What was your original goal with PLD?
T: With Lynn and I having a background in social work/psychology, we really wanted to bring that model to doula care. There’s a high rate of turnover in the doula profession, many ‘new’ doulas are often women who, after experiencing the birth of their own children, feel drawn to birth work. Often when the realities of birth work or the glow of being around births wear off, those women drop off the doula scene. Lynn and I had both been professionally trained to work with difficult situations, diverse populations and as part of a service providing team with accountability to each other. We felt that by employing the model we were familiar with (regular meetings, sharing/feedback of case load, proper documentation, etc) that we could bring a level of professionalism to doula work that was unique to the area. I think it was a natural outcropping of our views on social justice and on feminism that we wanted to make sure we were including all women in our mission, not just the stereotypical middle class, white, married woman who was happily planning her pregnancy. I think the main things that really stood out for me in our drive to form this group were having a group of women who were tied together, not only by our work, but also as individuals. We wanted to have doulas that were as diverse as the population we hoped to serve. We wanted to develop ourselves personally and professionally by working with one another. We wanted to give back to the community by providing free or low-cost doula services to women who would otherwise never have a doula. We wanted to use our birth work as a form of advocacy on behalf of women and babies. And we wanted to do some things that we thought were a little outside of the norm in the area like offering full spectrum doula services and taking an extremely limited client load (so a woman is almost guaranteed her doula will be well rested for her birth, able to attend her birth and focused on her exclusively as her birthing time approaches).
L: Our first goal was to gain doula experience, as it was something we were both passionate about, and secondly to extend doula support to women who might not otherwise have it. Traci and I had both worked as staff doulas at a local hospital and knew that collaboration with other doulas was something we wanted, and that any rare opportunity in the hospital to work with a second doula was a learning experience, and a more enjoyable shift. We discussed the idea of a collective, with built-in backup services and several doulas with different personalities and experiences as an ideal. We also liked the idea of bringing in other areas of expertise to complement birth doula work — postpartum doulas, lactation specialists, those with specific areas of knowledge — that would create full spectrum support for pregnancy, labor, birth, and the postpartum period. We discussed this over a year or longer before taking the initial steps to move forward with the idea. In 2010, Traci pulled the trigger and said, finally, let’s launch this and we did!
T: And that’s a good point to bring up, Lynn. A collective like ours was — and remains — unique to the area. Other ‘lone wolf’ doulas may have other doulas that they trade backup with, but no one else has their work tied together like our doulas do. A collective is much different than a collaboration.
How did you come up with the name/logo?
L: The lotus flower has a lot of symbolism in birth, fertility, and female spirituality and when Traci brought the idea to me, I felt it was perfect. We both also love the color purple and the feminist symbolism it carries. Combining the two was exquisite. A purple lotus is rare and mystical, beautiful and delicate but also powerful as it emerges from the mud to produce its flower.
T: Again, we wanted something that would appeal to many types of women and all pregnancy-related situations. Doulas that name their business “Happy, Blessing, Smiley Baby Time” and the like are obviously catering to a limited clientele. One day I found myself thinking of a lotus flower. I loved its ties to eastern cultures so I did a bit more research on it. I found that throughout history, the lotus flower has been used in many cultures from Africa to Asia as a symbol relating to birth, fertility, health and transformation. Its characteristics are a perfect analogy for the human condition: even when its roots are in the dirtiest waters, the lotus produces the most beautiful flower. Another symbolic characteristic of the lotus flower leads from the observation that the plant’s stalk is easy to bend in two, but is very hard to break because of its many strong sinuous fibers. What a perfect comparison to a birthing woman. She bends but doesn’t break. And transforms.
I knew Lynn and I loved the color purple. I checked if there was such a thing as a purple lotus. I found that it not only exists, but it considered special because it is rare and distinctive, one of the most beautiful and very sacred of flowers. Everything just sort of radiated out in circles from there. The metaphor of a flower opening is often used as a meditation/guided imagery for a woman and her cervix during her birthing time. The color purple has its own symbolism which only magnified the pull we felt that this was the right choice to represent us and our vision. We get lots of positive feedback on the logo, which I clumsily designed. But now that we have the talented Becca (our newest member, a certified lactation counselor and graphic designer) on board, maybe she’ll take a whack at it sometime and give us our PLD logo 2.0.
What is unique about PLD?
L: PLD is unique because of its collective composition and its full-spectrum services. Most doulas work in solo practice or, more rarely, in partnership with another doula. This makes our collective unique and recognizable and we offer not only birth and postpartum doula services, but also lactation counseling, placenta encapsulation, childbirth classes, and essential oil education. We also cover a large geographical area in the St. Louis metro area.
