Seen, Heard, Supported: A Conversation with Fionna Sams of My Wellness Womb

Today on Raising Hustle, I’m joined by Fionna Sams, certified doula and founder of My Wellness Womb — a woman who was called into birth work through her own lived experience.

After experiencing two very different births — one where she felt invisible and another where she felt deeply supported — Fionna knew she couldn’t stay silent. That contrast ignited her passion for advocating for mothers in the labor and delivery room.

With training through DONA and a background in health science and nursing, she blends evidence-based knowledge with deep, heart-centered compassion. Her mission is simple but powerful: every mother deserves to feel seen, heard, supported, and never alone during birth.

In this episode, we talk about answering the call to doula work, protecting your energy in intimate spaces, regulating your nervous system while holding space for others, navigating burnout, and redefining success after becoming a mom. We also dive into the reality of building a business while raising children — slower seasons, stronger boundaries, and honoring family first.

This conversation is about more than birth.
 It’s about advocacy, identity, boundaries, and what happens when motherhood changes you — and you let it.

If you’re navigating pregnancy, entrepreneurship, or both, this episode will leave you feeling grounded, empowered, and deeply understood. 💛

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This episode is sponsored by FM Bookkeeping 💛

FM Bookkeeping exists to empower business owners and give them peace of mind around their finances. We believe you deserve clarity, confidence, and support—without shame, judgment, or overwhelm.

Whether you’re behind, confused, or just tired of carrying the mental load of your numbers, FM Bookkeeping is here to help you feel grounded and in control again.

If you’re ready to stop stressing about your books and start feeling supported, visit:

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Welcome to Raising Hustle, the unfiltered podcast for the moms who are building empires with babies on their hips and grits in their hearts. I'm your host, Mariel Fry, bookkeeper by trade, hustler by nature, and mama by choice. Around here we're raising kids, raising hell, and raising the bar. If you're tired of choosing between nap time and next level dreams, this is your space. Let's redefine what it means to have it all on our own damn terms.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

Hey mamas, welcome back to Raising Hustle. I am so excited that I am joined by Fiona Sams, a certified doula and the founder of My Wellness Womb. Fiona was called into birth work after experiencing two very different births. One where she felt so invisible, and the other where she felt deeply supported. That contrast ignited her passion for advocating for mothers in the labor and delivery room. With training and just massive amounts of knowledge and a background in both health science and nursing, Fiona provides care that is both evidence-based and deeply compassionate. Her mission is simple but powerful to ensure every mother feels seen, heard, supported, and never alone during birth. Thank you, Fiona, for coming on. Fiona?

SPEAKER_03 1:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:17

Hi, thank you for being here. I'm really excited to have you. Thank you. Thank you for having me. It's it's an honor. Of course. So I'm really excited to get into your business. First of all, what were you doing before this business? Did you start this business before kids, after kids? Sounds like after kids, but I'd love to hear kind of a little bit of your background and what really was your why and what led you to even starting my wellness womb.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Yeah. So wellness womb was birthed out of my own personal trauma, as you know. Before this, I was actually a career nanny. I worked for a doctor in Asheville, North Carolina, and that was just personal. And then I slowly integrated into her office and helped her with business management and helped her grow a part of her company that just absolutely took off. I was going through nursing school at the time of being pregnant with an 18-month-old and working full-time. So I thrive in a lot of chaos. And the goal was always to go into a hospital and be a labor and delivery nurse to prevent the trauma that happened to me in my first birth from happening to another mom. I went through nursing school during the pandemic and really saw how much autonomy we lost in the labor and delivery room specifically. So I was like, well, I'm going to finish school anyways and then find another avenue. And with my second, I ended up hiring Adula. And my birth ultimately was cut in probably a quarter. So my first birth was three days long, and my second was only 12 hours. And so that's a vastly different, just based on support in general. And then going into postpartum with Adula was just very different. I had more knowledge, I had more support. And so it just made sense. I was like, if I can be involved with mothers and babies in this doula space, then that's what I'm going to do. And I thought birth work was just that birth work. However, the dual space just evolved for me. And I'm able to show up for moms in multifaceted ways, overnight newborn care, the birth space, daytime postpartum, meal prepping. And I've even thought about bringing on other doulas to support in other ways through bereavement or loss. And so it's just really like this wholesome encumberment of supporting and empowering moms through the birth process and into postpartum. I love this.

