Meet Rebecca

I started my adult life on a clear path, going straight from college to law school, got married, got a job, bought a house, had kids and then in the midst of knowing where I was going I stopped to look at the map of my life, and took a detour. Taking a new path into a full time career teaching yoga (specializing in postnatal and yoga for birth-age 4) and spending several years creating curriculum and training yoga teachers. Expanding my journey, turning my love of supporting parents in yoga classes to supporting them at home- as a doula.

I grew up as the youngest of 3 in the suburbs of Baltimore, our house was always filled with family, friends, lots of dogs and cats and my mom’s fabulous cooking. I always worked with kids; babysitting, camp counselor, tutoring – I should have known then to follow my natural passion. I attended Syracuse University – earning a BA in Policy Studies, and meeting my husband – we’ve been together since I was 19!

We moved to DC to be closer to my grandmother, and planted our roots in a Maryland suburb, where we have lived for more than 25 years. Quickly discovering that we valued being part of a community, we jumped in – volunteering with a local environmental group, joining the co-op pool, creating a babysitting co-op, volunteering with the PTA, sharing potluck dinners and making lifelong friends and creating a community in which we have raised our kids. A community where the teenagers like to hang out with the adults, where local musicians and artists share their talents. A place where I can lend support and be supported, very much my extended family.

I have 2 children – well they are hardly children anymore – my young adult children are wonderful and compassionate humans. A boy and a girl, almost exactly four years apart – very different people but very grounded in the importance of family and community. Raising kids is a transformative experience, one I still learn from every day. It’s hard work raising small humans – there are successes and failures, great joy and sometimes a feeling of swimming upstream with a weight tie to my ankles but somehow keeping my head and kids above water. But its that community that we have cultivated that makes it all possible. From neighbors who brought dinners in the first days home with new babies, to playdates, babysitting help, advice and the shoulder to cry on. People to walk with, share successes and failures – and ask to watch your cat when you go away for the weekend.

My experiences with my own kids are the main reason for becoming a postpartum doula, I didn’t have much of a support system when my son was born and it was so hard. I’ve seen in my postpartum yoga teaching how the support and comradery for new parents experiencing this new phase of life can be an amazing relief. Realizing that you aren’t alone is powerful – whether struggling with breastfeeding, or feeling like you are a failure at the parenting game, or being so tired that you came to class with 2 different shoes! And hearing from parents with babies a few months older that it gets better, sharing resources and tips – creates a nurturing environment, and a non-judgmental space where you can be real.

This is what I bring to my postpartum doula role – creating a non-judgmental space where your family can get tips, resources, helping hands, and be true to what works and doesn’t work for you and your family. I seek to be supportive of you and your choices, and providing guidance based on your needs. As a parent, I have learned never to say never – and I have never walked in your shoes, nor you in mine and I believe that sometimes parents need to turn inward and trust their own instincts when it comes to what works for their family- and a postpartum doula can help you create the space where that works. I hope I can help you find your own path.