Life Song Doula Care

11/27/2025

Community feels fuller when we recognize the people who nurtured this land first. As a birth worker who moves through this season with a tender heart, we hold space for both gratitude and grief. We honor the Indigenous families whose stories shape this land and the wisdom they carry. And we lean into togetherness in a way that feels honest healing and human.

May we gather with care, speak truth and remember the communities who were here long before us.

Drop a nerd emoji if you a have supported a family this year! 🤓🤓🤓🤓

thanksgivingreflection respecttheland

11/19/2025

11/15/2025

10/23/2025

Clients

Last and certainly not least, a huge thank you to all of my clients during these incredible twelve and a half years! It has been an absolute honor and privilege to be allowed into your sacred spaces, to be trusted to care for you and touch you and share information with you. I learned something new from each of you and each of your unique birthing and postpartum experiences.

My favorite thing about being a doula was watching each one of you find your courage and strength to birth your child and persevere through the hard times. It never got old. There were so many exquisite highs and so many crashing lows. This job was not easy but I wouldn't trade any of it. To guide you through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum was my calling. To help you to advocate for yourselves and find empowerment, there is nothing like it. I was humbled in your presence.

Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. 💜

10/16/2025

People, part 3

I know that I have posted about these two already but I really can't tell you enough about how much Liam Lynn Morley and Marchelle Antoinette have impacted my business and my life. We all have a huge bent toward justice, not just in reproductive care, but for all and I know that mine has grown stronger just by knowing and working with these amazing humans. We have only known each other for about 5-6 years but it feels like forever. Liam was my number one backup for a while. Marchelle has been a prominent figure bringing doula care to under-resourced communities in South Bend.

The picture, here, is from a very recent get together where I processed with them about retiring from this work that I love so much. I had been sure that I was going to do so for a month or two before but was waiting to talk with these sisters before announcing publicly. We are planning a ceremony/ritual to mark this.

10/13/2025

People, part 2 - Mentors

Stephanie Price took me under her wing right at the start of my doula journey. I am trying to remember how we got connected... Maybe through Laura Gilbert?? Steph was just starting Michiana Doula Collaborative and wanted me to be a part of it and I happily joined. Steph was a great leader and connector. I hold so much gratitude for all that I learned from her and all of the people I met through her and the spaces into which she brought me. What an incredible beginning to my career! I don't think I could have made anywhere close to all of those connections on my own!

My sister was doing undergrad nursing at Goshen College at this time and introduced me to Jillian De Moya who was in the same program. I was completely in awe of this woman. She was a single mom of 4 kids who was finally pursuing her own dreams: going to college, becoming a nurse, and eventually becoming as she said then: a granny midwife. She had already spent many years as a doula, previously in Fort Wayne and some years in Texas on the Mexican border. She connected me with folks in Fort Wayne for a place to stay during my training. Jillian was also part of Michiana Doula Collaborative and even led us for a while after Steph needed to step down to pursue her own nursing goals. Jillian is also a very confident leader. It has been an honor to watch her achieve all of her goals and to have learned so much from her!

10/09/2025

People, part 1

I have to start with my Momma. She has always been my inspiration and my champion. When I was in kindergarten, she moved us to East Kentucky, the poorest county in Appalachia, so that she could attend the Frontier School of Midwifery. I loved hearing birth stories. She helped me know at a young age that birth was normal and could be beautiful. She took me along on Saturday rounds when I was in highschool. She was present during Eva's birth and a huge support, she was my doula before I really knew what that was. When I told her that I wanted to become a doula, she helped pay for my training and, as I talked about before, gave me my first birth bag full of items and made another. She made carrying covers for my birth and peanut balls. I called her after just about every birth and processed it with her.

I attended both of my sisters' births when I was 8 and 10. One at home and one in a hospital. And then helped raise them. All of this really planted the seed.

Hannah Lake-Rayburn is now a midwife and has also processed many births with me. Sarah Zabel, while not a birth worker (but, we like to say, has played a nurse on stage 😆), has supported me with her deep empathy and pastoral care. My first babies have definitely been important players in my journey.

10/08/2025

Groups

If you know me well, you know that I greatly believe in the power of community and making connections. Throughout my career I have sought all of this. Sometimes it was difficult.

Did you know that Mary Beechy-King was pretty much the reason that I became a doula? We were just getting to know each other and she told me that she had trained as a doula and I thought that it sounded so interesting. We had planned to practice together as Illuminations Birth Partners but life got in the way and Mary needed to step back so I became Life Song Doula Care alone.

One of my mentors (stay tuned for the next post about people) was starting the Michiana Doula Collaborative right as I was starting my career and I jumped right in. We supported each other, shared information, did doula speed dating events, had a table at Memorial labor and delivery open houses, informed the community about doulas, and shared meals together. Unfortunately, it couldn't last.

Probably 6 months after my training, I joined the doula program at Maple City Health Care Center. This clinic in Goshen serves mostly under-resourced families, many immigrants from Mexico and Central America. Through a grant, MCHCC is able to provide birth doulas to their pregnant patients without charge but still paying the doula. The amount of doulas changed over the years but we would meet every few months to chat about how things were going and to support each other.

Trying to broaden my range, I joined the Doula Network of Fort Wayne for a year. This group met monthly, supported each other, and hosted many speed dating events. By the end of the year, I had spent countless hours driving down there and back but hadn't gained any clients. This was probably 2016 or 2017.

