I am Betty. I have been married since January 1993 to my best friend Manny. We are blessed with five beautiful children. My journey in becoming a doula started with
the powerful birth experiences I had with each of our five children,
who were born naturally. Each birth was unique. Each labor was
different from each other, in terms of the length, intensity, and how I coped with these "birthing embraces" (contractions). The common factor in all those births was the love and support I got from my husband Manny, who was my constant companion and
encourager all throughout my pregnancy, especially in labor and birth. He has been my "doula", who helped me go up to the end and be focused on my goal of having a
natural birth. We were a team...Manny, myself and our baby...in each of my birthing experience. Truly, birthing is a blessing. I am blessed and appointed by God to be a co-creator of this miracle of life within me!
As a woman, I felt I was a
totally different person after each birth. It is true that you can
almost do anything in life after giving birth to a child. I would say
the agonies and ecstasies I have experienced in pregnancy,
labor and birth have inspired me to pursue my studies as a Birth Doula
...In my first four pregnancies, Manny was my labor coach...In my last
pregnancy, he transformed into a gentle and supportive
companion...who respected me in how I wanted my labor to be...I was
empowered the most in my 5th pregnancy,
since this was after I finished my Doula certification. Here, there
were no particular techniques followed... I simply trusted my body’s natural ability to give birth. I would say I saw myself birthing instinctively. I can attribute this to my holistic preparation of myself for this birth...preparing my heart, my mind, body and
spirit. I found myself visualizing my birth through my daily prayer and meditation. I tried to have a healthy diet and lifestyle...also working out and preparing my body through exercises..I had counselling and spiritual direction. We even had a special time as a family to prepare ourselves for this new phase in our life. I guess these all helped me have an engaging and instinctive birth experience.
After
my studies, I thought that I would simply teach and coach women to
give birth. I opened myself where God will lead me in my desire to
help women experience joy and fulfillment in the births of their
children...no matter what type of birth it may be...medicated
or non-medicated.
I
started teaching women as a volunteer in a pregnancy crisis center.
I then moved to facilitating childbirth preparation classes
together with my husband Manny.. However, I found myself wondering
whether I was truly helping them since I simply taught them in a
class or spoke to them individually. I was not around when they
were in labor and birth.
Then
I was led to this beautiful place, Shiphrah Bahay Paanakan in Taytay, a birthing home where pregnant
women are cared for with the dignity and respect that every pregnant
woman deserves. It is a center catering to the underpriveleged pregnant women. I experienced working with
midwives as part of the birthing team, as a doula. I am privileged to witness natural births taking place. This
time, .I am the one learning not only from the midwives but
especially from the mothers, who trusted their womanly instincts to
give birth. To this day, I see these miracles of birth unfolding
before my eyes. At the end of a birth, I am blessed, recharged, and empowered to go on with my passion of caring for women.
I have experienced accompanying women in both medicated and
unmedicated births. I see my role especially not only in
the births but also in my postnatal visit to my clients. I see the
need to listen to them on how they are after the birth. I
recall with them the memories of the labor and birth..and try to
integrate the experiences we had together, to mirror back to her what
has transpired, what was good and challenging in the experience. The
emotional support for me is essential as she moves on to motherhood.
What’s important is women are supported, cared for, listened to,
encouraged to focus on how and what they want their births to be.
Women, by nature, are wise and courageous. She just needs the right birth environment and support for her to have a satisfying birth experience whatever the outcome of her birth. As long as she calls the shots, or has the say, through making informed choices and simply trusting her body's capability to give birth,she will experience a transformational birth...the birth of not only her baby, but her birth as a mother.
