Aimee (she/her) is a mother to three amazing children, a birth advocate and volunteer, a doula, a calm birth educator, a lactation consultant (IBCLC), and co-founder of the Australian VBAC stories podcast. She lives on Darug and Gundungurra land in the upper Blue Mountains and supports families in her various roles throughout the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, and Nepean areas. Aimee has experienced multiple different pregnancy and birth experiences including early birth, premature birth, a...

Mirjana Gnjatić is the first doula in Serbia. She attended Michel Odent’s Paramanadoula seminar in 2010. Back in 2012, she invited a DONA doula trainer to Belgrade and organized the first-ever doula training in Serbia, after which doula calling spread throughout the region. The following year the first informal Serbian doula association was founded which now has about a hundred doulas from all over Serbia. Mirjana is a massage therapist, prenatal yoga instructor, and mother and baby yoga...

Lisa Marie is a birth worker based in Fresno, California with a special passion for supporting folks who are marginalized and vulnerable, especially pregnant teens who are in foster care or who have been involved in the child protection system. Lisa Marie is Yaqui Indigenous and Mexican by descent and is the only indigenous birth worker who is native to her area. As a birth worker, her objective is to pay tribute to the wisdom of her ancestors by offering nurturing and holistic care to...

I am Mary Giordano (she/her), your host here on the Whole Doula Podcast. This is a little solo episode to mark the end of season one on the podcast before we dive into a whole bunch of new conversations in season two. For those who don’t know me, I am a  Full Spectrum Doula, Educator, Counsellor, Facilitator, Community Builder,  Business Mentor/Coach, and Online Course Creator. Here I share a little update on my business since the podcast launched six months ago, some feedback on the Savvy...

Dusk (she/her) is in her third year as a birth doula, but she has worked as a space holder for a decade. Dusk lives in Boiwuring country in Altona Meadows. Her focus is on supporting survivors of sexual assault or trauma and as a survivor of childhood sexual assault herself, she is driven to support others navigating the unique challenges of pregnancy like she did. Dusk experienced a lot of silencing in her childhood and early 20s, and she was always drawn to listen to other people. This...

Siobhan (she/her) lives in Adelaide on Kaurna country. While Siobhan was practicing as a Vedic yoga and meditation teacher and studying Ayurveda and the Vedic tradition, she found prenatal and postnatal mothers attending her classes were naturally drawn to stay behind after class to share their pregnancy birthing journeys. These conversations resonated with Siobhan’s own devotion to the Divine Mother and inspired her to train to become an Ayurvedic Postpartum Doula. Siobhan currently...

Sara (she/her) is a Certified Birth, Bereavement, and Postpartum Doula and a Certified Lactation Counselor with a professional background in biological sciences and education. She lives with her four children, her husband, and a menagerie of dogs and cats on a small farm in southeastern York County, Pennsylvania. Sara has been providing her services in her private practice, Mandala Motherhood, for three years. In addition to this, she also works under the umbrella of a nonprofit she founded...

Sharon (she/her) lives and works in Hobart on Nipaluna Country. Sharon is a postpartum professional with a decades long background in nursing. Her nursing career and specialization in Paediatrics and Neonatal Intensive Care, that has seen her care for many mothers and babies in the acute hospital setting, has prepared her well for her new career as a postpartum doula. Her own personal experience as a mother and grandmother, and her experience having an unwell baby herself have also given her...

Jennifer (she/her) joins me from Sint Sinck territory in Westchester County, New York. Jennifer is eight months into her postpartum doula business journey, is almost fully booked and is loving and thriving in her new career, which was inspired by the incredible experience, support and validation she felt from her own doula 21 years ago when her son was six weeks old. Jennifer’s professional background includes 25 years serving as an investigator and 8 years as the district office manager for...

