Description: Discover Emily’s journey from loss to empowerment and why she founded Boundless Birth, a full-spectrum doula agency offering birth and postpartum support in Pittsburgh.
My Journey to Becoming a Doula
I’ve been a doula for 8 years now, and every time I walk into a labor room, I remind myself to remain humble because inevitably, I will learn something new before I leave. Something about myself, about birth, or about babies.
Will this birth require a lot of hands-on comfort, sacral pressure, massage, coaching, visualization through each contraction, swaying, rocking, breathing? Maybe baby will be a little wonky and we’ll be switching positions often, hands and knees, belly sifting, trying inversions, or nipple stimulation to encourage baby to move down? Or will this be a hands-off kind of birth, staying in the background, quietly delivering water, adjusting lights, and offering gentle reminders to breathe and use the bathroom?
Will this be a battle of wills with staff or providers because of the client’s preferences? Or will I be the one keeping family members calm in the waiting room? There are so many different types of births, clients, providers, nurses, and families and I love learning something new from each of them.
From My First Birth to Founding Boundless Birth
Hi, I’m Emily. I founded Boundless Birth Doulas in Pittsburgh back in 2020 with my former partner Anna, after working at another agency for three years. My path to birthwork started after having my first child, Ellington, in 2017.
I had always known I wanted kids. Shortly after getting married, my husband at the time and I decided to start trying right away. After about a year, we learned my body wasn’t ovulating the way it was “supposed” to. Luckily, the medication I was prescribed worked quickly, and I was pregnant the very next month.
I’ll never forget seeing those two pink lines; I felt like I had my child’s entire life planned out in that moment. We didn’t plan to keep it a secret, so as the weeks went by, we shared the news with friends and family.
Experiencing Loss
At 13 weeks, we had our first midwife appointment, but she couldn’t find the heartbeat. She wasn’t overly concerned and thought maybe my dates were off. She sent us for an ultrasound, and I wasn’t worried, I was just excited to see the baby.
Unfortunately, a few hours later we found out there was no baby. I had experienced a missed miscarriage. My body was still experiencing pregnancy symptoms, but I was no longer pregnant. The midwives gave me two weeks to see if I could pass the tissue naturally, but eventually I needed a D&C at 15 weeks.
I was completely heartbroken. It took me many weeks to mourn the loss of that baby.
A Healthy Pregnancy and a New Twist
When we were ready to try again, I was lucky to get pregnant quickly. At 12 weeks, we finally heard the heartbeat, and the pregnancy was healthy and wonderful. I planned an unmedicated birth center birth with my husband and my mom as my support team.
Then the itching started. I was diagnosed with Cholestasis of Pregnancy, which requires induction at or before 37 weeks due to the increased risk of stillbirth. That meant my dream of a birth center birth was no longer possible; I had to deliver in the hospital.
I was devastated. I cried, I got angry, I tried to negotiate with my midwives, and I cried some more. Eventually, I made peace with what had to happen. Was I happy walking into Mercy Hospital at 10 p.m. for my induction? Nope. But I made the best of it.
And you know what? I had an amazing birth. I felt seen, heard, and supported. I still had the lowest-intervention, unmedicated birth I could have hoped for.
For anyone reading this who wants to go unmedicated but has to be induced: you can do it. I went on to do it two more times. I have since divorced and have an 8 year old son (Ellington), a 6 year old son (Bowie), a three year old daughter (Joni), a dog (Harry), two cats (Harper & Truman) and live in Bellevue, Pa.
Why I Chose to Become a Doula
My first birth taught me that no matter the twists and turns, the people you choose to support you, your providers and your birth team, make all the difference. That’s what inspired me to become a doula. I wanted to help people feel about their births the way I feel about mine: supported, empowered, and cared for.
Within a few months of having my first baby, I trained as both a childbirth educator and a doula. Since then, I’ve supported hundreds of families in Pittsburgh.
What started as a small partnership has now grown into Boundless Birth Doulas, a full-spectrum doula agency offering:
- Birth doula support
- Postpartum doula care
- A variety of educational options including Childbirth, Breastfeeding, Infant care
- Compassionate, evidence-based, and holistic care
Every Birth Matters
Every family deserves support, no matter what path their birth takes. That’s the heart of what we do at Boundless Birth Doulas of Pittsburgh.
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