LIFTS Out Loud: Julianne Denny - Birthwork as Medicine

Guest Bio: 

Julianne Denny (She/Her)
Cree, Ojibway, Mi’kmaq
Raised in ceremony, Julianne lives in Montana with her family. She is an Indigenous doula supporting families across rural communities, providing culturally grounded care and guidance through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.

Julianne's doula work: https://www.morningstarbirthworkz.com/

Episode Description: 

In this episode, Emily Freeman sits down with Julianne Denny, an Indigenous doula serving families in rural Montana. Julianne shares her personal journey from experiencing a mental health crisis as a new mom to becoming a doula supporting Indigenous families across the state. She discusses the vital role doulas play in Montana—especially in rural areas—offering emotional support, practical help, and culturally informed care.

Julianne highlights how birth work can be healing, not only for families but for doulas themselves, and shares her experiences navigating traditional practices, breastfeeding challenges, and healthcare systems. She also talks about the importance of workforce development, including the recent Montana doula bill and training opportunities for Indigenous birth workers.

Resources: 

• Read Julianne's story in LIFTS Magazine: https://hmhb-mt.org/magazine/
• HMHB's Native American Initiatives (NAI) - includes download link to Dr. Amy Stiffarm's cultural safety toolkit for hospitals and other medical providers: https://hmhb-mt.org/native-american-initiatives/ 
• Information about doulas and indigenous birthworkers in MT: https://www.montanadoulacollaborative.org/
• MT Doula Collaborative: https://www.montanadoulacollaborative.org/
• Article about MT Senate Bill 319, creating a certification and licensure process for doulas: https://montanafreepress.org/2025/05/14/governor-signs-new-law-professionalizing-doula-care/

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For statewide resources to support Montana families in the 0-3 years of parenting, check out the LIFTS online resource guide at
https://hmhb-lifts.org/

Transcript

Emily Freeman, HMHB-MT: 0:04

Welcome to season five of the LIFTS podcast, where we connect with parents, caregivers, providers, and advocates for Montana families in the early years of parenting. Through personal stories of lived experience and expert insights, we highlight the people and programs that are helping families thrive. I'm Emily Freeman and this is The LIFTS Podcast, A project of Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies, the Montana Coalition.

Julianne Denny: 0:33

Hello everyone. My name is Julianne Denny and I'm here today to read'Birth Work as Medicine'. I first received birth work support in 2015 with my first son. I was in a mental health crisis and really needed help. I was living by myself at the time, and there were days where I would just lie in bed and not wanna cook or eat or anything. My doula would come and help me get outta bed and just do life. She visited my home, delivered care packages, and stayed on call whenever I needed her. She brought light, grounding and steady presence. She reminded me that I deserved softness and care and gave me a reason to keep going. In 2023, I trained as a doula and have worked with families, both in person and online. Through my practice, I support Indigenous families across Montana and beyond, offering culturally accurate, spiritually respectful resources that reflect our communities. I didn't plan to be a birth worker. I always thought I was just going to be an artist, but this work spoke to me. I've always wondered where I belong, and now I know. I've had a few clients who reminded me of my younger version of myself, which feels karmic, like one of those full circle moments. Doulas are particularly valuable in Montana's rural areas because we can travel. We are like mobile support units. We can help clients get to their appointments and accompany them when things are tough. Can you imagine being told by a doctor that you're going to lose a baby and you go home and you are by yourself? We are the people who show up when nobody else can. I believe that we can save more lives through preventative measures because we all know the statistics. Doulas can help people survive. A doula is for anyone who could use a break, who needs things done around the house, who needs help with sleep management, or could use some massage. If someone wants their partner more involved, we are good at coaching them too. Doulas are for first time moms, and also people who aren't first time moms. They can become your best ally and your strongest advocate. The biggest thing for me is to witness the empowerment, to see a mom who's done a whole 180 and just lights up when you show up. It's an honor to help moms and families to see their own strengths. This journey began with my own healing, but it grew into something far bigger. Birth work didn't just carry me through. It became the medicine I now offer others. As a doula, I get to be the mom I never had, which is a ceremonial gift that I can give.

