Hi, I’m Sadie!
I am a doula, a prenatal yoga teacher, an artist, and a reproductive heath advocate.
My path to becoming a doula was not a straight one, but when I arrived I felt that I was home. With the first birth that I supported I knew I had found my calling, I felt it in my bones and in my soul that I had finally found my heart’s calling.
For years I had been curious about working with women in birth, but life with it’s twists and turns took me in other directions. After earning a degree at UBC in visual arts, I went on to take my 200-hour yoga teacher training. I have enjoyed teaching since then.
Finally in the summer 2014 I enrolled in my first doula training with Wise Woman Way of Birth (Gloria Lemay.).
I was enthralled, cracked right open, even. At this time I had just finished reading “Birth-the surprising history of how we were born” by Tina Cassidy, and a fire was growing in me that couldn’t be quenched. I went on to take a Sacred Pregnancy Teacher Training, and in the spring of 2015 I helped to facilitate another SP training on Vancouver Island. By this time I had discovered that I was pregnant with my first child, and along with continuing my work and studies as a doula, I was also becoming a mother.
In the spring of 2017 my family and I took off on a journey so that I could take more courses. I landed in NY so that I could take the Prenatal Yoga Center’s Teacher Training as well as another doula training (A full spectrum doula training) in Brooklyn with Ancient Song doula services.
Again, my mind and heart expanded. Through the yoga training, which delved deep into birth/body preparation and the birth experience, it helped me to understand the pregnant body even better. It taught how to recognize signs of mal-positioning and the tricks of working with a birthing woman’s body for an optimal fetal position and birth, I went on to take a Spinning babies at a workshop in Surry BC Nov of 2017. Which was Fabulous!
As I am moved to explore the potential magnitude of this time in a woman’s life, I feel the call to work with women through their pregnancy and birth. I am passionate about Women’s rights, Conscious Birthing and Informed Consent.
And then there was the full spectrum training. Wow! What a whole other world birth can be for a Woman of Color. The Ancient Song Doula training was in NY, and it focused on the disparities endured by Black Women in the U.S. I know that the challenges they face there are similar to what our Indigenous, Immigrant, and low-income women face here: they don’t always receive the same level of care in the medical system. As a doula, I can act as an advocate for my client to aid in making their hospital experience a better one.
If you find me early on in your pregnancy, great! I believe that preparation can never start too soon. Heck, find me pre-conception and I’ll help you make a plan. In the time leading up to your birth I will assist you in creating a birth plan, show you safe exercises and postures to help strengthen your mind and body in preparation for birth and beyond.
It is in my nature to offer help where I can, to look for solutions, or to offer nurturing and care. I love helping people move forward to achieve their goals and make life changes. And, being a witness to this supreme experience is truly an honour.
So this is what I do now. I am a doula, and I love it.
Love,
