As a young girl, no matter the setting, you would find me where the babies were... holding them, caring for them, feeding them, you name it. I am, and have always been, a nurturer at heart.
I naturally spent my younger years babysitting, providing childcare in daycare settings, and working as a nanny. I found such joy and gratification in the strong bonds I formed with the families I worked with. As time passed, my desire to build these connections never once faded, it simply transformed and grew stronger.
In my early years working as a nurse, I cared for mothers and their babies through a wonderful home-health nurse visiting program - Nurse Family Partnership. NFP is dedicated to empowering first time mothers to transform their lives and create a better future for themselves and their babies.
I spent my days helping women find confidence in their new role as a mother, through providing encouragement and education, and nourishing their relationship with their innate motherly instincts. Another part of my role was to help my clients identify, set and prioritize attainable goals that would support them in creating the life they desired for themselves. I encouraged my clients to advocate for themselves within healthcare systems, taught them how to utilize resources that were available to them, and supported them in working towards finding a healthy balance for themselves in life. During my time working as a home visiting nurse, I became certified as a Lactation Counselor, and began offering mothers breastfeeding support as well. It was through this rewarding work experience that my passion for supporting mothers in the postpartum period was awakened.
Upon relocating to Bozeman, I landed a dream job of mine: working alongside a team of midwives at The Bozeman Birth Center. I had originally attended nursing school with the plan of becoming a nurse midwife one day, so I was very eager to finally get to dive into birth work. To care for and tend to women and their families during their intimate childbirth experiences was an absolute honor.
Although I adored the days of being with women as they brought life into the world, once I became a mother myself, navigating the unknown and unpredictable schedule of birth work became very challenging for me. I do still attend births from time to time, when life allows for it - however, I primarily work with women in the prenatal and postpartum periods. One day, when my children are in more independent stages of life, I would love to venture back into offering birth support more often!
Once we welcomed our daughter, Ayla, into our lives, I began my own postpartum doula business. With a new-found and deeper understanding of what my clients were traversing through, my work became even more meaningful and important to me.
After I began processing my own journey into motherhood through therapy, I started to really understand just how vast this transition is. With all of the experience I had as a nurse and doula, I had expected my entrance into motherhood to be a somewhat smooth transition. Instead, I was greatly humbled by the intense initiation I found myself in.
I was not at all prepared for the deep emotional work that arose for me! The loss of my identity, the grieving of my maiden-self, the unresolved marital conflict that only became louder, the general overwhelm I felt, the feelings of isolation, the unexpected rage that came to the surface, the struggle I faced to even take care of my basic needs, and so on.
I had no idea that I would be undergoing such a massive transformation in those first several years of motherhood. Now that seven years have passed, I feel that I have finally fully embodied and stepped into myself as a mother. I now have an even greater passion and dedication to supporting women as they explore the own inner workings of their personal journey into motherhood.
I find such fulfillment in helping women explore the inner work that confronts us as our children grow and continue to test us. I believe in using our trigger points as teachers, and cannot stress enough the importance of getting curious about what lies beneath it all. Through carefully digging into this myself, I was able to identify my own core wounds from childhood that were unknowingly playing a role in how I was showing up for my children.
Witnessing a woman embody the mother that lives within her heart is everything to me! Women deserve to be seen, tended to, and deeply cared for during this wildly transformative time in their lives. It is a true honor to walk alongside women as they navigate their own personal transformations from maiden to mother.
With Bachelor's Degrees in both Nursing & Psychology, paired with my own personal experience as a mother, I am able to bring a heartfelt and professional aspect to postpartum care.
Thank you for reading along on my personal story. I will be sharing more in depth on my podcast, and if you do feel called to work one on one with me, please reach out! I would be honored to walk alongside you as you embark on and integrate your sacred transition into motherhood.
**NOTE: Although I am not actively working as a Registered Nurse, I do keep my license current through continuing education. My Certified Lactation Counselor certification is renewed every three years, through attaining 18 hours of continuing education on current evidence based practice.