Meet the Doula & Childbirth Educator

Hello, my name is Patrice Nichole Byers. I am a birth doula and childbirth educator trained through ICEA and Childbirth International respectively. I've kept myself abreast of the ever updated information in the world of birth through private research as well as the many groups I am member of, such as Capital City Doulas, Better Birth Sacramento, ICAN, ICEA, and Lamaze.org.

I developed a passion for birth work through the births of my second and third sons and in fact begin studying to become a childbirth educator while still pregnant with my third child. My personal experiences during pregnancy and birth taught me a lot about the process and what I didn't know I yearned to learn and share with others.  The most important lesson I learned in my experiences is the raw nature and force behind birth and how it is as much an emotional and mental process as it is a physical one. I didn't feel that the classes or the books I read tapped into an understanding of this nor did they fully prepare me, so I set out to learn more and that led me to becoming an educator.

 

Before starting this process, I attended births for friends and family, offering moral support, but never really understanding the role of a doula. As the years went on, I would come to classify myself as a lay doula. As I taught more and more couples as a Childbirth Educator it became apparent to me that I wanted to expand my role in birth work. This was especially true after making so many connections with couples and wishing I could be of service at their births.  I decided to start the certification process through Childbirth International and certify as a doula.

 

Through my birth work I found a gratification only matched by my joy of parenting! I truly love my work and at times find it hard to even classify it as work. It's an honor and a privilege to serve women as both and educator and a doula and I am consistently humbled by it and seeing new life as it enters the world!

 

 

 

My Teaching Philosophy

 

As Childbirth educators we are taught that it is not our job to make decisions or set goals for families we work with. Our job is to present you with evidence-based information so that you can make informed decisions and be active participants in all aspects of your prenatal and postpartum care. While I do believe completely in that philosophy, I also believe that the childbirth educator's role is much more than that.

We need to be advocates for choices in childbirth for the mother, infant, and husband/partner. We need to encourage mothers to be advocates for themselves. It is so important that choices in childbirth are still and always available to women. Choices such as where you give birth and what happens to you and your child during labor, birth, and postpartum. Also, who is present to share this momentous event with you! These choices should not be made by a childbirth educator, doctor, midwife, or administrator. They should be made by the mother.

Lastly, as childbirth educators, we have a duty to be as unbiased as possible. This can be a challenge to educators for a variety of reasons. For example, educators teaching within a hospital setting my feel obligated to teach only that particular hospital's policies or solely medicated, or "active model" birth. Because I teach outside of a hospital setting as an independent childbirth educator, I'm free from that bias. I teach from an evidence-based standpoint, however, I am careful not to present my own beliefs on the birth process as fact. These are the ideals that make up my teaching philosophy

 

~ Patrice Nichole Byers