Origin story
I live in Portland, Maine with my wife and two children. Growing up, birth was normalized and celebrated around me, making the draw to birth work inevitable. In 2011 I attended Birthwise Midwifery School, moving to Seattle WA a few years later to study and work with two homebirth midwifery practices. It was there I met my wife, and in 2016 we moved back to my home town on the Blue Hill Peninsula to farm, nanny, and teach music. When we started our own family, my love for birth was re-sparked. After supporting family and friends as a doula for a few years, and after giving birth to our second child, I knew it was time to dedicate myself more fully to this work.
While my previous experience is primarily in midwifery, I am excited to work as a doula and childbirth educator - providing support for folks in any birth setting, with any care provider.
In my years working and studying midwifery, I attended 90 births, and supported over 200 families with pre and post natal education and newborn care. I have attended births at home, in birth centers, and in hospital settings, and have witnessed a broad range of birth experiences.
As a doula at Full Story Birth I have supported 26 families as a birth and postpartum doula, and 25 families as a childbirth educator and birth coach.
Experience
Philosophy
What is similar about each experience is the transformative nature of having a baby. Whether you’re the birthing parent or the partner, whether it’s your first baby or your third, birth changes you. As a lover of storytelling, I am honored to witness and listen to birth stories. I believe there is healing that happens in the retelling of such a profound experience in our lives. We as a society tend to not tell our birth stories all that often, or at least not in public spaces (or at least not the vulnerable details). In my doula work I push against the notion that the intimate details of birth are taboo. There are ways to honor the sacred, private nature of birth while still opening up and allowing reflection and growth to come from sharing part of our story with others.
Fun Facts:
I was born at home (in a barn), during a snowstorm on Thanksgiving morning.
I induced lactation when my wife was pregnant with our first child.
Tacos are my favorite food group.
I went to Berklee School of Music for fiddle performance.
I start to feel unwell if I’m away from the ocean for too long.
2024 - Birth Photography training with Birth Becomes You
2021-2023 - Facilitator/Instructor at Birth Roots
2022 - Birth Art Training with Birthing From Within
2022 - Certified Childbirth Educator through Doula Trainings International (DTI)
2011-2014 - Studied at Birthwise Midwifery School
2011 - Doula Training with DONA International