Janna’s Story
My doula story began after the birth of my first child.
The trauma of this birth left me feeling defeated, incapable, and like my body had failed me. I didn’t feel the support I needed through this situation.
Motherhood also felt hard, the birth made healing difficult and I felt unsure of myself.
After being told that I should consider a cesarean the next time I decided to have another baby, I no longer felt confident in my body and the ability to do what millions of womben had gone and done before.
Years later I, pregnant again, had come to terms with the “cesarean” reality and prepared for this real possibility. I started this heavy journey from womb to earth wondering what sort of options I had left.
As timing would have it, this new pregnancy coincided with a move from West Coast Canada to East Coast America, along with it, a completely new set of rules and care protocols surrounding birth.
I decided to tell no one about the “cesarean” message I received and continued on as if this were the clean slate I needed. Upon one of my prenatal visits, I was asked how I planned to manage my birth pain, to which I replied that 'laughing gas' was what I had utilized at my last birth and I thought I would try it again.
After being told that laughing gas was not offered at this hospital in America, I was faced with the very real awareness that this birth was going to be very different.
I decided to hire a Doula (for the first time) and hoped that this relationship would help me navigate my second pregnancy.
Hiring that Doula ended up being exactly what was needed to access my own wisdom and intuitive knowing. The resources and deep compassion shared by my Doula took me from a nervous pregnant Womban who thought the only option was to have a cesarean, to changing care providers at 32 weeks pregnant (to some lovely and wise Midwives), and deciding at 34 weeks pregnant that this baby was going to be born at home.
To say this experience was transformative would be an understatement. It changed how I viewed my capabilities as a womban, as a mother, and as an advocate for myself. I now knew my rights, what was necessary for my care (and not necessary) and had the wisdom to know that I could make any decision I felt, in the timing that was needed. This was my body, my baby, and my experience after all.
Following the birth of my second child, I decided to become a Doula. I wanted to be able to stand with womben in their own power, to remind them that their voices matter, and to help womben and their families navigate the waters through any birth avenue they choose to traverse; be it home or hospital.
I now live with my two daughters, my partner and many animal friends in Agassiz B.C.
I have taken my family traveling around the world, lived in a few different countries, I love food, tea and coffee, and turning experiences into art. I am passion-fueled by the work of the womb and am touched deeply by the people who invite me into their birthing space.