Doula Nana

08/29/2025

Reciprocity

The yin and yang of mutually listening cells.
Our soul intermingling with red blood cells,
Silently nurturing.
Spirits gone ahead as close as our breath,
Caressing heart valves,
Whispering hope to weary bones.
The laughter of entwined lovers across eons,
Somehow surprisingly mapping them back together in this time.
A newborn arriving with messages for her parents,
A knowing folded into her now gauzy gaze.
That heart dog you thought you rescued
Who slept by your bed every night
Until you began to heal from the divorce
And then crept wisely out to the hallway.
How to give back?
Perhaps take a lesson from science
Which has just informed us
Cells listen to each other
And can even change in response
In a kind of reciprocal noticing.

Of course!
Within this swirling wavelet energy body
We call home,
Does our paying attention
Mirror the unseen caring
We’ve been gifted?
Can our companionate presence
Not just return, but also enhance/intune
All that we truly see,
Making a spirit ladder,
Singing back to the Cosmos
The song of our souls
Returning life and joy back
Into all sentient beings:
Rocks, stars, puppies and plants,
All of us
Joined in an eternal circle
Of “being with,”
Of sensing each other, all alive in their own way,
Of giving and receiving,
Enlivening, nourishing, needing each other.

01/30/2025

Most of you know I closed down my doula practice last summer after 9+ years and 177 births! It was way beyond a job for me. It was the fruition of feeling a desire to help women have safe labors when I was a French teacher in Sierra Leone, then a real pull to midwifery as a young mom of 3 which sent me back to school to be a nurse. Twenty-nine years later, after retiring from a wonderfully satisfying career, I was doula’ing my youngest daughter via phone through her labor 500 miles away and it hit me I could be a doula and Doula Nana was born. My clients were thus the same age as my own two daughters, and I so often felt I was loving them through their labors as I did my oldest daughter with her two daughters here in town.
I’ll be shutting down this FB page but wanted to announce to those who didn’t know so my former clients can refer elsewhere. As the song says, “In my life, I’ve loved them (and you) more.” So please keep the baby, toddler, pre-school and school pics coming!

07/04/2024

This little guy was our flag bearer years ago. How is he already 11?? Enjoy your littles!

06/28/2024

It’s true, little buddy! As I wrap up my birth work, I’m suffused with memories of the past 9+ years and 177 births. I’ve loved working with couples teaching and laughing during prenatals, supporting every kind of labor, both in hospitals and in homes, being amazed at the beauty and strength of laboring women, the loving dedication of birth partners, and ultimately, acting as the welcoming committee for shiny new spirits. What holy ground I’ve walked on, what an honor to be invited into the intimacy of birth. I’ve come home exhausted, yet happy, but I’ve always had a good sense of timing, and I sense this chapter closing, only to move me toward more caring for my mom, more visits with grandkids and perhaps more poetry or writing about many of my life adventures.

06/26/2024

What a journey to see your sweet face! So many scary acronyms, anxious months, more testing, then singing to you, loving the roundness from outside, laughing with each other, finally your parents came expectantly to your long labor: Mommy working hard hour after hour, Daddy so present for every need, both wanting only your safety until you appeared with your rosebud mouth and your little body of perfection and, as you took
your first breath, they breathed with you with such relief. You have arrived, safe landing, welcomed with joy and kisses!

(Photo shared with permission as always.)

06/07/2024

Do you know about Mother Blessings? Each guest ends up with loops of twine around their wrist after pulling it around saying their ancestors’ names. “I am Connie, daughter of Maxine, daughter of Euphama, daughter of Viola.” All in the circle are connected like pearls on a string until each frees their twine. Looking at our wrists intermittently, we send the recipient good thoughts but especially when we hear she’s in labor. Once the baby is born, we cut the twine but are yet bound in a circle of love and caring for the mother and the new life.

05/27/2024

These pics make my day!! Another happy Doula Nana baby just grew into her onesie! (Shared with permission as always)

05/21/2024

Wow! That was some journey, Mommy, but this little hand was up by my face the whole time! Is that why it took so long for me to see your face and hear Daddy’s voice? It’s all good now ‘cause you’re holding on to me, I hear your heartbeat again and it feels safe out here. And the best part is I have two brothers at home, a lifetime of learning and fun ahead! I love my new life!

05/19/2024

What a sweet gathering of birth workers to honor Sarah and me for our work. As I wait for my next to last birth tonight, I’m filled with gratitude for the 176 times couples have welcomed me into their circles of love as they brought shiny new spirits through. Our birth community is especially open and supportive, one I’ve loved being a part of. And Sarah, my eternal backup and friend of my heart, I’ll continue to treasure. The last nine plus years have been the loveliest surprise, as I went into doula work not knowing how it would go or if women would even hire me since I was a retired nurse. I’ve given the work my all but it’s given back so much more to me in love and satisfaction, watching women surprise themselves with their amazing strength and love. Hoping to have more time to care for my mom, write some more, and see my four southern grandkids more often!

05/13/2024

This is old but great and the lady kinda looks like me, right?!

05/04/2024

Such a helpful article! Most of us have had babies in bed with us, especially if breast feeding. Here, reality meets science with some good advice.

For some parents, bed-sharing is the only way their baby can sleep. Rather than talking to parents about how to do it safely, we try to pretend it doesn’t exist

04/23/2024

Sharing all of it a few years ago! My son doing business with one twin while Mommy was caring for the other baby.