It was the winter of 1982, in a class called Life after High School when Lally Stowell, my teacher at Watertown High School, had two young midwives to come in as guest speakers- Valerie Hodenius and Trudy Cox. They told us all about their profession, what it entailed and the philosophy behind it. As they spoke, a light went off over my head! What they said made so much sense! These were the answers to the questions I had been asking my mother since I was nine years old! Nothing had ever hit me like this before! This is what I wanted to do! How could I have gone so long without ever knowing this was an option! I soon found myself reading everything I could on the subject. I changed my schedule for senior year adding biology classes in hopes that I would be able to get into nursing school. In the spring of 1984 I was accepted into UMass Boston's nursing school.

My fascination with babies didn't end there and soon I found myself pregnant(not at all a surprise!) All thoughts of college got put on hold, for now. I was having a baby and I couldn't have been happier! School could wait a year or two, now was time for planning the birth of my child. I got a job as a teacher at a The Children's Corner in Watertown and began my new life. My first prenatal was with an antiquated obstetrician who didn't see eye to eye with me on anything. I very succinctly told him what my plans and desires were for this birth and said I would not be using him again! I knew I wanted a to deliver with a midwife, someone with similar thoughts and values as I had and would respect my decisions and desires. I called Valerie Hodenius at the newly opened Midwifery practice at Mount Auburn Hospital and made my first appointment with her.

That August day in 1984, Valerie saw a "pimply faced little teenager" (as she later put it) walk into her office. As she spoke of all different aspects of pregnancy, I kept piping in with "I read about that" and went on to say all I knew. She was duly impressed. At the end of the visit, she said to me "Well! You know more about your body than most 40 year old women!" Valerie and I had already begun forming a bond. In March of 1985, a month before my 19th birthday, my daughter Caty was born. Her labor started at 4:20AM and she came at 8:40PM. I was determined to have a natural birth, and I did! I used no drugs, I needed no episiotomy and I did not tear. It was a wonderful experience-empowering and beautiful! Valerie was with me the whole time, as well as a wonderful woman who worked for her, Melissa Apperson. Although the word "doula" hadn't been coined yet, Melissa was my doula. I know that Valerie and Melissa's loving guidance and support, as well as my hunger for a natural birth was what allowed me to have such a wonderful experience.

Valerie's support didn't end there, over the next few years she was an infinite source of knowledge. A couple times, she called me when newspapers and television programs wanted to interview parents who had chosen midwives. She was my staunchest supporter and often said "just because someone is a young mother, doesn't make them a bad mother!" She had so much faith in my ability to be a good parent. I stayed at home with Caty until she was one and a half and then I returned to work at the Children’s Corner. When Caty was a little older she joined me down there and we would go to work together. In the spring of 1987 I began to notice moms with two kids more and more. I was time to have another baby and soon I was pregnant with my son Jeff. Jeff was born in February 1988. I went into labor with him at 2:30am and delivered him five hours later. Once again with an all natural delivery with Valerie!

As soon as Jeff was born, I set to work getting licensed as a family daycare provider. Within less than four months of my son's birth I was licensed getting new kids! For the next six years I thoroughly enjoyed doing this work. I had a great group of kids, most of which stayed with me for years. When all the kids began to go off to kindergarten, I decided it was time for me to go back to school too. Nursing school at this time was just beyond my reach, so I found a program with a similar course load, “Biotechnology”. I went to school in the mornings while the kids were away and still operated the daycare in the afternoons. In June of 1994 I graduated from Aquinas College. The day of my finals, I had a job interview with a little upstart company called GelTex. I immediately got hired, and the pay and benefits were too good to pass up. A few weeks later I closed my daycare and became a “working mother”. My career in science was born.

I had a lot of fun in the early days working there. It was a high energy company, with a lot of wonderful scientists. I learned so much from working there and made many new friends. I stayed at GelTex (which later got acquired by Genzyme) for the next 11 years. The newness of the experience wore off over the years and the high energy slowed to a crawl. I was good at my job, but science was not my calling and the corporate life was not for me either. The dreams of midwifery seemed so far back now I didn't feel they would ever come true. I began to look for answers. Its pretty incredible when you ask with an open heart, the Universe answers pretty quickly!

On Halloween 2003 I heard the word “doula” for the first time. How did I go all these years without knowing doulas existed? Do you actually mean I can do this -NOW? I was in awe as my friend Kathryn Lally told me all about doulas! The next day I found DONA and I ordered the certification packet. I immediately got to work. Nine months after the first time I heard the word, I was a DONA Certified doula! And in another nine months I quit my day job to work exclusively as a doula! What started as a path to midwifery came full circle when I became a doula. I have added to my skills since becoming a doula. I attended Hands of Light, Midwifery School in 05-06, I become certified in HypnoBirthing through the HypnoBirthing institute in August 05 with Mickey (Marie) Mongan. I am reiki II certified by Janaki Clancy.

I once read that you cannot truly be a medicine woman until your children are grown and your focus shifts outward. With Caty living in Alston and Jeff in school in Aberdeen MD, finishing up his training as a United States Marine, they no longer need the attention they once did. Now I can take great joy in helping new mothers begin their journey.

I value the roll of the doula with a great respect. My desires to be in this field are as strong as they were sitting in that classroom in 1982. I feel as if I am finally home! To be able to serve women when they are both at their strongest and their most vulnerable is a great honor. It is one that I will not take lightly.