From Holding Space for Loss to Welcoming New Life: Koren Small’s Journey Into Birthwork

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Building Confidence Through Doula Training

At bebo mia, our full spectrum doula training helps students build confidence across fertility, birth, postpartum, and loss care. Through our doula scholarship program, we support more people in stepping into this work.

Supporting Families Through Life’s Biggest Transitions

Hi, I’m Koren—an end-of-life doula, advance care specialist, and grief support coach. My work has always centered on supporting people through life’s most vulnerable transitions—helping individuals and families navigate loss, planning, and those moments that often feel overwhelming and uncertain.

Along this journey, I realized something powerful: while I’ve been called to hold space at the end of life, I also feel deeply drawn to support the very beginning of it.

Taking the Next Step Toward a New Calling

Applying for this scholarship is about more than financial support—it’s about being able to fully step into this next chapter with confidence and alignment. It’s an opportunity to grow, expand my impact, and continue showing up in a meaningful way for the people I serve.

What draws me to bebo mia is the heart behind the work. I was looking for a program that values not just education, but connection, inclusivity, and advocacy. A community that understands birthwork is not just clinical—it’s deeply human. That alignment matters to me.

Bringing Compassion and Advocacy Into Birth Spaces

I want to be a birthworker because I believe everyone deserves to feel informed, respected, and supported in their experience. Birth, like end-of-life, is a profound transition. My background has taught me how to hold space with compassion, listen deeply, and support without judgment—and I want to bring that same presence into birth spaces.

After the program, I plan to expand my business, SOAR with Coach Koren: Empowering Transition, to support individuals and families across the full spectrum of life—from birth through end-of-life. This includes birth support, education around informed consent and advocacy, and continued work in grief and advance care planning.

A Purpose That Spans the Full Spectrum of Life

At the heart of it all is a simple belief: we all deserve to feel supported, seen, and cared for during life’s most meaningful moments.

This is more than work for me—it’s purpose. It’s presence. It’s helping others embrace life transitions.

A Path Into Meaningful Work

If you’re ready to begin, explore our Birth Doula training or apply for a doula scholarship to take the next step.