Who I am
My name is Shawna. I am a stay at home mom to my amazing daughter and a co-founder of a nonprofit in the Omaha metro area called HEALing Embrace, which journeys with families who are experiencing pregnancy and infant loss. I sing in my praise band at our church and love going on walks in the sunshine with my husband, daughter, and 2 doggies. I am a social person with a bubbly, laid back personality who loves to sing karaoke and tear up the dance floor with a group of friends.
Among many titles that I am so blessed to be able to refer to myself as like daughter, sister, wife, and mother, I am also a certified birth and bereavement doula. I believe that God has called me to journey with families as they transition their families from pregnancy onward, regardless of what that looks like. My mission is to make women and their partners feel more empowered, educated, and confident during their pregnancy, labor, and delivery.
I am a mother of 4 children: 2 first trimester losses, a son (neonatal death), and a living daughter. I have personal experience with natural labor, cesarean, gentle cesarean, pregnancy after loss, induction, baby wearing, cloth diapering, breastfeeding, co-sleeping, and supplemental feeding. I have professional experience with natural labor and delivery, VBAC, home birth, and cesarean birth. I feel so honored to be able to be in such a sacred space with families and journey with them as they experience the birth that is right for them and their body.
I recently became an apprentice with the Kindred Hearts Birth Circle! This means that my clients have access to birth circle meetings which are monthly meetings of expecting and newly postpartum mothers. These meetings present opportunities to share stories, gain information about a different topic regarding pregnancy, labor and delivery, and postpartum, and gain a community of other parents in a similar stage of life. I'm very excited about this new venture in my career and to continue to gain wisdom and knowledge from these amazing ladies! To learn more about the Kindred Heart Bircle Circle, visit http://www.kindredheartsomaha.com/.
Among many titles that I am so blessed to be able to refer to myself as like daughter, sister, wife, and mother, I am also a certified birth and bereavement doula. I believe that God has called me to journey with families as they transition their families from pregnancy onward, regardless of what that looks like. My mission is to make women and their partners feel more empowered, educated, and confident during their pregnancy, labor, and delivery.
I am a mother of 4 children: 2 first trimester losses, a son (neonatal death), and a living daughter. I have personal experience with natural labor, cesarean, gentle cesarean, pregnancy after loss, induction, baby wearing, cloth diapering, breastfeeding, co-sleeping, and supplemental feeding. I have professional experience with natural labor and delivery, VBAC, home birth, and cesarean birth. I feel so honored to be able to be in such a sacred space with families and journey with them as they experience the birth that is right for them and their body.
I recently became an apprentice with the Kindred Hearts Birth Circle! This means that my clients have access to birth circle meetings which are monthly meetings of expecting and newly postpartum mothers. These meetings present opportunities to share stories, gain information about a different topic regarding pregnancy, labor and delivery, and postpartum, and gain a community of other parents in a similar stage of life. I'm very excited about this new venture in my career and to continue to gain wisdom and knowledge from these amazing ladies! To learn more about the Kindred Heart Bircle Circle, visit http://www.kindredheartsomaha.com/.
Why I became a doula
I experienced 2 very different births with our children, which ignited my passion for doula work. With my son, I desired a completely natural, unmedicated delivery, but ended up with a gentle induction at 42 weeks gestation and a resulting emergency cesarean after nearly 30 hours of labor. Sadly, after exhausting all medical efforts, my son did not survive delivery. My husband would have been completely alone if we hadn’t been blessed with a doula ourselves. This is why a birth partner deserves a doula just as much as the mother - no one should be left without support during this time in their lives. The support that was given to my husband and me by our doula and others like her inspired me pursue becoming a birth doula myself. 15 months later, when it was time for my daughter to be born, I decided upon a gentle planned cesarean at 39 weeks. We were surrounded by the same support team we had with our first birth. After a very traumatizing birth with our son, this one was very healing and made me realize how life-changing proper support can be, whatever the birth looks like. I strive to be a strong support person to the clients that I serve and give them the freedom to make the decisions that are right for them.
My birth philosophy
I believe birth comes in many different forms and a woman will choose the birth that she believes is the best choice for her and her child based on the knowledge she has. Regardless of what your birth looks like or what the outcome is, it can and should be empowering and beautiful.
“Giving birth should be your greatest achievement, not your greatest fear.” – Jane Weideman