Kellie lives in Torquay on Wathaurong country and is a Doula, Movement Therapist, and Counsellor with a profound understanding of the physical, emotional, and psychological aspects of birth. Kellie seamlessly weaves together her expertise to guide expectant parents and the people they love through pregnancy, birth and postpartum.  As a teacher in Centred Body Movement, Kellie recognises the vital connection between the body and mind, harnessing authentic movement to largely facilitate the...

Based in Silicon Valley, California, Neri (she/her) is a mother, veteran childbirth educator, birth doula and doula trainer, and the founder of Birth Coach Method. Neri is celebrating 20 years of leadership in the field of childbirth support after serendipitously finding her way from academia to the world of birth in her native Israel soon after the birth of her first baby. Throughout her career, she has been honoured to provide doula support and teach childbirth education classes to hundreds...

In this conversation, Julie Clarke, a doula for over 35 years, shares her experiences in supporting new parents and families and her love for her work. Julie has created the Birth Doula Academy of Australia and offers childbirth and parenting education courses. She shared the challenges she faces, especially the financial aspect of being a doula, and stresses the importance of financial planning for a sustainable doula business. She also shared an inspiring birth story of providing a second...

Today’s guest is Amanda Trieger, sacred birthkeeper and doula for all stages of life. We will visit about Amanda's background and her diverse offerings in women's health, well-being, and doula services. Amanda shares her experience in holistic health care as a sacred birth keeper, life-long student of the world, as well as her work in supporting positive menstruality culture.  Amanda (she/her) lives in the Hunter Valley on Wonnarua Country. Amanda is a sacred birthkeeper, and she is honoured...

Alyssa (she/her) is a wife, mum of 3, friend, Christian and a fierce advocate. Alyssa lives in the Illawarra region on Dharawal country. She has a big passion for homebirth and continuity of midwifery care, while also being passionate in supporting hospital births. A doula for 8 years now, Alyssa has established a consistent business in the doula world, expanding her business to include baby-wearing education and volunteer work with not for profits and charities.  In our conversation today,...

Debi Azubel (pronouns she/her) was born in Mexico and raised through Mexico, Argentina, Israel and Spain, before finding herself on Wurundjeri land where her children were born. She is a birth and postpartum doula, because she believes that continuity of care is crucial to a mother's well being. However, her biggest passion is the closing of the bones ceremony. Debi weaves into her work the various tools she has collected along the way as a permaculturist, gardener, primary school...

Emily Morter (she/her) is an osteopath and doula based in Naarm, Melbourne (on Wurundjeri land). She provides gentle and compassionate care for everybody. Her holistic approach honours you as the expert on your body, with deep listening and co-creation of treatment plans that support your healing journey. Emily comes from a long lineage of midwives. She is a full spectrum doula, offering continuity of care throughout preconception, pregnancy, pregnancy loss or abortion, birth, stillbirth,...

Based in Melbourne (on Wurundjeri land) , Maddison Sharman (she/her/they/them) has been in the Healing Arts for 13 yrs, running a developed solo practitioner business in which she currently offers bodywork, yoni massage, remedial and pregnancy massage, flower essences, sound healing, reiki, sacred sexual healing and more.  Maddison is a new doula, training at the time of recording with Rhea Dempsey, and on call to attend her first birth.  Maddison's journey to birthwork was almost by...

Before we get into our conversation episodes, I wanted to introduce myself and my story of how I got started in my work as a Full Spectrum Doula, Educator, Counsellor, Facilitator, Community Builder, and Business Mentor. When I was a teenager, I became very interested in cultural and linguistic diversity, particularly after living in Mexico as an exchange student. That amazing experience had a profound impact on the trajectory of my life. After university, I worked in the community...

Hello, and welcome to The Whole Doula Podcast. I am your host, Mary Giordano. I'm a doula, birth educator, counselor, business mentor, community builder, and of course, the host of this new podcast. The Whole Doula Podcast is a conversation space for doulas and birth workers to talk about the diverse paths that led them to birth work, as well as the diverse and unique skills, interests, and offerings that they bring to their birth keeping roles. The idea came to me upon reflecting on the...