Emily Freeman, HMHB-MT: 3:47

Beautiful. So Jules What was it like to see your story and your photos in the LIFTS magazine?

Julianne Denny: 3:55

I thought they were really beautiful. I had a photographer, Erin LaMere her business is called Rezolution and she was the one who did my pictures and she was just so fun and she bonded with my daughter too. It was an easy experience and I would do it again

Emily Freeman: 4:15

Was there a part of your story that you felt was most important to tell?

Julianne Denny: 4:19

The part of stating that I was on my own when I was struggling. Because I was in a relationship, but just stating the fact that I was on my own gave me power back. And I think that surviving that loneliness was a huge part of almost having like a Phoenix moment.

Emily Freeman: 4:45

Mm-hmm.

Julianne Denny: 4:46

So coming back out of it stronger and realizing that although a relationship may fail or you guys were just not meant for each other, as a mom, you can still find the right people to give you the love that you should be receiving from a partner. Or, just to learn to love yourself through the pain.

Emily Freeman: 5:12

And you work as a doula in a rural part of Montana?

Julianne Denny: 5:16

Yeah, I reside in Havre, Montana, which is a few miles away from the Rocky Boy Reservation, and that's where I raise my kids. So every morning we get up, we drive to the rez, and then we drop my kids off at school. And then I usually touch base with any moms I'm working on first thing in the morning and just kind of gauge where they're at or if they need support. And then if they don't answer me, I kind of just you know, wait for them whenever they're ready to answer me. I've been supporting moms here for, I would say two years, and I've been really working on, my knowledge development around plant medicines and how they help mothers. That's kind of my focus right now is advancing that.

Emily Freeman: 6:11

And for somebody listening who might be curious about getting into doula work, particularly Indigenous doula work, are there any resources that you would point them towards?

Julianne Denny: 6:22

Yeah, I would highly recommend getting in touch with, Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Native American I nitiatives, reaching out to Dr. Amy Stiff Farm or Diona Buck. We have a really good network here in Montana for tribes. We have representation in the Indigenous birth Workers network. We also have the Community Advisory Board that I've served on for two years. It's the Native American Maternal Health Advisory Board, and there's just amazing people like Elders, community workers, doctors, nurses. All types of people who focus on Native American maternal health. We also work with other organizations on their projects if they want to seek advising from anybody. We do have a good crew and we're always open to bringing on new people to become birth workers'cause there can't be enough of us. Sure. I honestly don't think that there's a limit to how many we can have. Even just on Rocky Boy, there's a lot of people who get the training and then they don't end up practicing as a doula, but they attribute the skills to their current position. So whatever organization they work in, they can apply those skills. People can reach out to me as well. I'm always available. Um, they could find me on Facebook or Instagram.

Emily Freeman: 7:49

And I can put your contact information in the show notes as well as links to HMHB's NAI folks.

Julianne Denny: 7:56

Yeah. We're really in this, this period of workforce development and bringing people to light about what doula care looks like and how it can help our people and how it's a traditional role for us. For me, for instance, I'm Cree Ojibwe and Mi'kaq and I'm actually from Canada, but I serve here and my community is Rocky Boy.'cause that's just where I raised my kids. And that's like my geographical location. It's where I'm married and I just have a passion for helping you know, people here because the need is everywhere.

Emily Freeman: 8:37

It sounds like there's a range of ways that somebody could get into this work, so maybe someone listening knows realistically that they're not gonna be available to be at births, whether it's because of their own sort of family scheduling commitments or just that's just not a space that they're gonna feel comfortable. But are there spaces to just be the prenatal doula or the postpartum doula? It seems like you can kind of find your space within that doula work in a way that fits your skillset and your capacity.

