From Healthcare Social Worker to Doula – Meet Claire Mistretta, one of our scholarship winners!

The introduction to Birthwork

I’ve always been a dive right in headfirst kind of person. Throw a challenge my way, and I’m in it, learning and making mistakes and asking questions and trying again. My introduction to birthwork was like that: it was unexpected and HARD and I had no idea what I was doing, but I wasn’t running away from that challenge. And here I am still, following my heart deeper into that challenge.

Hey there, my name is Claire. I am a healthcare social worker/community health worker by day and now a birthworker in training by night (and morning and on the train ride to work, if we’re being honest). I live in Boston, Massachusetts with my partner and our sweet doggo. Read: I’m often training to the melodious sound of squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak of whatever toy is the favorite that week. I’m a sister, a daughter, a granddaughter, a friend, a partner, and my people mean the world to me.

The Doula Calling

But back to the part about how I got here. I recently completed a year of service with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps where I was working as a medical case manager in a program serving refugee single mothers and their families. I could’ve ended up anywhere in the country doing just about anything, and I ended up there. My caseload was so dependent on who was arriving, and I worked almost exclusively with pregnant, birthing, and newly postpartum women. There’s no way all of that was just a coincidence.

There were joyful parts – what I liked to call playing “new baby Santa Claus” – where I got to deliver brand new strollers and car seats and baby clothes (see picture). I’ve held newborn babies and seen them take their first steps. I’ve held a sweet baby girl named after me. I’ve gotten to be a cheerleader.

The Challenges around Birth and Prenatal Care

But there were also challenges – I was accompanying moms who had received little to no prenatal care overseas, much less the kind the American healthcare system provides. I walked through the really challenging decision of whether or not to move forward with an amniocentesis with a mom who had never been introduced to the concept of DNA. I held a mom who lost both of her twins to complications of preterm labor. I accompanied another mom through many NICU meetings. And I witnessed what it’s like to try to navigate this crazy unjust system that has been created around birth.

Finding Bebo Mia

My heart absolutely lights up in the beauty and sacredness of this work, no matter how messy and hard it is. I can’t get enough of it. But moving out of a full-time volunteer position, I needed some financial support to continue this journey. Bebo mia came through in a huge way for me. I am honored to be in this space with so many amazing and passionate lovers and healers. We’ve got a huge mountain to climb bringing equity to the perinatal space, but bebo mia has created the kind of community and support possible to start that climb.

“An act of falling in love”

There’s this beautiful Pedro Arrupe quote that says it all for me: “Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.” That’s what this is to me, an act of falling in love.

In the spirit of the scholarship I was so honored to receive, I’m ready to embrace generosity and work to empower the community of refugee mommas that is so near and dear to my heart. Let this crazy awesome adventure begin…

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Congratulations, Claire! Your passion and dedication shine through every step of your journey, from serving refugee mothers as a healthcare social worker to diving into birthwork with Bebo Mia’s support. You’ve faced both the joys and challenges of this calling—celebrating precious milestones, navigating tough medical choices, and witnessing firsthand the inequalities in maternal care. Your commitment to helping these mothers is both inspiring and deeply compassionate. Here’s to this next chapter, bringing love, equity, and support to a community you cherish. Your heart and spirit will undoubtedly make a meaningful impact!

The Bebobabes 💕