SPEAKER_02 3:51

Thank you for sharing. And I love the definition of what a doula is. I know you mentioned there's kind of this idea of a doula, and you offer so much more, which I absolutely love. I think the postpartum doula space is so important. And of course, doula's in labor, of course, but it's also this idea of postpartum doula and even prep beforehand. So what is the quote unquote definition of what a doula is supposed to quote unquote do? And then what should somebody even look out for for a doula if you're looking to even hire one or consider one? Because I think some people think, well, doula, what why would I have a doula? I have a nurse in the room. Like what is the difference between this?

SPEAKER_00 4:31

Absolutely. So let's kind of go back. So the United States C-section rate is one of the highest across all nations. And so dual work is birthed from the perspective that you work for that person specifically to protect the space and to protect your client ultimately. Obviously, there's education and empowerment, but the hospital system loves to take advantage of first-time moms and even seasoned moms, where maybe there's fear-mongering or suggestions of interventions that just weren't needed. And so the definition of a doula is not only supporting and empowering, but advocating, taking on the role of breaking down medical lingo into a more digestible information for your client, because they're not going to understand everything. And so having that nursing background really gives me a benefit for my clients to understand exactly what's happening in the birthroom. And then as far as like on the postpartum side, it's really an unbiased standpoint where as long as your client is informed and has done their own research, not just what you have given them, you're not there to tell them what to do. You're there to help them guide them and let them make the best decisions for their family.

SPEAKER_02 5:49

That's awesome. And what are some questions if you were to interview a doula? I think for so many people, this word doula is really, I don't want to say has been trendy, quote unquote, because I don't love that. Cause I think doula's are here to stay. And so many women almost feel it's like a mandatory, quote unquote, thing to have. I know for myself, I had a doula for my first birth and it was wonderful. When it comes to interviewing a doula or you're asking a doula certain questions, what are some questions that you think, especially a first-time mom who's pregnant, has no idea what she's getting herself into, should ask a doula that will make them feel like seen and secure? Again, I love this idea that you guide somebody versus almost telling them what to do. I think we, as like, especially as a new mom myself, we're very intuitive. And I think we want someone to kind of support that. And so what does that look like for someone interviewing a doula or asking a doula, just certain questions of like, where do I even begin? Because I think it can feel very overwhelming, if especially if you don't know what a doula is or you want to hire one, but you have no idea where to start.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

Absolutely. First and foremost, asking them what their niche is. What do they thrive in? Do they thrive in a hospital setting, home birth setting, birth center setting? If you're planning a C-section, are they gonna support that? If you're a second-time mom, do they support a V back? And by support, ask deeper questions, don't just ask surface level. So, what does your involvement look like in this birth space? How are you going to advocate if this were to arise? And now, doulas can't talk specifically to medical staff. However, they can be one step ahead and they can prepare for the next coming questions and give you the information before the questions are asked and also experience. When I was a doula starting out, I'm not gonna lie, the one question I loathed was, how long have you been doing this? And I'm like, not very long, but please just have faith in me. Because I am a fierce advocate. I've been an advocate for the elderly in medical situations more times than I can count. And for many family members, and not just across my own family, but my husband's family. And so that kind of is where my advocacy part comes in. However, when you're interviewing a doula, yes, ask experience if that matters. But most importantly, are they guaranteeing anything as far as outcomes? So, how do you think this will play out? And if they're giving you their opinion, that's something that's going to carry over into your birth experience. If they're just giving you in general knowledge and they're holding two truths in their head that, for example, a vaginal birth with intervention can still be empowering, or a C-section can still be empowering. And they're not saying home birth unmedicated is the only way to go. This is the only way that you should be able to do it. That is where you see the flexibilities in doulas. And that's more likely the person you want to go with, is the people that can hold two truths in their head, give you unbiased information, and never guarantee anything.

SPEAKER_02 9:04

I love this golden nugget of knowledge because this is something I really looked at when I looked at a doula. For me, look, I respect anybody to do the home birth thing, if that's your thing. I personally, for my first time, I wanted a hospital and I wanted a doula who was going to be open-minded to that. And when I hired my first doula, it was a wonderful experience for that reason, just having that open-minded and flexibility. But she had the knowledge too, right? And I think what you're saying is you want somebody who's knowledgeable, who can understand, but at the same time be open-minded to you in your situation. So I love this. But when it comes to your business, I think one of the things you mentioned before were challenges. And one of the challenges you said you had was a little bit of imposter syndrome, especially sounds like in the beginning where people are asking you your experience. What other challenges have you essentially gone through in this business? Because I can imagine it's so you're growing a business. So there's a lot of things that you have to be really mindful of, but there's also a lot of personalities. This is a very personal, vulnerable experience. So, what are some of the challenges that you face kind of growing this business and being a doula and caring for your clients?