Julianne Denny: 9:10

Yes, of course. The range of us, like I know people who are just postpartum doulas. I know people who just do like doctor's visits or transport. There's people who just do the housework portion. Mm-hmm. There's people who just do birth. Mm-hmm. Like me, i'm usually brought in for really young moms. I'm brought in like the day before or when they're entering early labor and they need somebody to go coach them. And then usually I gauge how they're feeling of how much I participate,'cause it's always based on client consent and mm-hmm. Permission. And so if somebody just wants the coaching and education real quick, I'll just pop in there and then I head out because it's like that's totally what they want. But if they want me to be there and literally help them through the labor, help their partner, you know, go through positions with them and support them, or maybe they don't even have anybody, then I'm like the auntie or the mom who stays there and like fills, fills the spot temporarily for them. And then sometimes I'm just there to smudge baby when baby comes. And so it's a lot of working with the medical team to gauge things too, because they know a lot. I've had a really good year working in the hospitals this year with all the awareness and the trainings that have been going on. People have been so open and welcoming to birth workers. It's so beautiful. It's the really, the relationship is like top tier right now and there's always room for improvement, but I think for birth workers we usually know to what limits we can work in and our capacities. And I think that you could either be full spectrum or you can have a specific time that you support indefinitely.

Emily Freeman: 11:03

Maybe you dip your toe into the work by doing a certain part of it and then over time you're like building on that. Which is why I think it's an interesting in terms of the workforce development piece that you spoke about, I think it's a really important thing for women in Montana and really a big deal that we had this doula bill pass last session because it does provide a really interesting new segment of the workforce that's accessible to people like, like the life you described where you're like, I'm a busy working mom who's doing a bunch of different things and needs to be able to have a flexible schedule and this is that kind of work. Yeah, that's just, that makes me happy.

Julianne Denny: 11:41

And I wanted to touch on the fact that as Indigenous women, it's really hard for us to charge for services that are a traditional role. Um, we need to support our families as well. But honestly, for every family that I've helped this year, the SB319 really will enable me to be able to support my family as well. And it counters the expenses that come with possibly supporting somebody in another rural community when another doula isn't available so I can just hop in my car and take off, you know? My dream is to have a money hub or bank to like just be able to provide services and then bill Medicaid. And then it'll be countered and then I could keep those funds to provide the care that I need to give a mom. That might be like 200 miles away, but she needs somebody there right now. My husband and my family has been really supportive in this work as well, holding down the fort when I just have to take off and go do something. The other thing too is they're specialized workers The other training that's available for people, is the One Health training for peer recovery doula. Okay. And they do the doula training in sensitivity to people who may be experiencing addiction or early recovery due to their pregnancies or their, just their socioeconomic situation. And so I went through that training. I'll be graduating this next month. And then also there's the lactation consultant training, which is also gonna add to my toolkit. A lot of my moms I've worked with have went immediately to formula and I really wanna counter that because there's a lot of things that we miss out on by not breastfeeding our children. From the experience that I had where I had C-sections three in a row, and I experienced symptoms of a condition called deemers, and I didn't even. It was, but it's like feeling really deep despair when you're trying to breastfeed, but it's just like the overwhelming experience of the pain. And then I didn't have a lactation consultant. I had no knowledge about breastfeeding. But I've tried to breastfeed with every one of my kids, but experienced the same thing. Mm-hmm. And honestly, when you're going through something like that and you don't know how to put a name to it is traumatizing. Mm-hmm. It's like when you want a water birth and you have to have a c-section. That's absolutely devastating. That happened to me too. And also getting your placenta taken and not knowing how to voice or protect that, as well. And traditionally for Native American mothers, the placenta is core. It is like something that you take home and you ground yourself by planting it where your homelands are or however other tribes do it. For Cree people, we put it away immediately, but we take care of it in a special way. And having those specified abilities to help anybody in that situation fills the gap of care. I think filling the gap in care with these specific areas can just make a really big difference in anybody's life.

