19 episodes
The Whole Doula Podcast Mary Giordano
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- Business
The Whole Doula Podcast is a conversation space for doulas and birthworkers to talk about the diverse paths that led them to birth work, as well as the diverse and unique skills, interests and offerings they bring to their birth keeping roles.
I’m interested to dive into conversations with others who may be wondering how to bring the different aspects of their own lives into their roles as doulas in business. After all, there is more than one way to doula and I’d love to help others see the connections between all the different parts of themselves, to see themselves as a Whole Doula.
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19. Empowering Birth Stories with Aimee Sing
Aimee (she/her) is a mother to three amazing children, a birth advocate and volunteer, a doula, a calm birth educator, a lactation consultant (IBCLC), and co-founder of the Australian VBAC stories podcast. She lives on Darug and Gundungurra land in the upper Blue Mountains and supports families in her various roles throughout the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, and Nepean areas.
Aimee has experienced multiple different pregnancy and birth experiences including early birth, premature birth, a cesarean section, and two home vaginal births after a caesarean, and this provides a unique lens through which she views matrescence and can support families through these experiences. Her philosophy is that women know how to grow, birth, and nurture their babies, and that they are always the most connected and invested in their baby's health and well-being.
Aimee is extremely passionate about supporting families through big transitions, building community, women's rights, and ensuring women are able to make their own informed and empowered decisions. She views pregnancy, birth, and parenting as rights of passage, enlightening them to the tools, connections, and resilience they always held within for the growth that motherhood demands of them.
She loves partnering with women and their families to ensure they have the most incredible experiences possible throughout their motherhood journeys and her vision is that all families receive the continuity of support and care they deserve.
To learn more about Aimee and her offerings, please see below:
Website - www.birthaims.com.au
Instagram - www.instagram.com/birth_aims
Facebook - www.facebook.com/BirthAims
Mary runs one free LIVE Doula Business Masterclass each month. To register your spot for the next one, click here:
https://www.marygiordano.com.au/the-empowered-doula-opt-in-org
Expressions of interest to talk to me on the podcast:
https://www.marygiordano.com.au/the-whole-doula-podcast -
18. Serbian Doula: Nurturing Wellness & Motherhood with Mirjana Gnjatic
Mirjana Gnjatić is the first doula in Serbia. She attended Michel Odent’s Paramanadoula seminar in 2010. Back in 2012, she invited a DONA doula trainer to Belgrade and organized the first-ever doula training in Serbia, after which doula calling spread throughout the region.
The following year the first informal Serbian doula association was founded which now has about a hundred doulas from all over Serbia. Mirjana is a massage therapist, prenatal yoga instructor, and mother and baby yoga teacher.
During her first pregnancy in 2006. she recorded the first and only Yoga DVD for pregnant women in Serbia and the region.
In addition to online education, Mirjana attended conferences and trainings in Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Germany, and London. Her knowledge and understanding of the physiology of childbirth, as well as its spiritual aspects led her to three unassisted homebirths. Her pregnancies and births were a space for an exploration of feminine wisdom, support, and the power of natural childbirth. She is proud mum of three sons.
Mirjana is an advocate of natural childbirth and the idea that our entire previous life prepares us for childbirth and motherhood. She believes in the strength and ability of every woman to give birth to her baby in love. Mirjana is currently focused on perinatal massage and individual support. To date, more than a thousand pregnant women have passed through her classes and offerings.
You can connect with Mirjana:
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mirjana.gnjatic
On Instagram: @mirjana_gnjatic
To register for my next FREE, Live Business Masterclass for Doulas, click here: https://www.marygiordano.com.au/wait-list-for-live-masterclass
Expressions of interest to talk to me on the podcast: https://www.marygiordano.com.au/the-whole-doula-podcast -
17. Honouring sacred ancestral knowledge with Lisa Marie Flores
Lisa Marie is a birth worker based in Fresno, California with a special passion for supporting folks who are marginalized and vulnerable, especially pregnant teens who are in foster care or who have been involved in the child protection system.
Lisa Marie is Yaqui Indigenous and Mexican by descent and is the only indigenous birth worker who is native to her area. As a birth worker, her objective is to pay tribute to the wisdom of her ancestors by offering nurturing and holistic care to women and families throughout the childbearing journey.
One of the central aspects of her work is in placental encapsulation, which she does respectfully in accordance with her native teachings and practices. Lisa Marie explains that “within indigenous cultures, the process of giving birth is viewed as a sacred ceremony, wherein the transition from the spiritual realm to the physical realm is celebrated and revered in honour of the new life entering the world”.