SPEAKER_00 10:16

Yeah, absolutely. And so, like you said, imposter syndrome. I don't feel like that ever goes away as an entrepreneur. I think when you break into new levels and new heights of business and you come into new clientele or you start serving a new demographic, the imposter syndrome is real. And I think that's just for everyone in business. But also, like you said, like being a mom, carrying the torch, being able to rely on the people in my corner to step in when things happen. Because birth happens and it is very gray, and you never know when it's gonna happen. Some other challenges that I recently have faced is I can't say yes to everything. I am a keep accepting people until I'm at the brim, and that will quickly lead to burnout. And so I have learned when to say no or refer out or grow my team, which is very scary. Some other challenges is not everyone is for you. And you're allowed to say no, I don't think this is a good fit, or hey, I think you would be better off with this person, whether it be personality or demands or specifically what they're looking for. You guys might vibe and then things might come out where you're like, oh, this is just not, this isn't, this isn't the person for me. And that's okay. It's okay that not everyone is for you. And I'm saying that to myself at this point.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

And that's okay. I would also say another thing to add, it's it's of course, no, it's also referring, but also raising your prices. And I think for any entrepreneur listening to this, this is a really good lesson where if you are getting booked, right? And you are getting busy and people want to work with you, that is the time to raise your price. That is the time to level up as well. Because you know your value add, you know your worth. And clearly people are coming in. So I think when you think about, yes, maybe energy-wise, especially for the doula world, I even feel that in my world as a bookkeeper, not every client is a good client for me. And I'm okay with that. And I refer out to someone who might be a better fit, but it's also raising your prices and leveling up too. So for any entrepreneur listening to that, I think there's so many different facets and challenges, but there's always ways to learn and grow. So I love that. I want to go into some myths and ideas because a lot of times between pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, a lot of times people just have these like woo-woo ideas or thoughts, or, you know, I had them, right? I think every new mom has them. What are some that you've heard or some that you have to make realistic to people of like the experience of any of this, right? Because I'm sure some people have wild expectations or people think that, I don't know, like, not like you'll like win gold after you have a baby, but I think some people have wild expectations of what they think birth or labor or postpartum is going to be like. So, what are some crazy myths or things that you've dealt with with clients that you've had to maybe level out expectations or be a little bit more realistic on?

SPEAKER_00 13:25

If you ask anyone on my team, I am probably one of the most realistic doulas you will ever encounter. I love a home birth, but we're also going to plan for a transfer. We're also going to plan for a catastrophic event. Not that we're planning on it to happen, but if we can wrap our head around the realities that birth is messy, birth is unpredictable, you are going to leave that birth with less trauma. And even when it comes to breastfeeding, when people have these ideas that it's like riding a bike, I really hate to burst your bubble babe, but let's do a lactation prenatal consultation to make sure everything is in alignment. You have enough breast tissue, your mammary glands are good, or you know, what kind of nipples do you have? And so I feel like the birth world has put this bubble around birth and postpartum that it is that birth is scary. It doesn't have to be scary. It can be, but it doesn't have to be. And postpartum is this glorious thing that we go through. And postpartum is the trenches. It is rediscovering yourself, it is becoming a new person. And I am the most realistic person when it comes to that that hey, you might need help. And it is okay to ask for help.

SPEAKER_02 14:48

I love this, first of all. So many things to unpack because I never heard of a lactation pre-consulting kind of meeting. Everyone tells you postpartum to hire a lactation consultant, but nobody tells you about the pre. Because for me, I really did not like breastfeeding. I felt it was really weird. It was awkward, it was uncomfortable, it was not my jam. And I actually, for me, focused a lot more on postpartum because it is, it is the trenches. I think you're so spot on. The sleep deprivation, the trenches, the reality that you have this baby, but you go home with this baby and a perfect world, and you think, well, what do I do? It's it's one of the scariest things in the world. And I love the services that you offer when it comes to especially postpartum help, because it's it is hard. And to your point with birth and and labor, I felt so empowered with Adula. And so hopefully anyone listening to this may consider Adula, right? Or even Fiona. So coming back to your business a little bit, in regards to starting this business, working full-time in it, what made you want to like have the leap of faith to do this business full-time and really grow it? Like, why, why do this business full-time? Why get into the doula space? Why really help these women? Because I think what you do, you could always go back to nursing, you could always go back to doing other things. But what made you want to really do a business in this and owning your own business? Because I think having a business is really hard. But then now as a doula, it's so personal and dealing with just all kinds of women, especially hormonal women. We're all kind of crazy on hormones. So I'm very curious as to why you would want to start your own business being a doula.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

