Sweet Peace Doula

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Abbotsford, BC
Sweet Peace Doula

Certified Birth Doula. Unbiased, compassionate care during the wildest ride of your life. Serving expecting familings in the Fraser Valley.

After binge-watching Call the Midwife at 19 years old, I stumbled upon my first doula training opportunity. Within less than a year I had my first birth and was hooked. Since then I has travelled all over, from studying Midwifery in Hawaii to helping deliver babies in the Philippines! Finally landing back in Canada to pursue doula work in British Colombia and now, here in KW after moving to Ontario. My passion for birth work was once again lit by the difficult birth of my son. I am most alive when helping others feel educated, cared for and empowered during their birth. When not attending a birth you can find me watercolour painting, canoeing, swimming with my son, or exploring a new coffee shop with my hubby!

03/31/2026

Here she is, Part 3 folks. I’m curious your thought on this one. To those of you following along this journey I am so grateful for your time and responses. For those catching up right now, I’ve decided to share my birth story, this part and the first and second are all linked in my bio 💜 a gentle reminder: my story isn’t rainbows and butterflies. This portion deals with some intense emotional and mental health struggles. Please take care of yourself first before reading.

This photo is proof of my late night blended oatmeal baths 👌🏼

03/20/2026

Buckle up folks, cause we’re getting down to the nitty gritty now. Feeling pretty vulnerable & yet like I’m shedding something heavy…and that feels good.

Please review the trigger warning below.
Link in the bio 💜

PLEASE NOTE: *Trigger Warning*

[ My birth story contains personally experienced and expressed pain, description of medical procedures through my POV. Medical trauma/birth emergency. Conversation around care and postpartum complications. Details about pain, discomfort and personal trauma will be shared. Please consider first and make a choice that is best for you and your well being. If you’ve yet to have a baby, I do not recommend reading. You deserve to read positive birth stories but of course the choice is still yours. My story is mine and is how my body interpreted what happened. ]

03/19/2026

PLEASE NOTE: *Trigger Warning*

[ My birth story contains personally experienced and expressed pain, description of medical procedures through my POV. Medical trauma/birth emergency. Conversation around care and postpartum complications. Details about pain, discomfort and personal trauma will be shared. Please consider this first and make a choice that is best for you and your well being. If you’ve yet to have a baby, I do not recommend reading. You deserve to read positive birth stories but of course the choice is still yours. My story is mine and is how my body interpreted what happened. ]

Hey friends, I’ve debated for many years on whether or not to share my birth story. In the past I’d offered snippets of insight. There are many reasons for why I did and then why some of those posts got deleted.

But in this moment, I’ve decided to document my lived experience as a way of letting it go. For some reason I am feeling compelled to share.

And honestly, I am really writing it for me. I have no expectation of you to read it. I am also unsure how long I’ll keep it up for others to access. And I will still be telling future clients to not read, or know details until after their own birth.

I often feel my birth story makes me feel as if I don’t belong in this space as a birth doula. My story doesn’t feel appropriate to share over coffee. In fact I often feel a little misplaced. My story made me feel like I’d failed not only at birth but at being a doula (somehow). Sharing here and now is my way of being vulnerable and coming up against those negative, false beliefs I’ve kept private in my head. And honestly, it feels lonely carrying such a monumental, life changing event tucked away because it’s too graphic to constantly relay “hey this thing happened to me and now I’m forever changed”.

I’m seeing this as letting the light shine in on what was once the darkest of times I’ve ever experienced. I hope you see and hear my heart. I no longer feel shame in my experience. You can’t fail at birth 🫶🏼

Love, Elisa
💜

Substack link in my bio

03/15/2026

Can I tell you about my Dad?

A little bit of a different post than my normal. But it’s apparently Long COVID Awareness Day. Our lives changed that first wave, just like everyone’s. But our COVID nightmare continues while most people have moved on. My Dad is an incredible human, who just so happens to also carry this invisible illness.