Emily Freeman: 14:59

Yeah. You said you have a good relationship with the hospital that You often have clients delivering at Can you talk about the trainings that are available to hospitals and other healthcare systems to become more culturally aware of the special things that an Indigenous mom might need or want at a birth?

Julianne Denny: 15:18

The training That Amy Stiffarm does, there's that one, and she talks a lot about like, be conscious about revamping your policies or educating your medical staff about permitting smudging or the protocols around that, like I think that's pretty clear across the board, but then we always get new people in the medical center due to turnaround. Right.

Emily Freeman: 15:44

That's a really good point. Just because an existing staff group received a cultural safety training, there is a lot of turnover in every industry, but certainly in healthcare and certainly in rural hospitals. So yeah, that ongoing need for continued education about this

Julianne Denny: 16:01

Yeah, because it's like, you know, colonization is still going on. There's still divisions happening. We have this war going on. We have all these crises going on. And so it's easy for people to turn a blind eye to something as simple as smudging. But to us it's like central, right? And so reminding people that our worldview is and should have always been welcomed in the medical system can be difficult sometimes. But then usually with the people I've worked with, they're like, yeah, you know, beautiful. Can we witness it? Mm-hmm. Can we be part of it? And I'm always like, when you bring a native baby into the world and your intent is pure you are like family to us. You are part of that experience. There's been way too much medical trauma. It's impacted Native American communities. In residential schools we were used for experiments so healing that medical bond with our communities would aid in so much. Mm-hmm. I think it would heal a lot. And so when I think of doula or birth work it's not just about me advocating for my culture, but it's also healing the wounds of people that may not even know they had a wound to begin with. And for me, for instance, when I took my doula training, there was a powerful young lady, she's around my age and her, her name was Cece, and she, she actually educated me about what Demers was and. She just made me cry because I never knew what that feeling was of despair while breastfeeding.'cause nobody talks about that. Nobody talks about that part of breastfeeding. People would be like, you're crazy for not liking breastfeeding. But that's not the point. It's the point that I liked breastfeeding, but I couldn't, and that's the healing of like, I didn't know I had a wound until she stated what it was.

Emily Freeman: 18:21

Just put a name to it. Yeah. If you could imagine the landscape for moms in Montana, especially in rural parts of the state, what would be your biggest wish for a year or five years from now?

Julianne Denny: 18:34

Every tribe in the US has a doula collaborative, or coalition on their tribe because it is essential to the wellbeing of our nations that we take care of mothers and we take care of babies, we take care of our relationships because that's where the real healing is. Is like our reclamation. And we've always had it, bringing it up and showing the world who we are has never been a problem. But in the area of public health and wellness for our people it's just so deeply rooted that we have female representation that backs our, our males and our two-spirit too. You know, that we all back and support each other and it starts at birth. I really believe it starts at birth.

Emily Freeman: 19:34

Yeah. And we're doing it well in Montana right now with the Doula Collaborative. Yes. So if you are listening to this episode and you are part of another tribe, in another state, and you're interested in creating something like this that maybe doesn't exist in your community, get in touch and the Montana Indigenous birth workers will walk you through how something like this takes shape. Is that fair to say? Yeah.

Julianne Denny: 19:56

I just wanna say, uh, and to all our listeners and creator bless you all and I hope you guys have a wonderful day.

Emily Freeman: 20:07

Thank you, Jules. The LIFTS Podcast is a project of Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies The Montana Coalition, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the health, safety, and wellbeing of Montana families in the zero to three years of parenting. Visit us at hmhb-mt.org to learn more about who we are and what we do. Views and opinions expressed in these interviews do not necessarily represent HMHB as an organization. If you have feedback on the podcast or an idea for a future guest or episode, we'd love to hear from you. Take our LIFTS podcast listener survey at hmhb-mt.org/survey or email us at stories@hmbmt.org. Thanks for listening.