Yeah. So not many people know this, but I own wellness loom almost wasn't a thing. I almost joined another agency here in Greenville, and it honestly felt like the golden fit. And I was, I was amped. I was like, this is it. I'm so excited. I don't have to deal with the back end, the bookkeeping, the insurance. Like, this is great. And I'll never forget, I had a phone call with my mom and she called me and she was like, Fiona, what are you doing? And I was like, What do you mean? She was like, How long have you been in business? And I was like, Well, like less than six months. She's like, Okay, are you making money? And I was like, Well, yeah. And she's like, Well, why are you giving up on it? And I was like, I didn't really think of it that way. I didn't think that I was giving up on my business. I thought I was just advancing myself, working for someone who has more experience than me. And my mom was like, you have the same opportunity as this person does. So give it a year. I want you to give it a year. And if you make no money, you can call me and yell at me and tell me I'm wrong. She's like, but I think you're gonna prove yourself otherwise. And I was like, you know what? You're right. And so I did. I went for a year and it has turned out better than I could have ever expected. But dual work and working with the women, like you said, hormonal women at that. I was never a vulnerable person growing up. And I am now probably one of the most vulnerable people. And I love seeing moms become moms and watching them transform from their maiden self into this new being. And that comes with fear and anxiety, and it's a lot for us to digest. And I love that they trust me. And I love that they invite me into this space, and it is an honor. Like the the journeys I have been on with some of these moms, the challenges that they face, and the fact that they know that they can just call me, that I'll pick up at any time, and that we can have an honest heart-to-heart conversation. Or sometimes I have to have that honest heart-to-heart conversation with them, and they receive it so well. And it's it's honestly just like this blessing that I know that could never be described in any other way than this is a calling that I was meant to be in. Yeah, it is, it's and watching these babies grow up, oh my goodness, that is like just golden right there. And watching them go through postpartum, and my favorite part of my postpartum, my last prenatal with every mom, I do a foot soak with them, but I sit at their feet and I put myself in a lower position. So if you think psychologically, I'm putting myself at a lower position and I'm giving I'm doing a service for them, and we digest their entire birth and we recenter their nervous system and they walk away a different person. And that's ultimately why I do this.

SPEAKER_02 19:38

Um, mic drop.

SPEAKER_04 19:41

That is beautiful. That is beautiful. Literally, I think it's so profound the work you do.

SPEAKER_02 19:48

And to so many, especially new moms in this, it's it's incredible. I love everything you're saying. I think it's beautiful. And to have that conversation, by the way, with your mom and having that support, I think every entrepreneur needs some kind of accountability, support, community. It's so, so important because there are times in your business, I felt this myself, where I want to throw the towel. I say I'm done. I don't want to do this. But when you have someone propelling you to try, give it some time, it makes everything so much better and you fight so much harder. But your why as a business owner, to anyone listening to this, is going to propel you to the next level. And it's going to propel you not on your best days, because who cares? Not in a bad way, but your best days are great. But it's going to propel you on your worst day, your shit day. The day you think, what am I doing? That why has to be so ingrained. And Fiona's why right there is everything. So I just want to like reiterate that because I think that's amazing. One of the things you mentioned before in your why was answering to these women and having these conversations and being open and vulnerable on both ends. When it comes to boundaries, I think it's really hard as an entrepreneur to quote unquote have boundaries. I try, right? My business, a little different. I don't want to say I'm like banking hours, but people sometimes think that. I had one of my clients think that um a couple of months ago. But I'm really flexible with my clients in terms of taking calls. And it can be really hard to have the boundary, especially as a mom with a family and a business. There's clients who just need you all kinds of the hours of the day. So what are you doing to, I don't want to say self-regulate your nervous system, but what are you doing boundary-wise, quote unquote, to set expectations with people? I think as a business owner, you want to make sure that you are there for your clients and you're there to help them and be there for them. But you also have to take care of yourself. We can't pour out of an empty glass. So, what are some tips and things that you're doing in your business and for yourself to kind of maintain the boundary and take care of yourself while also being there for your clients? When you said

