I’m a native Swede who fell in love with New York City over twenty years ago, and never looked back. For the last 9 years, I have been a resident of Sunnyside, Queens, and I love living here. The community is incredible.

 

In addition to being a wife and mother to two wonderful children, most importantly for this work, I am a fierce advocate that birth is a journey to power, and an experience that can be shaped, in large part, by the supportive people around you. These caregivers (midwives, nurses, doctors, doulas, and health care workers) carry within them the compassion to help the birth person see that they are the perfect person to do the work of birthing their child! I consider it nothing short of a miracle, and feel it is an honor to be able to support anyone in the most important moment in their lives. 

 

Methods and Philosophy

I am particularly drawn to the idea of re-shaping a woman's mindset ahead of birth from one of fear/trepidation, to one of inherent belief in their own body and its’ capabilities. I also love the comfort measures of touch, encouragement, respect, water immersion, and movement for labor progress. The holy grail of labor support for me are the Three R’s of Rhythm, Relaxation, and Ritual.

Besides my education and training, I bring with me birth stories and experiences from friends, nurses, physicians, and midwives around several different countries in the world, as well as other cities within the US. I firmly believe that while the work that I do must adhere to the policies of the city where we live, we are all shaped by a collection of experiences, and can learn from each other. So I take these birth experiences with me in the room in the hopes that slowly, we can change the practices here in the US to be more Mother-Baby friendly.

My job – my calling – is for you to walk away feeling you were respected, felt in control of the aspects of your birth that were within your control, and can carry with you the memories of a labor and birth that you feel good about. You can learn more at https://www.kennedydoula.com/