The Social Working Doula

Heyy Y’all, Michelle here, welcome to the Womb Embrace Doulas blog. For this first post I would like to share my story: The Social Working Doula.

For starters this work is more than a passion, it’s in me, it’s what I live and breathe. Once it unfolded for me there weren’t any other options. This is my purpose this lifetime. I love being able to connect people not just to resources but to other people to build their community. I love teaching them, empowering them and mobilizing knowledge to increase awareness. There’s so much out there why not be curious about it and explore! Growing up I didn’t have any idea where my interest would take me. I initially wanted to be a RN in the pediatric unit, I’ve always loved babies. In my eyes they’re the purest form of humanity, we see so much hope in their presence that we can envision the future. It’s one of the most beautiful moments in birth work. Albeit, nursing wasn’t the lane for me, something about it didn’t feel as though it was the right fit. I found myself learning what did feel right through challenging myself to work with some of the toughest populations and loving it. Throughout my career I’ve worked with folks struggling with addiction, domestic violence/ intimate partner violence, various mental health conditions from migrating to America to severe mental illness like (schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) and brief interventions for mental and behavioral health in primary care clinics at a hospital. I can’t say there has been one that is my favorite because they all have built off each to form my awareness today in both social work and birth work. They all hold a special place in my journey developing my character and personality.

 Along the way I’m not sure when I encountered what a doula was but once I found it I was fascinated and freighted at the same. Childbirth has always been portrayed as the most scary and painful thing a woman could experience aside from their period. There was a level of intimidation that presented itself with doula work and I ran! I didn’t feel ready or confident enough to make the step to formally train as a doula til 2021. I always stayed informed about doula services and all things childbirth, attending town halls and panels with doulas speaking of their services and advocacy. Then boom that’s when I met Jessica, she was so helpful to me and gave me advice and where to start to make sense of what I wanted to do. She showed me it possible to do all the things I love without compromising one for another. (I appreciate you-thank you girl). 2021 was a pretty big year for me. I had a lot of adjustments, I moved to Chicago from Connecticut ALONE to follow my purpose. Once I got settled I began my doula training with Childbirth International. When I completed everything I felt like I was prepared but still missing the confidence and community. I felt confident in navigating hospital settings since I worked in a hospital, I knew what questions to ask and how to break down medical jargon. But I was still hesitant, technically there wasn’t anything my way to start my doula business but me and my fears. I was grateful to meet some phenomenal doulas along the way and launched Womb Embrace Doulas in March 2023 during world doula week and national social work month. Coincidence?, nope it was all apart of the purpose and solidifying the foundation of my business.

Of course by now you know I didn’t become a nurse but my career as a social worker isn’t that much different from being a doula. The values of social work are quite similar to that of doula work. The core of social work is social justice, holding dignity and worth of the person(s) in your care, valuing human relationships, integrity and competence. To me those values translate to birth work. There are clear differences in how both professionals practice, however, the goal is the same. Both have extensive knowledge on parenting, resources, advocacy and navigating services to meet their needs. Doulas are more hands to accommodate the birthing person’s immediate needs with pain, emotional support and nurturing. Whereas social workers use the biopsychosocial approach to assess and develop a plan for services, resources and support. When you think about it they are the continuity of care essentially. Between the two there is a strong alliance to meeting the client’s needs without ego attached as some of our colleagues may have. With that said this blog will serve as vehicle to reduce barriers to support, focus on birth support, education on mental health topics like sex, relationships, cultural and environmental effects on your mental health especially during pregnancy, nutritional health, self care, evidence based information on common birth questions, storytelling from parents in the community and resources for postpartum care. Womb Embrace Doulas was created to equip families with knowledge to combat the myths with facts and restore confidence in your bodies innate birthing abilities to break barriers that didn’t need to be there to begin with.

Welcome to the womb space!

p.s I love word play so expect plenty of that here.