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𝐄𝐕𝐀𝐍 ✿ Asheville 𝖣𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖺 ᯾ 𝖣𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖺 𝖬𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗈𝗋

@bigcatbirth

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✨Taking the guesswork out of birthwork for new doulas
🦋350+ families supported
👇🏼Cocoon Doula Mentorship open for enrollment!

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

This season and these people. 🤍 Dang, did the stars align! ✨

One of the emotions that has surprised me most this postpartum is the sadness of knowing this chapter, and our time with this incredible team, has come to an end. Tears have been shed every day over this. Some endings can be joyful and filled with so much gratitude and still carry a little grief.

This experience has left me with an even deeper awe for the female body and all that it is capable of. The strength, endurance, instinct, and resilience it can hold are extraordinary. ANY type of birth is life changing and humbling, and we feel so grateful for the people who helped create this space and for the body that carried us through.

The real MVPs:
Zach: We have done many endurance events together, and in some ways, labor felt similar. We work best in this space when he lets me lock in and do my thing, which generally means not much talking. During labor, I waved him off multiple times when he offered food or water, and he was there for the many “F*** this” moments along the way. Birth is such a raw, unfiltered human experience, and I’m glad we got to share it together again, in a very different way. ♥️

Evan: @bigcatbirth was our doula, helping us prepare for the all natural unmedicated VBAC I hoped for and bringing a calm, steady presence throughout birth. She was a game changer in our experience, advocating for me and helping create the space and environment we had hoped for. Evan also mentors doulas, and Maggie, @foothillsbirthdoula was able to join as Evan’s mentee for her first unmedicated VBAC! If you’ve ever questioned having a doula, 11/10 recommend.

Aimee: Our midwife on call when we arrived at the hospital. Despite having never met her before, she made me feel safe, seen, and respected. She understood our birth plan and honored it, explained things when needed, and helped me feel like an active participant in my care. She helped make the birth experience we had hoped for a reality. We’re so grateful for providers like Aimee who lead with trust, compassion, and respect.

A chapter we’ll always carry with us, made even more meaningful by the people who were part of it. 🤍

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Absolutely love love love having conversations with fellow doulas about the magical, the mystical, the release, the surrender. @bigcatbirth Evan is a phenomenal doula, herbalist, and mentor. To all the new doulas out there- do not miss out on this episode!!

This is some concentrated wisdom directly for YOU.

Comment PODCAST and we will DM you the link to the episode on your favorite streaming platform.

New episodes air weekly. (This episode came out a few weeks ago but the clips will keep on coming because Evan has too much brilliance we must share!)

Thank you @bigcatbirth for all the amazing work you do. Be sure to give Evan a follow. Her content is ✨🔥

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When you care deeply about this work, it’s really easy to say yes to everything.

Every client. Every opportunity. Every person who needs you.

But sustainable birthwork requires boundaries, too.

Checking in with yourself, knowing your capacity, and making space for your own care isn’t separate from community care. It’s part of how we keep showing up.

How do you protect your capacity in this work?

🎧 Listen to the full episode with @bigcatbirth or comment PODCAST to start listening.

#DoulaLife #BirthWorker #DoulaSupport #CommunityCare #BurnoutPrevention WombsOfTheWorldPodcast

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✨ Find your community. Build your confidence. Prepare for birth & parenthood. ✨

Join us for a 4-week Embodied Childbirth Education Series designed to give you evidence-based education, practical tools, and space to connect as you prepare for this transformative journey. This series is an all ⭐️ team of birth educators with unique expertise to guide you through birth preparation.

🤰🏽 Starting October 15
🌿 Thursdays | 6–8:30pm
📍 Flow of Life

Come get informed, get connected, and feel more prepared for whatever your birth journey brings. ❤️

Registration is open! This series is already half full so don’t wait to sign 🆙

#childbirth #childbirtheducation #birthed #birthprep #flowoflife

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This past weekend FILLED my cup. My heart is full and I hold so much gratitude for @americanherbalistsguild
and the mountains that held me through my stay in Black Mountain North Carolina.

What a privilege it has been to sit among the greats and listen deeply. I had the opportunity of learning with those I’ve been following closely throughout my plant journey and met so many brilliant teachers who are new to me. I got to meet so many beautiful plant people that exist beyond the screen - IRL. Connect with plant + fungi allies new and old, and reconnect with friends I haven’t seen in almost a decade.

On my journey to Clinical Herbalism with @eclecticschoolofherbalmedicine - I had the opportunity to take an 8 hour intensive on Autoimmune disease with my teacher @theeclecticherbalist - there was so much thoughtful conversation and the deep care that herbal clinicians exhibit is so prevalent.   I had the chance to learn from the ever brilliant @plantsandhealers once again

+ the opportunity to take two classes with the GENIUS that is @earthside_botanica on endometriosis + PMOS. Hormonal feed back loops always LIGHT ME UP! 
+ all the wisdom from so many others I had the chance to listen to with @erikagalentin @terrasylvaschool @katmaier7 @lyanip @marianoelgroves @botanologos  
It was such a rich + full weekend. I wish I took more photos!

