Hello! My name is Beth, and I am a trained doula, having completed an approved DONA International Doula training workshop, a childbirth education class, and a breastfeeding class. I have also completed an advanced doula training on supporting VBAC families. I am actively pursuing my birth doula certification through DONA. I initially became interested in the doula field through my own various birth experiences. My first birth was induced in a hospital setting. My second was a natural, hospital b
irth that ended in a cesarean. My third and fourth were VBACs at a free standing birth center. In between my C-section and first VBAC, I spent a lot of time reading and learning about what women need to be able to birth well and have the experiences they desire, while still maintaining a safe and healthy environment for the mother and baby. I now see birth as a time where, among many, many other things, a woman has the opportunity to feel empowered and strong or lost and unheard. It is my desire to help women have the former experience through education of labor and birth practices and continual presence with a woman throughout her labor and delivery, while providing emotional and physical support. No matter what setting a mother chooses and what course of action the mother wants to take – from medicated to unmedicated, cesarean to home birth, I would like to help women have the best possible experience as they welcome their little ones into the ex-utero world. I am a native of the beautiful state of Pennsylvania and, deep in my heart, still consider it my home (even though I technically haven’t lived there for over 12 years). In 2004, I received bachelor’s degrees in Music Education and Religious Studies from Benedictine College in Atchison, KS. In addition to all of the credits for my degrees and the musical ensembles, travels, and performances while in college, I spent three years working as a resident assistant. I went on to teach music at an elementary school in Topeka, Kansas. After working with the younger students, I felt called to return to the college scene. I became a Residence Hall Director at Benedictine College and served in their residence life program for eight years, helping college students adjust to life away from home and navigate the uncertainties and trials of the college years.
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