SPEAKER_00 22:00

Boundaries, I literally wanted to bust out laughing. Because I literally have none. It is like the the bane of my existence. I have boundaries in place in a contract. Now, do I execute them well? No. It has gotten better the longer that I have done this because burnout is real. And I've experienced some sticky months where I'm like, oh, am I gonna survive? Um, and so if you if you look at my contract, it says I'm pretty much bank hours too, right? I will respond between the times of nine and five. And if I'm on a call for you, which is at 37 weeks, you can call or text at any time and get an immediate response from me. And so in the beginning, I was immediately responding to every single person. And that's a lot. That's a lot. And so now I really give myself space. And so with the workload that I have, with the team that I'm growing, if I'm not on call for someone, I might give myself about 24 hours to respond, especially if it's not urgent. I might glance at the text message, see if it's urgent. If it's not urgent, I kind of let it be for a little bit. I do what I need to do, and then I come back to it and I always leave it unread. So sometimes that notification of like 11 unread text messages is glaring at me, and I want to have a mental breakdown because I hate unread notifications. But I know that if I immediately respond to people in the moment that they text me, and then it continues of this ongoing conversation all day long, I would never put my phone down. So yeah, something else that I've been looking at, I don't know if you've seen this. Have you heard of the brick? Like the thing, right? Okay. I've been looking in. Yes, I have heard of this. However, I can't brick my phone text messages and phone calls for the reason that I do what I do. But I've thought about it. I've thought about it. But yeah, those are kind of some boundaries that I have in place around client correspondence and things like that. But I might be at an overnight and I'm like, okay, I need to respond to these text messages. And I might respond at 2 or 3 a.m. But iPhone has this lovely send at a later time. And so I'll send it during my business hours and so that they will get a response notification around the time that I'm should be awake.

SPEAKER_02 24:21

I love this. I actually do this all the time because I just wake up at three, four in the morning because I'm crazy. But I go to bed at like eight, eight o'clock, nine o'clock. And so one of the things I do is if I'm up really early, I'll schedule. You can schedule send emails. I do eight in the morning, I'll do text messages nine in the morning. And I think it's such a great tip. For anyone with Android, that's kind of frustrating because you can't necessarily do that. But for iMessage, that is such a great tip for anybody who wants to respond, quote unquote, but they want to act like it's during work hours. I think it's a great tip. And anything like the brick, I always think is really great if you're gonna utilize it. And to take that break, I think as a society almost, we're so ingrained to be on social media and scroll or be on our phone or do whatever. And so to have something to literally block you, I think is great. Something I've kind of looked into. Who knows if I'll do it? But I love the idea. I think the idea is really fabulous. So yeah, I guess with like being a mom and a business owner and dealing with clients, dealing with your family, how do you manage that? And I know there's no such thing as like balance, but how are you managing kind of juggling all of these things? Because it's right, I I look at it as it's a business owner, it's being a mother, it's being a wife, and it's managing a house.

SPEAKER_00 25:39

Yeah, that that doesn't exist in the world that I live in, unfortunately. I balance as well as I can. And what I mean by that is I have intentionally built an incredible village around me that can step in at any moment and help me with my kiddos. My husband is an amazing support person to where I could call him if he's at work and be like, hey, I've got my mom in labor. I need you to handle childcare stuff. Like I mentally cannot be in two places at once. And he steps in seamlessly and he will handle everything, whether if it's him that needs to leave work and go get the kids, or he will call our babysitters and figure out childcare. Something else that I'm looking into is either a laundry service or a weekly cleaner, because I cannot stand a dirty house. It just the clutter clutters my mind, and it just feels like I have more to do on my to-do list. And so if I'm thinking about balance in this wholesome way, if if it was a perfect world, I think I've got part of it down. I think the other part is figuring out how to manage the house portion. We, me and my husband are very intentional about our time together and how we spend it and getting a babysitter when we need it, being around friends when I'm not on call, and being intentional with our children as well. So we don't do a whole lot outside of our house right now with the season that we're in because of how busy my life is, but we're very intentional with the way that we spend our time. And the other half would be getting my life together inside of my house.

SPEAKER_02 27:22

And that's okay. I guess I just want to be clear on this because this is not a perfect situation. And I think the beauty of entrepreneurship, like raising children, is you're adaptable, you're flexible, and you shift. But I think the one thing women are really great at is delegating. And I think for you, I delegate a cleaner every two weeks. And I love that I love a clean house myself. One of the things I've done is purge stuff lately. I am just so sick of crap in my house that I'm so excited to just get rid of things. I recently donated like six bags to Goodwill. I just am so overstuffed. It's such a good feeling. Oh, it's the best feeling. So I love that you're kind of doing all of this and thinking about being intentional and having a partner who's supportive. I think for any single mamas, I give y'all a lot of credit. I think it's really hard to not have a partner. But if you are fortunate to have a partner and especially one who's supportive and loving, especially of the business that you're building, it really is the best feeling. So I love that you have that kind of support within your business, but really your family. Otherwise, it could be almost impossible to grow a business without that kind of support. I know that was for myself. So I love that that was your situation too.

