Beth Downey, Doula

How I got here, and what I love about my work:

Ever since I was a little girl, I've been captivated by birth and family--the physiology of it, the psychology, and the spirituality. As a teenager, I seriously considered becoming a nurse or midwife. Ultimately I decided to pursue my other great love—language/literature—as a career, but as fate would have it, a clever use of language is what brought me back to serving newly-minted families. In undergrad, I took one look at the title of Ina May Gaskin's book “Spiritual Midwifery,” and instantly knew I'd been missing part of my calling. Deep in my heart, I know that the sweet spot of my life lies at the intersection between things material—bodies, speech, touch, tears, blood—and things immaterial—emotion, intuition, laughter, prayer, words and the stuff too deep for words. My favourite place to be is holding the hands of men and women as they prepare themselves to cross a threshold, as they surprise themselves with strength and vulnerability by going through new experiences, feeling new feelings, doing things they've always wanted to do, or never thought they could.


Credentials, experience, and current work:
(HINT: You can read my Philosophy of Practice in the "Notes" tab on this page!)

I completed my doula certification in Spring 2016 through MACFE, [Manitoba Association for Childbirth & Family Education], the oldest childbirth organization in Manitoba. A few months later I attended my first delivery, a seriously brave plus-sized mom who got surprised with some tough complications. The couple were amazing, the medical team was excellent, and 40-or-so long hours later, a new family emerged: mother, father, and a strong baby son. We were all awestruck, and exhausted. But all I could think was “Let's do that AGAIN!” I was riding high.

Since then I've been making up nine-to-five in a variety of ways--writing journalism, free-lancing as an editor, teaching voice lessons, and doing some non-profit work. But between the jigs and the reels, I've also kept up with reading, research, and some serious resource development for my doula practice. (Like this page to stay tuned!)

Today, I am a graduate student at Memorial University of Newfoundland, in St. John's.

Other "About Me" Quizbits:

1) Full disclosure #1: I have never given birth. Recently, my husband and I fostered a teenager for roughly two years, and our relationship with him bore many of the hallmarks of parenting, but it wasn't exactly that either. Before that, we were mentors at our local youth group for several years. I can't remember a time when nurture was not part of my calling, my daily life's work. And while I'm still waiting on Motherhood's good time, nothing gives me more joy than nurturing those she has blessed with great expectations!

2) Fuller disclosure #2: I am a touch person, and if you too are a touch person then you know all about the guessing game. I'll spare you the trouble: hugs are cool with me. ;)

3) Special skills and interesting interests include: intermediate French and Spanish, very strong amateur massage game, a pretty spiffy bag of kitchen tricks to ease post-partum transitions, and a long-standing enthusiasm for botanical healing.