In the fall(?) of 2019, I met Lynn Morley and we hit it off (more on Liam tomorrow). In December, we brainstormed for hours and created Doulas of North Central Indiana (DNNCI). We brought in Marchelle Antoinette and Carolina Preciado and held our launch event in January, inviting area providers. And then...COVID... We met virtually and even outdoors in the summer but never could get our dream off and running.

Three or four (what is time anymore?) years ago, Liam and I connected with Abigail Jorgensen and Kristen Marie and Wildflower Doula Collective was born. One of our core tenants is that we are all fully open and affirming. We found a deep need for doulas in the area who weren't so conservative. While all of the above have moved away, WDC has blossomed. We meet virtually once a month, support each other, and back each other up. I have been so, so grateful for this group as I have needed extra support through my health issues and who still want me to lead and mentor them even if I am not practicing anymore.

10/07/2025

Event tables

From Wellness fairs to farmer's markets to Pride fairs to my own 10 year anniversary celebration and more, I have set up many tables to make connections and spread the word about doulas. I often even brought coloring and reading materials for kids.

Most of the time it was just me but, as in one photo with Rachel Cunningham , sometimes I had company. I have tabled at other events as part of groups too but more on those experiences later.

ETA: I forgot to add the Climb Out of the Darkness event through Postpartum International. This was a walk to bring awareness to postpartum mood disorders.

10/06/2025

Gifts from clients and family and "walking" advertisement: bags, shirts, and stickers. See captions.

10/05/2025

The books that I recommend and that inspired me:

- I have a love/hate relationship with Milli Hill. When I first got to know her and, first, her Positive Birth Book and, later, her Give Birth Like a Feminist, I was so impressed with her. She centered and championed the birthing person. She showed that the experience of birth could be positive no matter how it ended up going. I even ran a Positive Birth group for some years (more on that later). In recent years, she has been very vocal that "only women give birth" and that trans and non binary folks are not welcome. I was so saddened when I first heard her come out with this.

- I have followed Genevieve Howland and Mama Natural from the beginning of my doula journey. I referred clients to her online classes and many clients have used her birth planning template.

- Henci Goer saw the great need of treating the birthing person as a human being and, not only that, as a knowledgeable human being who could make their own informed decisions.

- My mom introduced me to Nancy Bardacke's Mindful Birthing quite a few years ago when she was able to take the training and started teaching classes in Illinois and online. This is one that I would love to teach but the training is quite expensive and I haven't been able to make that investment. I think mindfulness is a very important tool for birth and everyday life. Luckily, I have been able to use some of the exercises for clients and even a couple have attended the class virtually.

- Hannah Matthews beautifully and masterfully tells stories of clients (names changed and with permission) and shows them all as so human. Holding abortion as a vital part of healthcare Showing that we need to value the autonomy of all who find themselves pregnant and let them make the decisions for their own bodies and lives.

- I believe, like Rachel Reed, that we need to reclaim childbirth and other rights of passage. Childbirth has been taken away from those giving birth by the institutions of doctors and hospitals and political powers. We need to get back to trusting folks to know about their bodies and to reminding everyone that they can trust their own bodies. While I am glad that we have hospitals and interventions because birth doesn't always go gently and for the birthing people who would like them, most births are normal and safe and don't need to be at a hospital with all of the bells and whistles.

- A Doula's Guide, Birth Work as Care Work, and Birthing Liberation were so, so good for shaping my justice-forward approach to my practice. I have especially loved Birthing Liberation and following Sabia Wade. I had wanted to take all of their trainings and highly recommend them to my mentees.

- And then there is my birth journal. I had just about filled it. In it I had tracked each birth: who was present, when things happened, what I noticed and experienced, babies names and weights and lengths. These records reminded me that every birth was different and I learned something new every time.

10/04/2025

Trainings and certifications:

- I trained with DONA International in February of 2013. It was a 3 day in person training in Fort Wayne.

- In May of either 2013 or 14, I went back to Fort Wayne to hear Dr. Stroud speak on infertility and The Creighton Model as well as Marilyn Shannon (see book below).

- In August of 2013, I took my first birth assistant training but only supported a few births in this role at this time because I wasn't interested in doing any of the clinical tasks. Wanting to just focus on the nonmedical doula support. I trained again in August of 2022 and then worked for a few different midwives in this capacity.

- In February of 2014, I heard that there would be a Reiki level 1 training at my church with a sliding fee scale. I barely knew what Reiki was but it was accessible and I thought it could be a useful tool. Honestly, if I had known a bit more about it, I probably wouldn't have done it. I ended up having an intense experience (feel free to ask me) and was so glad that I did this. Some people believe that Reiki can cure diseases, including cancer. I believe that the flow of energy helps with stress relief and relaxation.

- Somewhere in these early years, I attended a Cultural Competency training in Chicago. Lots of good information about working with BIPOC and LGBTQIA birthing persons.

- In April of 2018, I attended a training on breastsleeping with Dr. James McKenna. If you don't know about this, look it up!

- I know that I attended various webinars and a Rebozo training in these years but don't have records of them anymore.

- Then 2020 hit and the world shut down but people didn't stop having babies! I signed up for all of the webinars and trainings that I could find to learn how to do virtual doula support.

- (Again, I wish that I had better records...) I was able to give a training with Kami Lenae Schwartz in 2021 or 22 on miscarriage and infertility.

- In 2023 and 2024, I had a few different virtual trainings that covered trans care and abortion care, medication abortion, and abortion rights.