Shannon Moyer-Szemenyei
I firmly believe that my role as your doula is to support the decisions that you are making for your family, and to never impress my own personal opinion on you. Being a parent can be hard; I want to make sure you feel supported, empowered and validated in your choices. When we work together, you will receive my support, knowledge and consistent check-ins. You are not alone in your journey; I am here to help guide you along your way.
I believe in being mindful and living with passion. I believe in being kind to yourself. I believe in being present and experiencing things fully.
So often, we are burdened with guilt, self loathing, and indecisiveness. When I experienced birth trauma with my first pregnancy in 2010, and subsequently postpartum depression, I felt incredibly lost. I felt guilty for not being able to provide my son something society boasted as natural. I felt angry at my body and mind for failing me. I felt unsure of myself as a mother and a woman, every single step of the way.
In summer 2013, we experienced a miscarriage and a whole new set of emotions. In the blink of an eye, all of our previous trauma, fear and guilt came flooding back. At that moment, I resolved to be an active participant in our care and to advocate for self care.
With our next (and most recent) pregnancy, we hired a doula named Jena. The process and experience simply changed who my husband and I were as parents, partners and individuals. We saw first hand the benefit of an empowered birth process, and have been blessed to have a beautiful postpartum period and transition to being new parents again.
My hope as a doula is to give you the courage, bravery and validation you need to feel confident in your decisions as a parent, be it during pregnancy, birth or postpartum. I also hope to give you a safe place to breathe, vent, cry and be true to yourself, no matter what difficult emotions you are experiencing. Lastly, I hope to help you experience joy, and to help ease your transition as a new (and new again) parent.
Questions, comments and inquiries are always welcome. Please email me at shannon@sweetstellas.com
for more information!