T: I know I’d covered some of this in the story behind our original goal, but from a client’s perspective, when they hire someone from PLD, they know they are getting someone with professional training in multiple disciplines, someone who feels sincerely called to do birth work, someone who is professionally and personally supported by her ‘co-workers’/sister doulas (whatever term you want to use) and someone who makes her birth a priority in her work life/schedule. We are aware of our scope of practice and personal limitations and never exceed or cross those. Plus we work together by consensus. And we’re still together. If we can get along with each other for years, you know we can get along with your doctor/midwife/nurse, friends, family, etc. for a few hours!
I also love that we support women on both sides of the river. I’m originally from South Central IL and wanted to make sure we could cover those areas if needed. Not many St. Louis doulas want to go to a small hospital in IL. With Lynn having moved to Peoria, we have the opportunity to cover more of Central IL, too!
How many women/babies/families have been served by PLD?
T: We didn’t initially keep stats, and then we did and then we didn’t. Just like we remind our clients to not get ‘hung up’ on numbers (whether they be her due date, results of cervical exams, etc.) it just never seemed a priority to keep hashmarks of the women we serve. Each doula may keep her own personal stats if she likes (and you’ll find those on her doulamatch.net profiles). But sufficed to say that, in the three years and many doulas that have been part of PLD, it’s been a good number. And when you add in our additional services like placenta encapsulation and even just the responses and messages we get through our FaceBook page… we’re serving lots of people, if not directly but through education and advocacy.
L: What Traci said! We have not kept strict statistics. As I expand our services into Central Illinois, I can say my number is more than one but less than five in Central IL so far and that’s probably as exact a number as I’ll ever have. Our goal was never to increase numbers and create an empire! The right clients find us and that’s what I know will continue to happen.
How many doulas are in PLD?
T: Currently we have 3 active birth doulas in the St. Louis area (myself, Sarah and Christine) and Becca is really taking off as a CLC. Lynn (who in the years since we started PLD has moved to Peoria, IL) is taking limited clients in the area and is providing placenta encapsulation and essential oil consultations, as well. But in the past we’ve had other doulas (both birth and postpartum). I love that we are a living, growing entity. Each stage/phase of PLD has been unique. I’m excited at where we’ve been, how far we’ve come and where we are going.
L: I had an unexpected relocation to Peoria due to an excellent employment opportunity for my family. Then I had a baby! I am not actively providing doula services at this time but my heart is still in birth work and birth-related work. I hope to be the fourth active doula of PLD at some point in the next year, and to possibly expand PLD into Central Illinois with another doula — or two or three — and a similar availability of other services. We have no ideal number of members. Some people are a good fit for our group, other (equally amazing!) people are not. The right people have found us, and us them and it just works out.
You mentioned additional services, can you talk some more about those?
T: Well, Sarah has her birth classes. She’s amazing. I love that we take limited client loads because that means when she teaches a class, she can’t doula for all the students. And then there’s a chance I can get one, because I LOVE doula-ing for Sarah’s clients. They’re so prepared and comfortable with the birthing process. I still work hard, but I do feel my job is easier, and both the client and I get to enjoy the birth more because she’s so well prepared for the birthing process. Sarah has taught and still teaches the rest of us so much about birth, she really imparts her wisdom and experience on her students. And I guess I should say all the obligatory stuff about how she does group classes, express classes, individual/private classes. And she’s certified through BirthWorks. It’s an amazing program and she adds her own touch to it.
L: Sarah really is amazing. She has an incredibly warm, calm way about her and intuition for what her BirthWorks students/families most want and need- often before they do. We have sometimes discussed (without specifics or personal information) couples in Sarah’s class with her and almost every time she will talk about how connected she feels to them and how much she loves working with them. I have no doubt that they all feel the same way. Another service that Traci, Sarah, and I have begun to offer in the last year is Placenta Encapsulation. PE has a number of benefits to a mom in her postpartum period (and beyond) and there are links on our website for studies and details on those benefits. We talked about offering this for a long time but it seemed an intimidating prospect with safety implications. We still felt that it was very important and when we discussed it at length and researched it, we knew we could safely and skillfully encapsulate for our own doula clients and others in the community. I am just beginning my encapsulation practice and I’m finding Traci and Sarah’s experience is priceless to me. They have their routines and their tips, everything from which size capsule to use to how to calmly reassure a sleep deprived new dad that he can return to taking care of his wife while we efficiently and neatly prepare her placenta in the kitchen, tidy up and leave without disruption to the family’s new life.
