What brought me to Birth Work

Written by Meg Kant

From Personal Struggles to Birth Work

I was called to birth work from my own experience. I wanted to be the support that I didn’t have during my pregnancy and labour with my oldest son.  During that pregnancy, I was diagnosed with severe antenatal depression and anxiety, and during labour, my anxiety seemed to heighten even more. 

I laboured at home for almost 24 hours before going into the hospital to meet with my midwife. I had terrible back labour and was in so much pain. When I arrived at the hospital I was beyond discouraged to hear “you are only 3 cm dilated”. It felt like a punch to the gut.  

Unexpected Labor Support: My Journey

At this point in labour, I thought my midwife was going to provide some non-medical support. I expected her to provide comfort measure options, position changes, and wipe away my tears. But that didn’t happen. My husband and I were left to navigate the first stage of labour mostly alone.

A couple of hours after being admitted to the hospital I chose to get an epidural, and my son was born within the hour of the epidural being placed (this is an important point that I will expand on in a minute).

Discovering Birth Support Beyond Medical Care

After delivery I found myself feeling disappointed about my birth experience. I had envisioned a certain level of support from my midwife and was confused that she didn’t help me more.

I didn’t fully understand at the time that a midwife’s primary job is as a medical provider. They are responsible for the health and well-being of the birther and their baby.  But I was left wondering if midwives aren’t always able to provide that deep level of support then who does? 

Enter birth work (aka doula support). 

Becoming a Doula with Passion and Purpose

As soon as I heard about what a doula does everything clicked. It was like a full-body experience of YES, OF COURSE! THIS IS WHAT I AM SUPPOSED TO DO. I wanted to be the support I didn’t have and provide physical, emotional and information support for people during pregnancy, labour and postpartum.

I signed up for a webinar with bebo mia that night and started my doula program immediately. 

Understanding Labor’s Complexity

Going through the MSP program I learned so much, and I found things start to click into place in understanding my birth more.  One thing that I found particularly impactful was learning about the influence that stress can have on labour progression.

Learning how the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system can influence labour was like having a light bulb moment. No wonder my labour was so long, hard and uncomfortable. My sympathetic nervous system was activated, and I was in fight or flight mode.

I learned your body cannot relax when it is in that state, which can cause labour to slow down (among other things). This is why getting the epidural was helpful for me, it gave my body the chance to relax and progress more optimally. Learning this brought me so much comfort. 

Launched my doula business:

It has been over 7 years since I started this journey. I launched a doula business and grew it into a multi-disciplinary team with a therapist, another doula, and infant sleep education. It grew into a community bigger than I could have ever imagined. 

I think about the woman I was 7 years ago, and all the things I hoped would come from this journey, and I can genuinely say that it turned into something more beautiful than I ever could have dreamed of. 

What drew you to birth work? Have you always felt drawn to birth work? Feel free to share in the comments.

what brought me to birth work

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Xoxo,