The hours and holidays and time away from our own families is one of the biggest hurdles for many birth workers. Outside of the logistics of childcare, the mental, physical, and emotional constraints of a life on call often lead to burn out among those whose passion is standing in the trenches with a family as they find their way through birth.
In all honesty, the prospects and possibilities of this reality have deterred me over the years in chasing my goals more fervently. I’ve slowly been working my way toward my dream, and have loved every step of the journey, but was nervous to more fully commit. But then I discovered Madeline Murray, CPM and founder of Believe in Midwifery. Madeline is fighting feverishly to bring sustainability to midwifery and birth work to decrease the work load as well as emotional load, and thereby decrease the turnover of great birth workers walking away from their passion.
Madeline changed the way I envisioned my goals, and gave me new ways of conceptualizing the possibilities for my future as a midwife as well as my present as a doula. Following her journey has brought birth workers into my awareness that show the attainability of working in partnership so that the beautiful load of birth work can be carried as a team. The end result is not only a more fulfilling career in birth work, but also better care for the families we serve.
I’m currently working out the details with a dear coworker and fellow birth advocate so that we can offer St. Louis area families a team approach to their doula care. Our birth philosophies are very similar, and I’m confident our clients will get the same great care and approach regardless of who they are supported by at birth. At the same time, her experiences and strengths compliment what I can offer and her passions help fill in the gaps of what I cannot.
As we are still working out the details, I will wait to reveal too much more. But I’m so excited for the prospects of what is to come and to be able to present a partnership care model for doula clients in the future!
In the meantime, check out Madeline Murray on IG @believeinmidwifery to learn more about the amazing work she is doing! And watch the Youtube video linked in her IG profile to see what sparked my resolve for sustainable birth work!
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