Sweet Beginnings Birth Services, LLC

11/07/2025

You don’t say! Birth workers have been trying to make this argument for quite some time now.

Decades of research have shown that round-the-clock fetal monitoring does not reliably predict fetal distress, and experts say it leads to many unnecessary surgeries. But it’s still used in nearly every birth in the U.S. because of business and legal concerns, a New York Times investigation found. https://nyti.ms/3WF7yLx

08/23/2025

This is all gold ✨

02/25/2025

New info on Vitamin K

02/07/2025

The double hip squeeze. 🤌🏻

This dad and I spent hours taking turns giving this mama the hip squeezes and sacral pressure she needed to work through her labor.

My favorite part of being a doula is probably witnessing how beautifully husbands support their wives as they go through the motions of labor and birth. It’s intense and just dang hard sometimes.

He isn’t feeling any of it himself, but he’s so connected to her by the love that he has for her. His hands find just the right place to give counter pressure, and his words are just the emotional support she needs to get through the next wave of intensity.

What a joy to witness this journey as they work together to welcome in a new member of their family.

Congratulations to this beautiful family on baby H. 🤍

12/17/2024

Walk into a room while I am supporting a birth and you might think that I am just sitting there doing nothing. I won’t be talking. I won’t be touching the client. I won’t be using anything in my bag.

So what am I doing exactly?

🪑 Watching mom’s breathing and sometimes breathing loudly alongside her to remind her to slow down her breath

🪑 Scanning mom’s body during the contraction to make sure that she isn’t holding any tension

🪑 Monitoring the temperature and lighting to create the peaceful environment that she desires

🪑 Calculating how long it has been since she emptied her bladder

🪑 Thinking about how long she has been in her current position and thinking about the next position that she might try

🪑 Timing contractions to see if they are longer, stronger and closer together

🪑 Thinking about when mom and her partner last had a snack

🪑 Reviewing her preferences to make sure that everything is going according to her plan

🪑 Giving the couple space to connect on an intimate level (allowing for oxytocin) and/or guiding the partner to be the lead support

🪑 Updating notes and capturing labor flow

Sometimes just being fully present is enough. Sometimes just knowing I am there in close proximity is all mom needs to be able to relax and focus on what she needs to do. Sometimes just holding space for them in an unbiased manner allows for a noticeable shift in the energy of the room.

And the list goes on….

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08/30/2024

Homebirth! 🥰
It’s about so much more than just birthing your baby at home (although that is the bomb).
It’s about the way the parents are both treated and loved and supported…how the baby is treated and loved and supported as needed.

This homebirth was filled with joy (as you can see on mom and dad’s faces). There was so much calm as her early labor shifted into active labor. Her own mom fed us delicious food while tending to the older girls. Her midwives and I watched her and made suggestions as she asked for them. But ultimately she was so in touch with her baby and her body as she made her way through the dance of labor.

I watch her strength as she makes space to bring her sweet baby into the world. I am never not amazed by the power of moms giving birth. I watch her husband come closer and provide that beautiful, strong support we need at the end.

New life. A growing family. A beautiful story unfolding in the master bedroom while the other kids play in the room over.

Homebirth is trust and power and life-changing. It’s extraordinary, but also just another ordinary day where your family grows by one within the walls of your own home.

It’s saying yes and no where you feel led, while having that decision honored and respected. It’s eating your own food, moving as your heart desires, and having authority over your birth choices.

It’s having strong, wise women at your feet who know when to sit on their hands and when to act. It’s cuddling your newborn immediately, birthing your placenta when your body is ready, and weighing your own baby when it’s time.

There’s really nothing like it 🤍

01/01/2024

2023 was the year that Sweet Beginnings Birth Services fiiinallyyy got off the ground here in VA after taking a total of 16 months off from the end of my own pregnancy + Eden’s first year of life.

In just 5 months of working for the year, I attended 7 births, taught 1 childbirth education course, and encapsulated 4 placentas. ✨

I supported TWO amazing VBAC moms (one VBA2C), had NO cesareans 🙌🏻 had two third-time moms, four second-time moms, and one first-time mom. These amazing mommas gave birth at hospitals all around the area as well as one birth center.

It was such a beautiful way to return back to my calling after such a long time off. I prayed so much for all of these moms, and for God to equip me to support them all individually in the way they needed.

I don’t take for granted being invited into such a sacred and special place.

THANK YOU to all of the beautiful strong women who allowed me at your birth..who opened up your hearts and homes to me in your pregnancy as we talked over your desires and your fears..who felt comfortable enough with me to be vulnerable, and who trusted me as I gave gentle advice in your birth journey. You are amazing.

Some of my favorite memories from this year are- birth clients who became friends, watching all the moms who said “I can’t” prove themselves wrong, selfies with some awesome dads during and after the birth, attending a birth with my OWN midwife🥰, watching a dad catch his own baby, and okay this part could be a book because it was all great!

Happy New Year!!
Go have fun with your spouse and call me in a few months 😉

12/06/2023

If we could make this the norm 🙌🏻 (or at least more accessible).
When my 2nd baby was born via cesarean, I remember feeling so detached from her birth, and it took me much longer to bond with her. I think a lot of moms can relate to this. Having this chance to be an active part of your cesarean birth could help mothers bond with their babies much faster. ❤️

11/22/2023

Letting your baby choose their birthday is one of the healthiest things you can do for them! They are wiser than we give them credit for 💚

11/12/2023

Birth is beautiful ⭐️💫🌌🪐

She birthed a galaxy

😍

Spectacular image of the beauty of birth 💗

Reposted from .birthphotography

💫 Galaxy Babe💫

I have been asked if I photoshopped the pool around mom and baby. I am flattered that some think I can do this with photoshop but I have never used it before. This is a birth tub with a rope light that was white/blue/purple. The combination of blood and after birth made the pool like the galaxy. I remember pointing it out to everyone in the room as well. I thought it was so beautiful! I stood up on my handy dandy step stool that I take to all my births and took this photo. I blacked out the background as well as the top of the blue pool to make it look like they were floating in space.✨

Mother Wolf with

11/02/2023

Birth work is heart work.

You couldn’t possibly do this work “just for the money.”

Having a business is beautiful, but it’s about so much more than that.

Sitting with women in their most vulnerable moments. Leaving your family for an unknown amount of time, every time. Lost sleep. Missed birthdays, anniversaries, holidays…

Carrying the trauma of someone else’s birth, or, witnessing the most beautiful transition to motherhood…every woman leaves an imprint on our hearts.

This work is emotional and physical. It is exhausting and exhilarating. It is beautiful and sometimes devastating.

But I could not imagine doing anything else. A wise midwife said recently that “birth work is a calling of the divine.” And I think that sums it up beautifully.

There is no place I’d rather be than walking beside a woman in the hard yet beautiful space of birth. Watching her become a mother and witnessing her strength.

It could never be about the money or “business”…it is about the mother. It is about the calling God put on my heart to walk with them in this sacred time. And I am eternally grateful for every mother who allows me to walk beside her on this journey. 🤍

10/22/2023

POV : your doula reminded you to ask about catching your own baby 🙌🏻

Thank God for supportive hospital environments that make these beautiful moments happen. This dad was hands-on the whole labor and birth and it was beautiful to watch!

He will remember this moment for the rest of his life and it was an honor to be there to witness it.

My number one goal is supporting the mom, but I always remind couples that I’m there for dad too! It is his story too.

*shared with permission*