SPEAKER_00 28:37

Yeah, you're you're absolutely right. That honestly, like if I didn't have the support of my husband 100% to invest myself, my whole self into this business, it wouldn't be anywhere where it is today, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 28:51

Yeah, I agree. I think having support, look, and it's nice to have support of a partner. And I I have some entrepreneurs in my life who would love a partner. But also I look at support of like people in your community. It's babysitters. It's also, for me, I have entrepreneurial friends who are moms who are bookkeepers. And so it's kind of the big thing I say is like, find your people in this because it can be really challenging and lonely. I think you need groups of different kinds of people, like a partner, like a spouse to have kids is great, to have family is great, to have friends is great, to have other colleagues or entrepreneurs in the space, or other entrepreneurs in general is great. I think having a mix of these people is wonderful. And a couple more questions before we wrap up. One of the things I want to talk about is how do you defy success? This is a question I get quite a bit because I spoke at high school a while ago and someone asked, well, what's the most successful business? And what I explained to people, I said, success to me is more of a lifestyle. And it's not necessarily like, okay, my business made$20 million. It doesn't mean you keep$20 million. I think anybody who owns a business knows this. But for you, what is your definition of success in business and life and everything? Because everybody has their own definition. And so I'd love to hear what yours means.

SPEAKER_00 30:13

Yeah. No, this takes me back to a lot of my why. And the definition of success isn't that I'm booked out six months ahead. Like that would be amazing. But if it doesn't happen, that's okay. The definition of success is for me is being able to show up as a mom for my children in every aspect of their life. And owning my own business has given me that freedom. I get to decide when I take on clients. I get to decide when I don't take on clients. I remember when I was still working my hourly job and the school, the school year was coming up and the school calendars were coming out, and we were looking at the days and times that my one kiddo was going to have off, and who was going to take what holidays off of work and what PTO were we going to use. And it was just, it was a sacrifice to have to miss work if we didn't have the PTO, because then we weren't getting paid, and then our bills couldn't get paid. And I don't have that problem anymore. And honestly, that is success enough for me that I know that if one of my kids is sick, my clients are so understanding because they're moms too. I can happily go get my kiddo, bring him home, comfort him, nurture him, and reschedule him to a different day. I know that when school is out, I'm not scheduling any clients for spring break because we're going to go take a vacation as a family. And we've never had that luxury before. And we were able to do it financially too, obviously with the business, but just the flexibility through being a business owner, that is that is success enough for me.

SPEAKER_02 32:01

I love that. I think so many people can really hone on this, especially moms. I think a lot of times when you work in corporate, to your point, you're so stressed about how many days you could take off or your schedule or childcare. And it just makes it so frustrating to be a parent. But when you have your own business, and especially the way you and I have our businesses, we can take the time off. We can go on the vacation, we can do all the things, and we can still delegate and outsource, and our business will still run. Our business will still go. Our business will still be there. And that is something so powerful. So I really truly loved that. And in terms of any mom who is thinking about starting a business like this, and I'm gonna say for your business, it's very vulnerable, it's very sensitive, it's very emotional, it's very hormonal. You're tapping into people's lives and really making a change and a difference. For any mother or anyone becoming a mom wanting to start a doula business or maybe lactation consultant or anything related, I'd say, to pregnancy birth, postpartum to help mothers. What advice would you give to them, even getting into this business, thinking about this business, anything related, correlated to like pregnancy birth, and all of the things?

SPEAKER_00 33:19

Yeah, it's a reality check of just how demanding it is. If you're I we're seeing an influx of people getting dual certifications and coming to the doula world and then not knowing what to do next. And I would just have to say, if you're coming into the birth workspace, you have to allow yourself to also be vulnerable and not to just listen, but to also let yourself break open. And and this work has been so healing for me in a lot of aspects of my life. But I feel like if I was the person I was 10 years ago, I think I would hate this job, honestly. And so it's a knowing that it is not only a physical, an emotional, and just demanding job, it is something that you are entrusted with. And can you be that trustworthy person? Can you be that vulnerable space? Can you hold two truths in your mind? Can you leave your own birth trauma at the door to meet another mama in of in the space that she's in? Are you are you going to advocate in a way that is going to cause friction between medical staff? Or are you going to bring a respectful advocacy to the birth space to protect your birth space? And so there's a lot of things that when we go through our doula training that we realize that we're like, holy smokes, I have a lot of reflection that I have to do. Like, can I step into this space wholly and not bring my own crap with me?

