Lol. Seriously, I love sleep… I go through about 30 seconds of uhhhhhhh before my adrenaline kicks in and I’m like LETS HAVE A BABY!!
Pre birth music selection: definitely depends on my mood, but most often it is worship music. I typically use my car ride to pray…. the other times, it’s 2000s hip hop.
Post birth music selection: Marc Broussard or Trevor Hall… usually a variety of my liked songs which is rather diverse.
Longest birth: 2.5 days
Shortest birth: 3.5 hours