A couple years ago, I got together with friends from my old Moms Group. We'd met when our first babies were newborn and we religiously attended Moms Group at the birthing hospital. We made deep connections while chatting, feeding babies, voicing our struggles, and enjoying some time just being out of the house.
Group was a lifesaver in those early days of parenting. Those days that seem to drag on for weeks. Those days when you are bone tired, but feel you haven't done anything. Those days when you long to finish a cup of coffee while it's still hot and talk to another adult on a level deeper than "I'll take fries with that."
Those days are long gone! Our "babies" now form a thundering herd that rampages through house and yard. We still feel tired, we still have long days, but now we can send the kids outside to play while we drink our coffee hot and talk in relative peace. Also still the same...the care we give each other. Friends from group give of themselves like they would for a brother or sister. Bringing meals, being a shoulder to cry on, helping with car trouble, even donating their breastmilk!
I arrived at H's house ready to catch up with everyone. I was not expecting to embark on a new career. Once the kids were off and running, H and S popped the question. "We're going to take a postpartum doula training class. You'd be great! Do you want to join us?"
"Wait, what?"
H and S told me they didn't intend to become doulas, but they felt the training would be interesting and possibly even helpful. "After all, we've been doing a lot of postpartum doula work for one another over the years. This would be good stuff to know." They made a good case. I enjoyed helping friends through our Moms Group. I love sharing what I've learned. I started looking into it.
A couple months later we took the DONA Postpartum Doula class together. It was amazing! In my 9 year career as an engineer, I'd never had such a practical and valuable training. Over three long days I was never bored of being in the classroom. Most surprising of all, I came out saying, "I can DO this! I WANT to do this! This is what I'm going to do!"
And that was the beginning of becoming a postpartum doula.