SPEAKER_02 35:00

Sounds like therapy, to be honest with you. It sounds like you have to almost go through your own trauma as you're going through this and learning this and helping people. I think it's so heavy what you help women with, and it's so vulnerable. I joke, I could never in my whole life look at a vagina. I could never like go into like bodily fluids. Like I think the work you do is amazing in that sense. But it is, look, there is physical, of course, but it's so mental, especially like I said, dealing with hormonal women. It's such a mind thing. So the work you do is amazing. Do you have any last advice, closing statement, anything that you want to share that you didn't get the opportunity to share within this episode that you'd love for moms to know, entrepreneurs to know, new moms to know, just to feel safe, secure, and to know like everything will be okay.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

Yeah. No, this has been wonderful. For my new moms, do your homework and don't go into birth blind, thinking that everything is gonna go okay. Have a plan. For my entrepreneurial moms, like you have said before, your why will carry you on your worst days and don't give up too soon. And lastly, to people that are thinking about just starting their own business, do it. Don't be afraid and step into it boldly and own it. Because if I would not have jumped, I would not be where I am today.

SPEAKER_02 36:43

I love this. And actually, I want to ask one other question in regards to some of the things you've mentioned. For moms doing homework, I tried to do a lot of homework as a new mom. Some of the things I did, which I'm not doing as much going into my second birth, but I had a pelvic fluorotherapist, I had a doula, I had a night nurse consultant. I feel like I tried to hire quote unquote, I had like a lactation consultant as well. I tried to hire certain people throughout my journey, a mental health coach, all of these things. For any new moms out there, when you say do homework or to look into things, what are some doctors or therapists or pelvic floor therapists? Like, what do you recommend for a new mom to even look into? Because I think it's so overwhelming to figure out what you need, what you don't need. I know some of this can be intuitive, but I'm curious what homework you think new moms should consider looking into as they prepare for pregnancy, birth, and then postpartum.

SPEAKER_00 37:44

Yeah, no, absolutely. Being a new mom, like you said, the the word that came to my mind was overwhelming and it can be, but it doesn't have to be. So, like you said, that you had hired all these people to make sure that you were the most prepared. And I think the intuition part really plays into this. So the the two non-negotiables would be a childbirth education class led by somebody who actually knows what they're talking about. And I'm happy to give you a link to put in if you have show notes, I'm happy to give that to you.

SPEAKER_02 38:18

Yes, I would love that. Because I think for anybody listening to this throughout the country, it'd be, of course, in Greenville is great. But if you have any recommendations for anyone throughout the country where they can look up, right, or have any links or knowledge or information, the more information I'm, you know, knowledge is power, we spread the wealth on that. So we'd love all of it.

SPEAKER_00 38:39

Perfect. So I'll drop some links, I'll have her drop some links in the show notes. But the the biggest one is somebody that is very knowledgeable in childbirth education and that can give you that unbiased um standpoint. And I have a link for you, and we'll put it in the show notes below. The second thing, the second non-negotiable would be a lactation consultant prenatally if you plan on breastfeeding. If you do not plan on breastfeeding, that is totally fine with me. I'm listening bottles are they are very helpful. And even if you plan on formula, researching the formula you want to use and why you want to use it, does it align with your values? A few other things, like you mentioned, if you're having pelvic dysfunction, please seek out a pelvic floor physical therapist. I would say I have one more non-negotiable, and that would be chiropractic care. And I feel like that is very taboo, but finding someone that is a Webster technique, which is specific to a pregnant woman's body and how to adjust safely through pregnancy to have the most aligned hips and nervous system going into this delivery process really gives you the better outcome. So those would be my three non-negotiables. And those, the ones that are very knowledgeable in the birth prep space are going to give you birth, so prenatal birth, dads, how dads can support you, postpartum, and newborn care. And they're gonna give you all-encompassing information. So you don't have to go seeking individual information. And also stay off Google and TikTok, please.

SPEAKER_02 40:17

I think, yes, I think people can go down rabbit holes and it it can be very overwhelming to your point. And I love that. And again, one more question before we really, really wrap up here. One of the things my doula taught me, which I'm curious about your thoughts of as a doula having, you know, the expertise in this. A lot of times when you go to the OB, some of the things they do are kind of crazy, right? Like I never understood them like measuring my belly. I always thought that was like so weird, especially toward the end, like when you get to third trimester and you go every week. I feel like they always measure your belly to see how far along you are. The one thing that they always pressured me on personally, and I'm sure other patients like myself who are pregnant, is this idea of like birth plan. Like, have this birth plan. And my husband and I used to like laugh or like, you know, the plans to get the baby out, like baby out of my body and like mom healthy, baby healthy, period. So one of the things my doula recommended was like birth preferences, right? Like if a plan A doesn't work out, like have plan B, plan C, plan D, etc. I'm curious what kind of advice you give to women, because the my OB pretty much said having birth preferences, birth preferences would make me more open-minded. I'd have a better birth and delivery, and I knock on what did. So I'm curious your thoughts around this in terms of do you recommend birth plans? Do you like the idea of birth preferences? Like what do you explain to your clients and how do you have those conversations?