What came of that Spring in 2020 was a frantic family meeting, high emotions, and whoops….a positive pregnancy test! Yeah. I like to think Moses knew Papa needed a buddy & and a reason to keep going and decided to come along at the perfect time. At 18months old he would seem to “hold” Papa in return, gently patting his back.

Long COVID impacts individuals very differently. The range is just as odd and unpredictable as is the disease itself. But it changes capacity, energy, brain-focus, physical exertion to name a few. I say it’s invisible because there are no markers to suggest someone with Long COVID is suffering. But they are, if anything individuals with LC are drowning not just in the physical but the mental/emotional toll.

I’m sharing today because this awareness day gave my heart the opportunity to talk about our story. One that often feels forgotten, who wants to dwell on COVID anymore? The world healed. While the Long COVID community continues to hurt. It’s unfair to say the least. My heart goes out to the LC community.

In this photo my Dad and I are on a canoe trip, I’m 19! We floated on top of our life jackets in the warm Ontario lake water. Watched the annual August meteor shower sitting by the camp fire. Paddled under rainbows. It was an incredible trip.

Our camping trips might involve the trailer now. Less portaging and more chatting around the fire than before. But that’s my Dad, a quiet steady companion. A wonderful Papa who still plays and makes up activities and games on a bad day.

We are hoping and praying for further resources and potential cures as research continues. But it’s still a long road ahead, that’s very unknown. Tomorrow LC awareness day will end. But I hope you remember beyond just today. For just like we needed one another back then, those with LC need you still now.

03/13/2026

Doulas are like push up bras. There to hold a girl up and support you, but defs not to be the main character.

(Does anyone read captions anymore 😆)

02/02/2026

Perhaps it’s time I get Substack or blog instead 🤪 Writing has and will always be an escape for me.

If I could summarize this post I’d say…

An empowered birth is one where we are embodied. Embodiment comes with listening and making choices that are in alignment with our inner voice. Sometimes these decisions bring relief but also grief. Sometimes feeling at peace is simply the sensation of being grounded even while unexpected emotions swirl around you.

If you read through all 10 slides comment your fav emoji below 🫣 here’s mine 🦋

01/27/2026

A few days ago I asked for some submissions on how your baby showed themselves during your birth. It created some fun conversations in my DM’s!

Finding language to describe the significance of listening to our bodies during birth (and pregnancy, postpartum, parenting ect) is my new mission. When there are so many other voices buzzing around us, it can be hard to find our own in the midst of it all.

Our bodies don’t tell us in words, wouldn’t that be nice if it did! The answer may not even reflect your birth plan. But taking in the sensations you feel, is this creating a sense of peace in my body? Is my confusion, discouragement actually a warning bell within my system? + What your baby may be telling you with what they are or are not participating in. Are all arrows pointing you along the way, helping guide your decision making.

What are your thoughts? I always love creating discussion and hearing stories!

01/12/2026

“No one told me…”

This statement felt like someone holding my head under water after my first born. I was so angry that I was so oblivious to the “other side” of birth/medical trauma. It’s such a hard topic to navigate. Yet even those of us with “easier” experiences are not left completely unscathed. Birth leaves no one as it found them.

This swirling line around my body is a perfect imagine to how I am feeling these days. This post feels personal and yet I know I’m not alone. Perhaps it may seem odd hearing that these are the inner thoughts of a birth worker. It feels vulnerable for me as I’m not someone who entered or stayed doing doula work because of a personally empowering birth experience. But the reality is, healing is messy. This whole process is messy. And even though we feel confident to continue growing our family…

It’s. So. Messy.

So here I am, holding your hand and telling you my story so that you might feel less alone. So you won’t have to say “no one told me”.

What then is the answer here? What’s the solution. Where can we find hope? I’ve been in therapy for the past few years since my first born. Yet this is still my reality? (Yes. I’m only human!)