I’m still buzzing and I’m SO inspired. I truly believe plants will heal this planet. Everyone was so warm and welcoming and restored my faith in humanity just a little bit more. We have so much work to do and I’m glad I have this extended community to lean on through these times.  Aside from AHGS - my I had the opportunity to meet my Birth Doula Mentor @bigcatbirth and it was so lovely.  After a looong weekend my dear friend @beth_honey_ scooped me up and swept me away to the woods for a quick recharge. Mycologist queen, I love when you can just pick up where you left off with friends.   Grateful to be.

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The hardest part about doula burnout isn’t the exhaustion.

It’s how much the world rewards it.

The doula who answers every text.
The one who never takes a day off.
The one who squeezes in “just one more client.”

We applaud self-sacrifice until the people doing the sacrificing quietly disappear.

Birth work doesn’t lose great doulas because they stopped loving birth.

It loses them because they built businesses that required them to abandon themselves to keep them alive.

That should concern every single one of us.

Because if we truly believe birth matters…

Then the people supporting birth have to matter too.

This week’s raw conversation with Evan from @bigcatbirth is wildly honest.

We unpack the parts of this industry that nobody wants to say out loud..

..the martyrdom, the guilt, the pressure to be endlessly available, and why so many doulas burn out while everyone applauds their “dedication.”

We air it all out because we share the same mission:

To help build an industry where doulas don’t just enter birth work…

They stay in birth work.

Where loving your clients no longer requires abandoning yourself.

Because sustainability isn’t selfish.

It’s what protects this profession.

I know this episode will stay with you long after it ends.

>>>>Comment PODCAST and I’ll send you the link.

This is a conversation our industry desperately needs

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During my pregnancy, I felt really protective of what I shared publicly about my birth plans. Mostly, I didn’t want to create the impression that there’s a “right” way to prepare and plan for birth or unintentionally influence someone else’s decisions. As someone many people see as a birth expert, I knew it would be easy for others to look at my choices as an example of how birth should be navigated.

I’m now realizing that sharing more of my birth story only reinforces what I believe matters most in birth preparation and education, and may help broaden the idea of a “right” way to give birth.

I was planning a home birth. Investing in the idea that home birth could be possible took up most of my pregnancy.

A lot of my “work” in pregnancy was the reverse of other pregnant folks. I had to start on the extreme side of knowing the intense complications that could arise and work my way, over the course of my pregnancy, toward realizing that I was a low-risk pregnant person who could also envision that things might just go smoothly.

As I continue to digest my birth experience and integrate my lived experience into my work as a birth educator and doula, I’m seeing how valuable my understanding of the spectrum of possibilities in birth really is/was.

Because as I process and share my birth experience it’s a shining example of what matters most no matter how birth unfolds…embracing flexibility, an incredible support team, understanding of physiology even with interventions, and the ability to trust myself in the process.

I did not have a super easeful, uncomplicated water birth at home. I had a birth I was prepared for: an early term T-PROM with no labor in sight. 😏

And that was the birth I was honestly most prepared for.

📸 @maggieshackelford

#birthwork #doula #doulatrainer #birthstory #roxydoulayoga

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What a gift, to support mothers. To hold and witness them as they cross the threshold of birth and meet their babies. It’s an honor, every single time.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of my clients, my friends, my mom, doulas who mother so many, midwives who hold so much, and everyone who mothers in ways seen and unseen.

Love this photo of the amazing @chanelloveslove - what a gift to support you alongside @embodied.midwifery! ♥️

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✨Giveaway Closed ✨

We’ve teamed up with a few local businesses to offer a bundle of support for the expecting and new moms in our community.

One winner will receive:
• UPPAbaby Infant Car Seat
• Postpartum Sitz Bath Herbs from Big Cat Botanicals
• $25 gift card to Flow of Life
• 50% off a visit with Temple Chiropractic

How to enter:
1️⃣ Like this post ❤️
2️⃣ Follow all participating accounts @lilachealthasheville
@flow_of_life_yoga @templechiropractic @bigcatbirth
3️⃣ Tag your pregnant or postpartum friends (each tag = 1 entry)
4️⃣ Bonus: Share this post to your story for 2 extra entries

🌟 The winner will be announced Tuesday 4/14

We can’t wait to share a little love with a mom in our community. Thank you for helping us celebrate and uplift each other! 💛

#giveaway #ashevillebirth #newmoms

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Out for as long as he was in 😯🥰 which, for this impatient loaf of bread, was 37 weeks rather than 40. Speaking of, if you’re into birth stories you can swipe for mine (did I say story? I meant novel. Who doesn’t love an overshare?).

Shoutout to the dream birth team @nickcerilli22 @bigcatbirth @sarahnstokely @lilachealthasheville

#birthstory #positivebirthstory #37weeks

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World Doula Week is the perfect time to show appreciation for the fabulous doulas in our area!
Tag a doula who has made a difference in your life!

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