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A little of my origin story…

a little of my origin storyWhen I started doula work, I thought it was a stepping stone to midwifery. As I attended more births in the hospital as well as at home I realized I was desperately needed to support women in their hospital births. While homebirths are beautiful and often very intervention free, my work as an advocate and empowering source of trust in the process was needed in the hospital.

As I continued my work I learned that watching women step into their power in birth, motherhood, AND life would always be a part of my life.

Being a Doula has taught me so much about all the cracks and gaping holes in our care for women and babies. It is both infuriating and saddening to watch women get bad information, care that is not based in any evidence and disregarded or criticized when they have questions or concerns. While there are definitely care providers who are working hard to try to fill these gaps it is not enough.

The love I have and the joy I feel watching women step into their power in labor and birth is the reason I decided to grow to be able to provide more than the physical emotional & logistical support a Doula provides. My hope is to provide women a safe space to tap into their intuition, their other ways of knowing, their vulnerability and bravery to discover the pieces of them that are not quite being fulfilled. Whether this looks like nutrition, sleep, relationships, community, movement, trauma, fear. There are so many facets to our humanity. There is so much to delve into and discover. You are complex, unique, wild, miraculous.

I hope to continue to support, guide & grow in this impossible culture we live in.

If you have ever found it difficult to find your voice, to speak up for yourself, especially in any medical situation, if you have ever felt like you weren’t being listened to, if you have been harmed by misinformation or lack of information in our medical industrial complex, you are not alone. You can take back your power.

You can heal your wounds, spiritually, physically, emotionally – I’m here to help if you need it!

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Here I am!

Y’all! I’m here! It’s been quite a journey of self-discovery these past 2+ years.  If you know me, you know I have always been searching for the answers to why our culture is so sick. Why are we always seeking health and only getting sicker? The U.S. spends more per capita on “healthcare” than any other country in the world.  So why are so many folks just soooo far from healthy.

In true Katy fashion, I wanted to know HOW CAN I HELP?

I learned about how many women were giving birth without proper education, . That they were without the knowledge to feel empowered to take control of their experience, without a knowledgeable advocate, and without proper support in pregnancy and labor. So I said “sign me up!” and became a doula.

When my favorite childbirth education class stopped being offered in its long format, I thought, even though I’ve never taught a class before, it needed to be available for our local pregnant families. So I asked if I could teach it.  I spent months learning the curriculum! I learned all the evidence behind what we taught.  Educating myself and creating the course so it could best serve to empower our students. When it was time, I started Ypsi-Arbor Childbirth Education to fulfill those same commitments to our local growing families.

During my work as a doula, homebirth assistant, and then childbirth educator I regularly encountered women who had had difficulty conceiving (then many spontaneously became pregnant after trying “everything”). Some spending thousands, not having it work, before finding they were pregnant after finally “giving up”. And then there are the many women who I don’t have the opportunity to serve in the birth realm because for any number of reasons their dream of becoming pregnant wasn’t, or has not yet been realized.

I’ve also encountered innumerable women who have had long histories of mystery health concerns. Who have been on long self-discovery journeys and are coming up empty. Blood work all normal, no diet seems to fix their guts, on and off meds and thousands of dollars in supplements and alternative therapies just aren’t cutting it. There is so much noise out there about how we best take care of our bodies! I thought I should see what I could learn about how we can all feel our best.  I’m excited for this part of my journey, this act of service I can offer to the women of my community who have been struggling to figure out what is the next best thing to arrive at really feeling better, and BEING better.

Join me!

I’d love for you to join me on this adventure of self-discovery! If you’re ready to delve into true root causes and ditch the overwhelming health paradigm we find ourselves in, reach out! Let me know how I can support you. Let’s figure this thing out!

Grab a tea and let's get on the road to self-discovery