hey there! i’m racquel!
I’m a mama of four littles who fill me joy & purpose, a lover of the mountains, small towns & traveling to new places. I have big dreams & romanticize every little thing in life. I am full of passion for informed choice, natural birth & keeping my babies close. I enjoy watching snow fall, feeling the warmth of the sun & going on drives through the mountains. A few of my favorite things are camping with my family, creating cozy spaces & watching The Parent Trap. You can usually find me drinking a watered down iced coffee with a baby in my arms & another one climbing up my legs while I try to keep my eyes on the other two climbing trees or jumping off the countertop! It’s wild life & a dream come true!
My journey to becoming a pregnancy & birth practitioner stemmed from wanting to support women during their births as a doula. Throughout my three home births, my doula was a my rock. I often say that as much as I wouldn’t want to give birth without my husband or midwives, I couldn’t give birth without my doula. The impact her presence had on my labors is what inspired me to follow in her footsteps & offer the same level of support she gave me.
Although I’ve experienced amazing care, I’ve also come to realize the gaps in resources we have here locally. It’s my hope to close those gaps a bit & for now, that looks like spending time one on one with mamas as they prepare for pregnancy, grow through pregnancy, give birth, recover & transition into motherhood (or being a mama of another). I believe the village everyone says it takes to raise a child, should actually be focused on caring for the mother & that’s exactly who I want to be — your village. I want to guide you as you prepare to conceive, ensure you are informed of all of your choices throughout your pregnancy and beyond, help you prepare for birth throughout your pregnancy, support you during your labor & delivery & finally, care for you as you care for your newborn baby.
We cannot do it all alone & I want to make sure you don’t have to! Take some time to explore my current services & see how I can join you on your journey. I don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach, so if you don’t find a package that fits your needs, let me know & we can work together to create one that does.
my story
Ever since I was little, I always knew I wanted to be a mama. I carried a baby doll with me everywhere I went, cradling it in my arms, keeping it safe from the dirt, bugs & wind. When I was 5, my first sister was born & I thought there was nothing better in the world than caring for a real baby. I was blessed with two more little siblings a few years later & have vivid memories of rocking them as babies, rubbing their little noses as they drifted off to sleep. As I grew older, I had a difficult time deciding what I wanted to “be” because deep down, I knew all I really wanted was to be home raising babies.
Seven years ago, my lifelong dream came true when my first little boy was born. I was very uninformed during my pregnancy and birth with him and made a lot of decisions I wouldn’t have made had I known there were options. When he was two months old, I started working for a naturopathic oncologist and began learning about integrative and holistic healthcare. I had my second baby two years later & spent the first 28 weeks planning a birth with the midwives at the hospital. However, once I realized my desire to go into labor naturally was not being supported by my providers, I decided to change my plans & have a home birth. At that point, I thought home births were for the hippiest of the hippies but I didn’t feel like there was another option. I quickly put a birth team together & spent the last ten weeks of pregnancy preparing. Looking back, I’ve realized having that home birth was a very defining moment of motherhood for me. I overcame so much fear I had surrounding birth & gained so much confidence in my innate ability to do as my body was intended to. I began to trust my instincts more as a mama caring for my little boys & shut out the outside noise.
I’ve had two more beautiful home births since then & have learned a lot about the support we as women need throughout our pregnancy, birth and postpartum journeys. I decided I wanted to become a pregnancy & birth practitioner so I can try to be that support for other women. I completed my training through the Aura Institute & love to support women during pre-conception, throughout their entire pregnancy, as a birth doula & as a postpartum doula. I am currently working to become a certified doula through DONA International and also plan to continue my education in lactation, childbirth education & homeopathy in the near future. I have a lot of big dreams for offering birth support in our little town & am so excited to support local women throughout their pregnancy & postpartum journeys.
