Elaina Barbaree, CD(DONA)
Most women who become midwives, doulas or even obstetricians feel it is their vocation or calling [voco: Latin, “to call”]. For many it happened during or immediately after their own pregnancy, labor &/or birth experiences.
For me, it happened when I was eight.
At that time my mother birthed my little sister in her bedroom at our home in Estes Park, CO.
I watched from various spots around her room. I wandered in and out between early morning cartoons in the living room & the activity in my parent’s room. It was life changing to me in several ways. First, of course, was that I now had this neat, little bundle of a sister. But a close second to that was the thought that, “Boy! I sure do want to see that again!” I have been privileged now to have been an active assistant at several births, right alongside the mom, helping her through the process & not hiding behind the closet doors, just watching.
I am the mother of five children & the grandmother of three! After raising my kids to a point where I can now allow room for other personal interests, I finished a certification course through DONA International to supplement my hands-on experience. I have assisted mothers & their partners at home, at the hospital; at natural births, epidural assisted births & caesarean sections. I have experience with single mothers, high-risk mothers; expectant parents after a loss & births with a terminal outcome.
I believe birth to be a natural process that can enhance, restore or reignite a women’s innate power in her life and body.
A doula embodies women’s wisdom.
For me, it happened when I was eight.
At that time my mother birthed my little sister in her bedroom at our home in Estes Park, CO.
I watched from various spots around her room. I wandered in and out between early morning cartoons in the living room & the activity in my parent’s room. It was life changing to me in several ways. First, of course, was that I now had this neat, little bundle of a sister. But a close second to that was the thought that, “Boy! I sure do want to see that again!” I have been privileged now to have been an active assistant at several births, right alongside the mom, helping her through the process & not hiding behind the closet doors, just watching.
I am the mother of five children & the grandmother of three! After raising my kids to a point where I can now allow room for other personal interests, I finished a certification course through DONA International to supplement my hands-on experience. I have assisted mothers & their partners at home, at the hospital; at natural births, epidural assisted births & caesarean sections. I have experience with single mothers, high-risk mothers; expectant parents after a loss & births with a terminal outcome.
I believe birth to be a natural process that can enhance, restore or reignite a women’s innate power in her life and body.
A doula embodies women’s wisdom.
