Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Colvin.
Hi Kelly, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hello! Thank you for inviting me!
I am a birth doula and childbirth educator. I am a wife and mother of seven children and have given birth a variety of ways: a cesarean birth, VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) with epidural, natural birth in a free-standing birth center, and four home births assisted by a midwife. Each of their births has helped me to view birth from a different angle and molded me into the educator and doula I am.
My first two births were very difficult, so much so that I decided that I was done having children, however, there was a part of me that felt it wasn’t true—I just knew more babies were supposed to join our family.
I decided I needed to become better educated and make different decisions if I wanted to have a different experience with future births. I began educating myself and with my third baby had a very different experience. My perspective on birth completely changed. I realized that birth could be peaceful, gentle, and kind. A fire was lit under me and I knew I had to let other women know that birth could be different than what our culture and media often depict, and that’s when my journey of birth work began. I have been a birth doula and childbirth educator for 10 years.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
There have been challenges along the way for sure. A doula’s work is demanding. It’s not easy being on-call or away from my family and because I still have so many littles at home, I have to be selective on how many doula clients I take on and that’s hard.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Peaceful Birth Choices?
My passion is education. There’s a lot that goes on when giving birth. My students are always surprised by the amount of knowledge they gain from my classes. Even families that work in the medical field or that have given birth before are amazed by how much they learn. What a gift you can give yourself and your baby to show up prepared for such an important life event.
It’s not just about natural childbirth for me anymore. When I started on my journey my focus was helping women give birth without medication and while most of my clientele desires this, some do not and I teach them how they still have many choices, whether that be they want an epidural or even a cesarean birth. Birth looks different for everyone and that’s okay—I think we can celebrate choice.
My goal is to teach families about all their options for birth so they can make the best decisions for themselves and their babies. I also teach them how they can have a voice. For many people, talking to their care providers can feel intimidating, especially if philosophies don’t align and some even feel coerced into doing things they don’t feel comfortable with. Women are partners with their care providers and should be treated as such.
It’s not just about a healthy mother and baby—it’s about a healthy mother and baby AND a mother that feels confident and capable of caring for her child. When women come to their births prepared through quality education and with the proper support, they are much more likely to feel prepared for motherhood.
Last year I created my own birth curriculum called Mindfully Prepared Birth. It’s a meditation-based course that focuses on preparing for birth and parenting. I want to give parents tools that they can use to help them give birth and teach them how to carry these same tools over into being a parent and managing the many emotions involved with that beautiful and demanding role.
I also offer a Mini Birth Prep class for families who may be short on time or just need a refresher course between pregnancies. Another new addition to my course offerings is a Cesarean Birth Planning course. Having experienced a cesarean birth myself, I know firsthand the challenges of this type of birth. Whether a cesarean is medically necessary or just preferred, I want women to go into their cesarean birth feeling calm and able to enjoy their baby by requesting immediate skin-to-skin and making it a family event instead of just a surgical procedure.
My philosophy on birth and motherhood is that neither is one size fits all; there’s no one correct way to birth or mother. There will always be someone telling you that one way is better than another, but in reality, you have to do what feels right to you. Listen to your instincts. That is a gift to all parents—the ability to know what is best for your baby. Will you get it wrong from time to time? Absolutely, but that is all part of the journey of being a parent. Allowing yourself to make mistakes and then move on from them is a lesson you can model for your child over and over again, for your child is watching and learning how you respond to life from their biggest role model—you.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
You can find me at PeacefulBirthChoices.com
Pricing:
- $800 Full Doula Support
- $200 Mini Doula Support
- $350 Mindfully Prepared Childbirth
- $145 Mini Birth Prep
- $65 Cesarean Birth Planning
Contact Info:
- Email: kelly@peacefulbirthchoices.com
- Website: PeacefulBirthChoices.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/peacefulbirthchoices
- Facebook: Facebook.com/PeacefulBirthChoices
Image Credits
My Framed Photography, Lindsay Sharifi Photography, Amber Wallis Photography, and Lori Engel Photography
