The birth of my miracle baby, my SUN was a rebirth for me.
Rebirthing my dreams that I’d allowed to drift away.
Reminding me of how powerful, wise & capable I am.
Reigniting a fire in my soul to be apart of the fight to change the maternal mortality rate in Georgia.
I was born to be a birthworker. It’s in my DNA. I give honor and thanks to my ancestors who were midwives before colonization, “community midwives” or “granny midwives” in Georgia. Edith Cowart, I give thanks to you for paving the way for me.
I remember as a child, I would watch “A Baby Story” on TLC/Discovery faithful. I remember seeing all kinds of births, and learning about newborn care. I remember learning to test the water temperature for newborns with your elbow, and to shake a bottle on your forearm to ensure it wasn’t too hot after boiling. (My have things changed.)
My natural calling to the birth world, plus my love for serving others joined forces in high school and I decided that I would go to nursing school to become a women’s health nurse practitioner. I said wanted to open a clinic for low income women and girls to have access to care from a provider that looked like them. (I get goosebumps when I think about how intuitive young Raven was! I love her drive and belief in herself.)
So what happened? Why am I here today embarking on a doula journey?
Well, life.. Somewhere along the way- I stopped believing that I was capable of opening my own practice. After being diagnosed with infertility, I felt like I had nothing to offer to the birth world. I heard the statistics. I felt a burning in my soul, I knew I was created to do something to change the statistics surrounding maternal mortality and breastfeeding here in Georgia. But, I kept hearing negative talk like “if you havent birthed a child or breastfed.. you can’t relate.” So, I grew discouraged. I felt that this way was just another thing that infertility had robbed of me. Little did I know that God would use a diagnosis of infertility to bring me back to what he created me to do.
I once read that all healers have to heal themselves first.
It was my journey of holistic healing myself that brought me to my Obgyn.
My Obgyn then introduced me to the term doula when she asked if I had found mine yet.
She also introduced me to the birth worker who trained me, talk about divine connections!!
When I researched what a doula was, I instantly knew that this was the path for me. I started planning my own journey to become a doula even before I found my own doula. I knew that this was how I wanted to support women, holistically. I wanted to walk with them , educate them and be hands on. I’d grown frustrated with the way hospitals were/are … but that another story for another day.
After my own birth & postpartum experience with my doula, it was confirmed- this was the path for me.
I naturally started being a “doula” for those closest to me, and using my social media platform to educate and advocate for all things health, birth and natural parenting.
It’s my own journey that has made me the holistic birth worker that I am. (Of course my amazing training from Omorose Blessings helped too!)
I am grateful that I get to hold space for all of the women and families that I have and will serve as Raye, the Doula!
Peace, Love & Blessings
