Doula Training

I returned to Seattle late Tuesday night and spent the last four days in a doula training intensive. Intense it was...in very good ways. For those of you who do not know a doula (doo-la) is a labor support person for birthing mothers. For those of you who do know, I would like to one day become a midwife and doula-ing is sort of a first step in that direction.

Spending the last four days learning about birth and birth support has only reinforced this calling of mine. It has also made me wonder why I have taken two years to begin to pursue it and why I have plans in place that will put unnecessary turns and forks in this road.

What I am saying is that I know quite certainly what I am called to do in this world and I think I want to start doing it. So, I am looking for apartments in Seattle and thinking of settling here for a good while. I would like to follow through with my doula certification and begin to apprentice some very wise doula/midwives I have and have not met here. There are two organizations in particular I would like to explore being a part of: one is called Open Arms (openarmsps.org) and the other is called Birth Attendants (birthattendants.com) . These organizations provide free doula support to incarcerated women, teen moms and women who would otherwise birth alone. I also would like to begin to take classes to prepare me for a masters in midwifery.

These plans are still very new and, as always, subject to swaying and shifting. But it is a start in a new direction for me, perhaps. Just wanted to let you all know.