Lisa is the only person in her family to achieve a BA and prior to her commencement in birthwork two years ago, she was working as a social worker where she was also supporting pregnant teens. Prior to her studies and work in social work, Lisa Maria also trained and worked in veterinary sciences.
To learn more about, and/or get in touch with Lisa Marie, please refer to the links below:
Website: https://www.phenomenalwomban.com/
Instagram: @phenomenal_womban_birthworker
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089950410989&mibextid=zOiqff
To express your interest in the Savvy Doula, click here:
https://marygiordano.thrivecart.com/the-savvy-doula-with-coaching-usd/
To watch my FREE Business Masterclass for Doulas, click here: https://www.marygiordano.com.au/the-empowered-doula-opt-in
Expressions of interest to talk to me on the podcast: https://www.marygiordano.com.au/the-whole-doula-podcast -
16. Pivoting with courage and vulnerability with Mary Giordano
I am Mary Giordano (she/her), your host here on the Whole Doula Podcast.
This is a little solo episode to mark the end of season one on the podcast before we dive into a whole bunch of new conversations in season two.
For those who don’t know me, I am a Full Spectrum Doula, Educator, Counsellor, Facilitator, Community Builder, Business Mentor/Coach, and Online Course Creator.
Here I share a little update on my business since the podcast launched six months ago, some feedback on the Savvy Doula, some manifestations for the rest of this year in business and life, and more. I hope you enjoy listening, and I’ll be back next fortnight with another guest conversation, so stay tuned!
@marygiordano.com.au
www.marygiordano.com.au
To express your interest in the Savvy Doula, click here:
https://marygiordano.thrivecart.com/the-savvy-doula-with-coaching-usd/
To watch my FREE Business Masterclass for Doulas, click here: https://www.marygiordano.com.au/the-empowered-doula-opt-in
Expressions of interest to talk to me on the podcast: https://www.marygiordano.com.au/the-whole-doula-podcast -
15. Honouring your resilience with Dusk Liney
Dusk (she/her) is in her third year as a birth doula, but she has worked as a space holder for a decade. Dusk lives in Boiwuring country in Altona Meadows. Her focus is on supporting survivors of sexual assault or trauma and as a survivor of childhood sexual assault herself, she is driven to support others navigating the unique challenges of pregnancy like she did.
Dusk experienced a lot of silencing in her childhood and early 20s, and she was always drawn to listen to other people. This resulted in her creating a business called The Listening Squad, then later The Listening Mama.
When we spoke, Dusk was in the midst of a Masters of Spirituality, where she trained as a spiritual companion. She calls it her Masters in Listening! Dusk also supports pregnant people experiencing grief, informed by the loss of her mother in her first year postpartum.
Dusk has recently created a space for survivors called Dear Dusk. Dear Dusk is a gentle place of companionship for survivors navigating motherhood / parenthood after trauma. It brings light to our unique experience of pregnancy, birth, postpartum and matrescence through an agony aunt style column. You are invited to read the column, reach out and recognise your story in each others.
You can learn more here: https://www.deardusk.com/
To learn more about Dusk and her work, you can follow the links below:
IG @thelisteningmama
www.thelisteningmama.com
Resources she mentioned for doulas:
When survivors give birth by Penny Simkin
Katie Kurtz trauma work
Register to watch Mary's FREE Business Masterclass for doulas:
https://www.marygiordano.com.au/the-empowered-doula-opt-in
Music credit: Slow Gusto by Good News Tunes -
14. Pregnancy Birthing Journeys with Siobhan Calleja
Siobhan (she/her) lives in Adelaide on Kaurna country. While Siobhan was practicing as a Vedic yoga and meditation teacher and studying Ayurveda and the Vedic tradition, she found prenatal and postnatal mothers attending her classes were naturally drawn to stay behind after class to share their pregnancy birthing journeys. These conversations resonated with Siobhan’s own devotion to the Divine Mother and inspired her to train to become an Ayurvedic Postpartum Doula.
Siobhan currently services families in the Adelaide Hills on a farm where new mothers can receive traditional Ayurvedic bodywork, as well as in families homes where she provides traditional Ayurvedic nourishment and support for new mothers and their families.
Siobhan has also had the honour of offering Ayurvedic postpartum care to her mother as a reclamation of her postpartum, which has been a beautifully connected experience for them both.
To learn more about Siobhan and her work, you can follow the links below:
https://www.matruprema.com.au
Instagram: @matru.prema
To learn more about Soma Shakti, the Ayurvedic Postpartum Doula training Siobhan did, click here: https://www.soma-shakti.com.au
Connect with Mary and get on the waiting list for The Intuitive Doula on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/marygiordano.com.au/ or https://www.marygiordano.com.au/the-intuitive-doula-program.
Music credit: Slow Gusto by Good News Tunes