A new venture!

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” 
― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

2006 – I started my vocation in birthwork as a new doula eager to help mothers deliver their babies. The journey took me to meetings at coffee shops and living rooms, applying counter-pressure in kitchens and bathrooms, experiencing the heat and height of oxytocin in birth center bathrooms and hospital bathtubs. As I helped each of these new couples learn to latch and cling to each other, I felt particularly drawn to the process of mothering at the breast. Guiding mothers and babies towards each other, watching them take steps they know how to take, just whispering “you can do this, together,” felt like the role I was meant to fill.

2013 – I earned the letters after my name (IBCLC, RLC) after a start-and-stop, seemingly random training that all came together in a coherent, well-rounded education. I put my new credential to work in group practices with other smart, passionate, encouraging colleagues, who I will always treasure for their love and fellowship in our amazing work.

2018 – Physical maladies too more time to heal than I could give when working full-time. Six expected weeks turned into nearly six months off.

2019 – It’s time to start serving families again with my heart, head and hands. It’s time to come back to where I started – a solo practice, this time as a lactation consultant instead of a doula, meeting families in their homes and guiding them into comfort *after* the birth rather than before. I will be available beginning May 1, 2019 to offer in-home lactation visits in the metro Phoenix area. This venture gives me the flexibility to provide for my clients as well as my family. I will miss working in an office with my co-workers, but I’m eager to serve in a traveling style so I can support everyone, including clients who are too tired, sore or sick to leave home.