Sophie's Journey from NICU Doctor to Sacred Birth Worker

The Paediatrician who left NICU to Serve Women in Sacred Birth Work

The Sacred Birth Worker Mentorship attracts seasoned birth workers and health care workers as well as newbies to the birth field.

Today you are introduced to Sophie.

The NICU doctor who choose Sacred Birth Work.

Enjoy!

What I love about being a Sacred Birth Worker

I have witnessed birth many times as a doctor in the hospital system.

Working in the NICU, I have been there in people’s most intimate moments.

I’ve delivered the worst and the best news, faced people’s tears and joy, anger and gratitude.

Their stories touched me always, sometimes shook me to the core and brought tears to my eyes behind closed doors.

I always gave my best, but it was not personal.

I was there as a function, never as me.

Seeing me as the function is reassuring to people.

So, what I love most about becoming a Sacred Birth Worker is this complete shift in the way I do my medicine work.

Truly being with woman.

Building a meaningful relationship.

There is no predefined role and checklist, you’re not there just providing a service.

Traditionally women used to give birth supported, nurtured and fed by a group of women from their community and family that they had close relationship with.

In our modern world, birth has shifted from being this all-female, social event to a service provided by a medical expert with whom the woman has little or no relationship.

As Sacred Birth Worker we bring back a bit of that ancient wisdom and serve as powerful mirrors to the woman’s sovereignty and to the fact that birth is not something that happens to women, it is something women DO.

What brought me to birth work

I fell in love with pregnancy and birth in medical school.

What fascinated me about it was not necessarily what we do know about it, but rather what we don’t.

There is so much we don’t fully understand yet about pregnancy, fetal development and birth.

Even in a world where rationality, logic and science are at the core of our beliefs as modern western societies, there is still a place for magic and mystery. 

What then put me off Obstetrics though, was realizing there is no reverence for or even acknowledgment of this magic in the medical model.

And I just couldn’t align with this underlying mentality, that a woman giving birth is a mere vessel endangering the safe arrival of a baby and that our bodies are expected to fail at acting out a physiological function.

Pairing that with rational arguments on why birth is a space where a women’s humanity and dignity can be justifiably overlooked. 

I could feel something was wrong in all of it.

Which meant there must be a right.

And even though I decided against obstetrics and went into pediatrics, I went on a quest to discover it.

Discover, question and search over and over again.

The calling to birth work is like an itch you can’t scratch.

First it is a quiet voice, but it becomes louder and harder to ignore.

Subconsciously I had been aligning all my steps towards it.

The tipping point came when I started supporting friends and women around me post-partum and with breastfeeding issues.

All of a sudden I knew it from the inside out: this is what I am called to do.

How I work today as a Sacred Birth Worker

I work as a Doula and Sacred Space Holder.

I’m all about conscious pregnancy, birth and motherhood preparation as well as post-partum and breastfeeding support.

Many women struggle postpartum with overwhelm, lack of support and fears of not being or doing good enough.

They often feel discouraged in their breastfeeding journey and trapped in a downward spiral.

My work is all about giving women the tools to thrive in joy and softness, reconnect to intuition and discover all the wisdom they innately carry.

I offer

-        To walk with women in pregnancy: deep and intensive birth, post-partum and breastfeeding preparation sessions.

-        Post-partum support: initiating and establishing breastfeeding, holding space for the big emotions, practical help, my wisdom and knowledge as a former pediatrician with all your questions and worries around your baby, supporting the transition into connected and sovereign motherhood, closing ceremony for your post-partum

-        Breastfeeding support: trouble shooting or re-initiating breastfeeding when things don’t go as planned

-        Birth-Trauma and NICU stay debrief sessions

How the Mentorship has Prepared me to be a Space Holder & Advocate for the Rite of Passage of Birth

I came to the mentorship wanting to learn the art of space holding.

What I came to discover, is that when you allow space for your feminine magic and womb wisdom to come to the surface, it is all already there within you.

I think this is the real gem within the mentorship.

And doing this internal work together with other women is so precious.

The mentorship also helped me truly define and envision who I want to be in the birth space and how I’m going to bring my gifts to the world.

How the ongoing Mentorship Community supports me

Having a safe space to share and be witnessed as you build your sacred birth business is truly transformational.

It keeps you going and feeds the inner fire.

Being able to cultivate the feminine in circle with other women that have your back and lift you up at all times is true food for the soul.

Find Sophie

Have a question? Wanna chat? Having a rough post-partum? Or just feeling so ready to claim joy, softness, expansive transformation and connection to intuition in your motherhood journey?

You can find me on Instagram @reclaimingjoyfulmothering or you can contact me by sending an email to reclaiming.joyful.mothering@gmail.com.    

With love

Sophie