My most powerful tools are these = empathy & practising being present. It goes something like this…

To my body = “Yes. That is such a real fear. That was so scary. I’m so proud of you for enduring what you did to bring our baby here.”
To my mind = “Right now we need to focus on today. What’s for dinner? Should we colour with the kids or go for a walk? Let’s stop running ahead just yet. I know you want to process to keep us safe. But we are safe. And we are also not in control. And that is okay.”

Finding ways to connect with my body positively is healing my fractured sense of trust. Like a long hug with someone safe or working out, or the reward of nature on a walk. There are many ways we can offer ourselves respite besides counselling after birth/medical trauma.

I see you & I’m cheering you on,
💜 Elisa

11/30/2025

Just wanted to share a snap shot into my prenatal class Friday. Teaching has always brought me immense joy (my inner theatre kid on display maybe?).

Students got access to some awesome worksheets I’ve made such as my birth planning kit, epidural pros and cons and a hospital packing list.

Having this opportunity with has been so fun!!

11/01/2025

Dressed up as what I wanna be when I grow up!

Call the Midwife! (Sadly with the downpour I couldn’t take a pic with my bike 😭)

The show that started this while thing, that led me to research doing birth work. Happy Halloween everyone! 🎃

10/25/2025

Decided my stories needed a spot on the feed. This was while brain storming and editing some slides on maternal mental health as I had the honour to teach a prenatal class for 💜

Mental health will continue to be a big conversation on my socials because 1 in 5 will receive an official diagnosis of some form of postpartum mental illness. During COVID it was 1 in 3 and honestly since then & knowing how hard it is to get support or screen it could easily be more than 1 in 5.

You deserve to enjoy your postpartum & your baby. You deserve to bond with them and feel present in your body ✨

I’ve created a worksheet that provides you with the following:
• A personal reflection to do prior to baby’s arrival. To help you have a baseline to refer back to in the midst of the postpartum fog.
• Overview of the how and why the transition to motherhood brings about baby blues, big feelings and or overwhelm.
• A postpartum mental health check-in.
• Self care solutions that target your basic needs and can help you rise above a bad day or a hard few weeks.

Not all mental illness is avoidable. If you end up struggling with postpartum depression or anxiety, it’s not your fault. But I hope this worksheet offers you that lifeline to help you back to shore before you get dragged out into the deep (because some times we don’t realize we’re drowning).

Comment below and I’ll send you the document! Doulas, feel free to also receive this as a tool for your clients! (Soon I’ll figure out how to link it in my bio…)

As always, I’m cheering you on.
💜 Elisa

10/23/2025

Just like that, I’ve wrapped up my last birth of 2025.

A very special number, my 5️⃣0️⃣th birth! 🎉🥳

It’s taken me 11 years to reach such an accomplishment. For inbetween births I got married, moved across the country, survived COVID-lock downs, had two babies, endured postpartum after a rough first birth and a C-section for my second. I’ve always found my way back to birth, and I’m proud of that.

These last few deliveries I’ve felt my confidence increase. I’ve also begun to notice a positive impact from the hard work I’m doing in therapy on my own birth trauma. The healing I’m enduring is paying off and revealing to me that yes, if I work hard, birth work can still be sustainable for me.

I’m looking forward to being off call for the holidays. I can’t say when I’ll be opening my books to take on more clients, but I know this season is just pressing pause.

Feeling an incredible amount of gratitude for the 12 births I supported, 12 babies I witnessed say hello to the world, this year. I learned SO MUCH about the juggle of running my little business + family. I did the damn thing, I set out to take on 1-2 births a month while still being home with my kiddos. I learned what was possible and what was too much. It’s been messy but I’m proud of the lessons I pushed through. Anywho, I’m excited for whatever is next, but mostly excited for some rest.

Thanks for being here,
Elisa ✨
💜💜💜

Address

Abbotsford, BC

Website

http://www.sweetpeacedoula.com/

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