T: Yes, we put a lot of research and training into offering placenta encapsulation! Researching OSHA guidelines and all three of our backgrounds in bloodborne pathogens (Lynn and I in social work, Sarah was a phlebotomist) were crucial in our comfort with offering a service that we knew would be safe and effective. I also love that we offer PE either in the client’s home or remotely. It really allows us to serve a larger population. We are available to do PE for anyone, but any PLD client gets priority and a discount, of course.
Adding skills to our skill set was actually the way we got involved in essential oils. Sarah invited me to a class to learn more about EOs and I was glad for the opportunity since I had been using EOs for years at births with no great feedback one way or another. It was through that class I discovered doTERRA EOs which are a much higher quality than the ones I had been using. The difference in their effectiveness at home was immediately apparent, as was the results when I started offering their use at births. I’ve since become certified as an EO consultant and I love teaching classes about EOs and doing consults with people looking for better health and less toxic living. And although I love my doula work, it does limit me to a very small portion of the population. With EOs, I get to work with EVERYONE, which is nice!
You know, another thing that had me initially tilting my head sideways going ‘really?’ is Hypnobabies. When Lynn first talked about Hypnobabies, I don’t even think I really listened. It wasn’t until a couple of years later when Hypnobabies started offering Hypno-doula training that I looked into it some more. The training was intriguing and I excitedly took on my first Hypnobabies client. That birth was a milestone in my doula career and totally solidified all my training as a Hypno-doula. Since then and since I’m one of the first and only certified Hypnodoulas in the area, I’d say about a third to a half of my clients are Hypnobabies clients, both those taking the local classes and those doing the home study course. That was another surprising path my birth work career has taken, but I love it!
L: Again, with Traci’s lead, I started researching essential oils. Like Traci, and many others, I had casually used EOs at home but not quality, therapeutic grade oils. I learned about doTERRA oils during my pregnancy and incorporated them into my family’s health and wellness and also my birth plan. After the birth of my second baby, I became a full-time stay-at-home-mom for the first time in my life and have chosen to continue learning and teaching about these awesome essential oils. I can spend time with my children and also help empower others to take control of their health needs via oils.
I studied Hypnobabies during each of my pregnancies and used these techniques in my labors. I love the holistic approach of Hypnobabies, with emphasis on the mother’s health and well being including diet and physical wellness, emotional needs, relationship establishment, and of course her baby’s health and development. I became a certified Hypno-doula after the birth of my first child. Interestingly, I think my interest in essential oils is related as both Hypnobabies and essential oils are part of holistic healthcare and healing. I look forward to bringing essential oils and Hypno-doula support to families in the future.
Since my relocation out of state, PLD has added a Certified Lactation Counselor, Becca, to the collective and I think this really is the culmination of our goals. For most of the women we serve, the goal of a birth plan or natural birth plan is to initiate successful breastfeeding. It sounds simple but with modern technology and interventions, breastfeeding is challenging and complicated, especially with a newborn. We’re moving forward as a society, but doulas know better than most that breastfeeding is usually part of the goal when a mom or couple hires a doula. Very, very often, questions or complications arise after a birth and a doula’s standard answer is full of support and empathy but often includes advice to seek qualified lactation help. Adding someone with this expertise to our team was always a goal and the value of having Becca in Purple Lotus Doulas is incalculable. As a mother who worked full-time after the birth of my first child, I wish Becca’s class on expressing milk for working mothers had been an option. I can’t say enough about Becca and her skill set, not to mention that she’s the reason our collective has a beautiful, functional website!
What is in the future for PLD?
L: It remains to be seen. We knew we’d have a variety of women with a myriad of skills and interests but never the specifics of having a CLC working with us, or Essential Oil gurus! I know Peoria, Illinois was not on my radar so it certainly wasn’t part of the Purple Lotus plan or vision! But here we are and we keep evolving. I like this lack of strict composition in our collective. Though I helped found the collective, I am not physically meeting with the members regularly and am not serving the same community. I’m grateful they keep me in the loop and welcome expansion of my services and potentially those of other members in my new community.
T: We do have our private area that our collective interacts in on the internet that Lynn has always been active in. We are able to support each other in real time when at a birth or just learning more about our chosen fields. Lynn’s connection and support in that venue has never changed. PLD was formed to be a collective of women but it’s not dependent on Lynn or me. I’ve always said that it’s my hope that PLD will continue on long after Lynn and me. With the way that PLD has morphed and changed over the years yet maintaining a professional consistency, I really feel it will. Other than that, I don’t have any limits or lines for what I think PLD will be. That’s the fun part is just being part of the journey and following it where it goes and responding to it as it happens. Is that a birth metaphor? Maybe. Do I see birth metaphors in too much? Possibly. 🙂
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