SPEAKER_00 41:45

Yeah. And I think this loops back into being a very realistic doula and understanding that birth unfolds in different magnitudes. And a lot of my clients, like you said, the birth plan is just, it's very driven right now. And I have them create a birth plan and then I have them create birth preferences. So they're allowed to have this ideal way that they would love for their birth to go. But then we open up the realistic part of birth and say they're in birth for a really long time. Do you want an epidural? How do you want to manage pain? How do you see this unfolding? And I have a lot of crunchy moms that are like, I just want a natural birth, no interventions, no IV. And the thing is, the sad part about this is that birth plan is needed when you don't want interventions and you're going to a hospital because it's something you actually give over to the nurses. And then they just like kind of have this checklist like, okay, we're not suggesting this, we're not suggesting this. We they don't want IV, they're not consenting to blood draw. And one of the reasons why I have them put together this ideal birth plan is because we labor at home together. And so when we get to the hospital, they are more than likely in transition or close to pushing. So answering questions, I think you could probably attest to this. Answering questions from transition to pushing is just not in the cards for a mom. And so having that birth plan laid out of their preferences for this ideal birth to hand over to the nurses, right? And on this birth plan, they also put baby care plan and postpartum preferences as well. So it's not just how they want their birth to unfold, but how they want to be treated after, how they want their placenta delivered, um, delayed cord clamping, all the stuff, like all of their wishes that could potentially get overlooked once baby is delivered, because then it's kind of like chaos. So this birth plan kind of holds the hospital accountable to honoring their wishes if they have strong wishes. I have some class. That are like, I don't really care how this goes. So we show up with nothing and we just let birth play. And they're just taking it one step at a time. But I definitely, my moms that are like so hardcore on having this unmedicated hospital birth, I make sure they have that golden plan. But then I also talk to them about interventions and what that looks like and how they can still have autonomy over these decisions and how hospital policy is not law and that they are allowed to make choices beyond the suggestions. And so again, like it's just that realistic standpoint that if we hold so tightly to this ideal birth plan and we don't consider our birth preferences, that creates more birth trauma. And when things go sideways, then I have to kind of like crash course educate in the moment. And they're in no place to like actually absorb that information. And then it feels like birth is happening to you and you are not in control.

SPEAKER_02 45:05

I love this. Um much to unpack here for a second because I like the idea of a plan and preferences at the same time. And I think we all have this idea of what we want. But then I really appreciate your realism of intervention. Like, truthfully, shit happens and shit really happens in birth. And I have heard crazy stories of people who had this whole birth plan and then things went sideways and it just didn't go the way it was supposed to. And so I think when you have a little bit of both, I think it's kind of that magic secret sauce. And again, to have a doula guide you through this and to have the conversations beforehand, especially first-time mom, it will just make the world of a difference. I know for me that was the case. And I'm sure for so many other new moms who hired doula's like Fiona, it will make the difference and make or break you. Um, so I I love that you've said all of those things. And just to wrap up, Fiona, it's been wonderful to have you to talk about my wellness womb, to talk about you starting this business and growing it to be so much more than what you thought. I think as any mom entrepreneur, you really can start a business and make something beautiful for yourself. And really just doing it is the best advice to give. And you truly learn along the way the mistakes, the errors, but you get through it. You really get through that. And just talking about pregnancy, birth, postpartum, do your homework, do your research. It is so important to feel empowered through this. This is one of the most empowering and just biggest changes of your life. I joke about this all the time. Like getting married's great, owning a house is great, starting a business is kind of like birthing something, but actually birthing a human is the thing for me that has changed my life the most. And so I love that you're able to navigate and help women go through this and your why is so prevalent and so real. And so many women can connect with you there. And so I'd love for you to just share all your social ways people can reach out, connect with you, and essentially work with you.

SPEAKER_03 47:09

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. This has been wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 47:11

I love that I got to answer some deeper questions about my business and the heart behind it, because I don't feel like a lot of people see that. Yeah, so you can uh find me at www.mywellnesswoom.com and you can find me on Instagram, wellness. And over on Facebook as well.

SPEAKER_03 47:33

If you're a Facebook girly or a Facebook dad, it's just wellness womb over there. Wonderful. Thank you so much, Fiona. I loved having you on. Awesome. Thank you so much. Have a great day.

SPEAKER_01 47:43

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