Why Mamatoto?

Mamatoto is Swahili for Mother Baby. I picked this name as the name of my doula business because of a book I bought when I was seventeen - also called Mamatoto. This was a beautiful book put out by The Body Shop, celebrating birth, mothers and babies all over the globe. It's full of history, culture, stories and amazing pictures of women and their babies.

When I was in high school I had planned on going into medicine, become a doctor and work with mothers and babies. Then college came, as a double premed and music major. The coursework was brutal and I chose what I was good at: music. Fast forward several years of college, teaching high school vocal music for three years, burning out and quitting and working in a hospital as a secretary. In a hospital setting I felt that call into medicine and decided to become a Physician Assistant. Once again the road was long and hard. I was married, had one child and realized even as a PA I wasn't going to have the personal attentiveness I wanted to give to my patients. Questioning my path again, I read about doulas in Paths to Becoming a Midwife. It's possible a lightbulb flashed above my head!

A month later I met a doula, grilled her senseless (she became a great friend and mentor), found a local DONA postpartum class, and had my first client (which quickly turned into three!) in a week! I asked our DONA certified teacher when the next birth doula class was held and she asked me when I wanted it! So I picked her first opening in January of 2008. I finished the class on January 25th and my first birth client had her baby on the 30th.

This has been a long journey. When I turned away from music, teaching, and becoming a pre-PA student and opened myself up to working and living as a doula, doors opened for me. Yet, the empathetic and emotional threads I carry as a musician weave effortlessly into my doula self. All of those classroom hours in biology, chemistry, A&P, psychology, my EMT-B certification and my job as a nursing assistant add another rich layer. Nothing was wasted - I finally feel I am where I need to be.