Slowing Down in this New Season

I have always found peace at the beach. The waves that crash upon the sand and recede, as predictable as time itself, bring reassurance in their steady rhythm. I have been drawn to the beach more this past month than usual. I think I’ve been pining for the beach in part as a refuge from the crazy nature of my work and the busy pace of summer vacationing. But I have also relished those times because they have been fleeting. I have longed to go to the beach, but I sadly have had to pass on it due to weather or work obligations more than expected.

I have found myself in a new season. It’s rather uncertain for me, as I am accustomed to going full throttle all the time. But my body, while strong for my age, is getting tired. It is feeling the pull to the beach for the relaxation and restoration it brings me, body and soul. My recovery time from births is taking longer, I require more recuperative sleep, and my joints don’t have as many hours of kneeling, squatting, and counter pressure as they did in my 30s and 40s. I want to continue serving clients in birth but to do so I must make changes to prevent burn out and to honor the needs of my aging body and the needs of my family.

I have started off my 2024 client bookings being very intentional about limiting the number of clients I am able support. I will only take 4 clients due in a month, which is still more than some doulas take. I will maintain availability for repeat clients without limit and am open to taking clients who have previously birthed. However, I will only have 2 of those spots each month for first-time parents. Truth be told, those are the births that take the longest and require much more support and recovery. My hope is by limiting the first-time birthing parents, I can serve them to the fullest while also allowing opportunity for physical and emotional recovery.

For this reason, it will be more important than ever for potential clients to reach out early in their pregnancy, and for me to have discernment in deciding which couples (and which providers) are the best fit for me. I have been blessed to book early for many years and anticipate the reduction in clients will continue that trend. We are blessed in Hampton Roads to have an amazing community of doulas and I will happily provide resources when I am contacted and unavailable to serve.

I look forward to this new season and hope that these changes will breathe new life in my body, my spirit and my resolve to serve birthing families so I can continue this work for many more years. I am forever grateful to the families who have trusted me in their intimate birth space these past 20 years and will continue to be honored by the invitation to serve at any births to come.