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Birth support professionals have mastered somatic work, as they naturally attune to the body’s wisdom when supporting expectant individuals and new parents. Through hands-on comfort measures like massage and acupressure, breath awareness, guided movement, and voice activation, I’ve helped my doula clients navigate the physical and emotional sensations of the perinatal journey. Whether using positioning, grounding exercises, or mindful touch, birth professionals integrate somatic practices into their care, fostering safety, trust, and empowerment.
So, it’s no surprise that many hesitate when I encourage them to shift from long hours of hands-on support to perinatal coaching conversations. It can feel revolutionary—and even intimidating—to imagine stepping away from the familiar, deeply embodied skills they’ve honed. Yet, this shift doesn’t mean abandoning somatic wisdom; instead, it’s about transforming how we use it, allowing for a deeper impact while reducing professional fatigue and burnout.
In the ever-evolving field of birth work, we are no strangers to passionate discussions, deep introspection, and the pursuit of justice. However, recently, identity politics has taken over doulas’ discussions, threatening to divide us and break doulas’ sisterhood. A post I recently read in an active doulas group has received tens of ‘likes’ and sympathizing comments, caught my attention:
“Doula’s work has been saturated with white supremacy, colonialism, capitalism, and cultural appropriation. The sacredness of this work is being lost right before our eyes.”
Empowerment lies at the heart of birth professionals’ work and is one of the primary goals in supporting expectant and new parents. Empowering means instilling confidence, fostering autonomy, and equipping individuals with the tools to make decisions about their birthing and parenting experiences. Empowering expectant and new parents is about letting them feel seen, heard, and engaged—trusting they have the knowledge, strength, and autonomy to navigate the challenges of childbirth and early parenthood. However, sometimes empowerment misses the mark and bears pitfalls. Empowerment takes more than encouraging and informing; it’s about cultivating internal authority and ownership. That’s precisely what Transformational Birth Support Coaching helps individuals undergoing childbearing feel.
In 2006, after a decade of practicing as a labor doula and while training as a transformational life coach, I realized that transformative perinatal coaching must be the foundation of successful labor doula support. I understood that the coaching principles and strategies can be a game-changer when integrated into birth support practice. This understanding became the cornerstone of my career. Since then, I’ve developed an innovative framework for transformative perinatal coaching that has helped many students and me achieve impact, satisfaction, and increased income. Dedicated to doulas’ success, I want to shout and invite all doulas and childbirth educators to join me and learn how to practice transformational prenatal and postpartum coaching. However, since doulas and childbirth educators are traditionally called “Labor coaches,” I am continuously called to clarify the following: What’s the difference between a labor coach and a transformational perinatal coach?
Pregnancy and childbirth are incredibly transformative experiences. Unfortunately, our culture has reduced the conversation about this utmost transformation to one topic: labor pain. Whether on social media, in moms’ groups, or on the playground, individuals undergoing their childbearing years’ discussions focus solely on fear and coping with labor pain. This narrow focus can make them preoccupied with deciding whether to take an epidural. It doesn’t help much that their guides, birth support professionals, also tend to distinguish between “Natural/Unmedicated Birth” and “Medicated Birth.” The first option is often idealized, whereas the latter is viewed less favorably. These common attitudes can result in birth givers feeling negative emotions such as disappointment or failure if they choose to take an epidural.Since the decision to use pain relief during labor is a personal choice that has emotional and social implications, I suggest helping expectant individuals to navigate this “Epidural Dilemma” with transformational prenatal coaching,
Matrescence (pronounced ma tres ens) is a term referring to a transformative period of identity-shifting experienced by a woman during her transition into motherhood. “The psychological birth of a mother, similar to adolescence, involves hormonal and identity shifting.
Transformation is a change from which there is no going back. When transforming, our everyday strategies and behavior patterns must be revisited and adjusted to to facilitate a smooth and empowering transformation. This simple observation is the origin of the Transformational Birth Support Coaching framework.
There’s no turning back from parenthood. It’s a transformation from being someone’s child to being someone’s parent, a change that shapes the rest of your life. It is becoming the designated adult accountable for someone else’s life. For first-time birth givers, this means transforming from someone who has been given life to someone who is giving life, which involves a physical transformation of the body, mind, and social status. This profound transformation is well described by the term “Matrescence.”
As a pioneer doula, I had to get clients while initiating and engaging in PR campaigns and giving many interviews to spread the concept of hiring a doula. Over the past 24 years, I have overcome my reluctance to engage in enrollment conversations to enroll potential clients, and now I have a thriving doula practice. I gained confidence by consistently showing up for my potential clients. Over the past seven years, I have been working as a doula trainer and have founded a new approach to birth support known as Transformational Birth and Postpartum Coaching. I am deeply committed to helping my students acquire clients and build successful practices. Although ‘doula’ is a term in the dictionary and a well-known support figure, the most asked question in the Facebook group I lead, “The Aspiring and Thriving Doula” is “How do I find Clients? I gathered a few strategies to get clients which I teach at my doula training and transformational birth support coaching course. And you’re invited to join my mentoring sessions. Find how at the bottom of this blog post.
Birth Support professionals are committed to providing essential care and support to pregnant individuals and new parents, helping them navigate the challenges of bringing new life into the world. Pregnancy and postpartum are times of heightened emotions and vulnerability. Amid the current political unrest, the transparent fabric of hope and optimism that subconsciously led our clients to conceive has been interrupted. Staying hopeful and optimistic is less intuitive and demands intentional practice and awareness. At this time, birth support pros must help their clients to repair it. We must expand our skills to facilitate something beyond proper maternal care; we need to coach to evoke hopefulness and optimism. Transformational Birth Support Coaching Strategies are the path to this type of support.
Halloween always makes me think about the spooky creatures individuals are troubled by, such as labor pain, cesarean, irreversible body changes, and dying at birth. The fear of labor pain is a common challenge among expectant persons. After all, the process of childbirth has been for centuries described as one of the most intense, physically demanding, and painful experiences a woman can go through. This perspective overshadows the excitement and joy of bringing a new life into the world. In this blog post, we’ll explore the fear of labor pain as a spooky thought and discuss ways to conquer it, ensuring a more positive and empowered birthing experience.
Birth support pros have been led for decades to believe that informational and emotional support can reduce induction rates. This notion has been supported by certifying organizations, including Lamaze and DONA, and many others. Yet, induction rates have been on the rise since the ARRIVE study. So why are couples educated and informed about inductions, and the rates keep increasing? The common understanding is that decreasing labor induction rates belong to the broader discussion about couples’ informed consent. However, decreasing labor induction rates can be achieved only when we address expectant couples’ beliefs and ongoing need for reassurance of their and their babies health. Addressing the mindset and predetermined beliefs is achieved by Transformational Prenatal Coaching and not by informational and emotional support as previously thought by birth support pros.
