About Carole
Welcome,
I’m Carole, a birth doula serving families around Western Massachusetts. I approach birth as a natural physiological event, and one that is unique to every person. This is your birth, your body, and your baby, and I am here to hold space for you and your family to experience this sacred time in the most meaningful and easeful way possible, with trust and reverence for the beauty and mystery of each birth’s unfolding.
As a birth worker, I am passionate about body sovereignty, informed consent, and the right of birthing people and families to have access to compassionate care in which they feel seen, heard, safe, and empowered as they enter into this profoundly transformative experience. I am here to support you in caring for and connecting to your body in pregnancy, birth, and postpartum; exploring your own relationship to pregnancy, birth, and parenthood; preparing for birth and postpartum; and making informed choices and advocating for yourself.
My Background
My passion for birth work and women’s health began back in 2013 when I presented a paper at a Five-College conference on Anthropology and the Body as a senior at Smith College. The keynote speaker was a local midwife and doula, and her talk on midwifery and birth as a feminist and reproductive rights issue evoked in me a deep call to explore further.
Over the years, I completed my birth doula training with that same midwife, shadowed midwives at The Birthplace in Greenfield, completed nursing prerequisites, learned about reproductive health and birth alongside other birth workers and healers around the world, took herbalism courses, and completed the Massachusetts Midwives’ Alliance Basic Midwifery Course. Through these explorations of different approaches to birth, and as I began attending births and supporting families through their perinatal periods, the embodied sense of knowing that I was meant to do this work deepened. With every new family that I have the honor of supporting, my passion for and dedication to birth work continues to grow.
Why Magnolia Bloom?
Magnolias date back 95 million years–so ancient that they predate the bees and are pollinated by beetles. Like pregnancy and childbirth, they are ancestral and primal, and connect us to the threads of Earth’s history in which we are woven. Magnolias have witnessed the Earth through many transformations, and hold in them the imprint of all the cycles, fluctuations, and evolutions that beings all around them have experienced over millions of years.
Magnolias are a wise ancestor, reminding us of our connection to the Earth and our place in the beautiful tapestry of its history. Their luscious blooms in early Spring are an invitation into our potential for full, sensual, rich embodied experience and a reminder to hold joy, hope, and awe for the beauty around us. Much like birth itself, they usher in new beginnings and the re-emergence of life.
Interested in working together?
Schedule a free 30-minute consultation to meet each other and start the conversation.