Today we’d like to introduce you to Maggie Townsley.
Maggie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
After the birth of my daughter, I realized the importance and impact of the work I did to prepare for the day she was born. The birth education, the inclusion, and support of her father, as well as the doula we hired for our family. Our country suffers from a disconnect in birth. It has become something that is done to us, rather than something that we do. It is treated as a disability when it is far from it.
I dove into my Doula training in 2017 and have been taking care of families ever since. It has proven to be my soul work; empowering birthing people, taking the fear out of this very normal bodily function, and surrounding myself with people who have similar goals of improving maternal health in this country. It starts with the way we birth and the way we are born. The very first experience as a mother, and the very first experience as a human outside of the mother – MATTERS.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Diving full time into birth work was a big leap of faith. I left a career I loved, but just no longer filled my heart like it used to. Once I began my doula journey, there was no turning back. It has been a huge lesson in trusting the process, having faith in my own abilities, and cutting the cords to parts of my life that no longer served me.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Maggie Townsley, Birth Doula – what should we know?
I support birthing people in a way that care providers in our country just can’t. I am hired by the family. I do not work for a hospital, a doctor, or a nursing staff. I have no other patients at the time of a families birth and I am with them from start to finish. I see a huge need for the entire family to have an opportunity to take ownership of their choices. At the end of the day, the most important thing to me is that a birthing family feels in control of their CHOICES of how to birth and that those choices are honored – no matter what they look like. Education is key here – to make informed decisions for themselves as well as provide informed consent for the way the path unfolds.
This is why I support families who birth at home, at birth centers, at hospitals, who choose medication, who choose to be unmedicated, who choose vaginal birth, cesarean birth-they birth their way because it was their OWN choice. Birthing women need to hear their voice, and so does everyone around them.
Do you recommend any apps, books or podcasts that have been helpful to you?
At the moment:
Books – The Birth Partner, The Red Tent, Ina May Gaskin’s Guide to Childbirth, The Four Agreements
Podcasts – Birth Kweens
Websites – The Birth Education Center
Contact Info:
- Website: www.doulamaggie.com
- Phone: 619-964-7918
- Email: doula.maggie.sd@gmail.com
- Instagram: @mamasanabirth
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mamasanabirth/?ref=bookmarks
Image Credit:
Vuefinder Photography, Matt Minehan
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