We had the good fortune of connecting with Chelsey Whitcomb and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chelsey, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I started birth work in 2018 while I was still a full-time high school teacher. At the time, I used to tell people, “Every teacher has a side gig and doula work is mine.” I began this work because I had a doula for the hospital birth of my oldest child in 2016 and she was instrumental in providing educational resources and TRULY educating me on all of the options I had in a hospital setting. I had told my OB at the time that I might be interested in an epidural and while she was a great doctor, she simply said something along the lines of, “Oh we can definitely do that,” but then she never said anything else about it. It was my doula who came back and discussed all of the risks (of which there are many) as well as benefits of an epidural. When I was in labor with my daughter and started asking for an epidural, it was my doula who got in front of me and said, “Chelsey, do you remember WHY you didn’t want to get an epidural?” She forced me to get my head back into the game and I went on to have an unmedicated hospital birth.

After that, I became obsessed with learning as much as I could about birth and breastfeeding to the point that my doula asked me if I had ever thought about doing birth work because it might be something I could be really good at. At that point I looked into certification options, started a doula training program, and began taking clients while I was a teacher. After two years with everything I had learned and experienced, I knew I wanted to have a home birth when I was pregnant with my son in 2020. This was in the middle of the Covid pandemic and I was so fortunate to have amazing midwives at my home for his birth. Now I am so glad I had a home birth because I can share my birth experiences and knowledge with other women who are deciding on their birth options.

After working from home from 2022-2024, I decided the job I was in at the time just wasn’t for me. I had so much training and skills as a doula to serve my community and I am now doing birth work full-time because I truly want to help women and families. Giving birth is an experience women will remember for the rest of their lives and I want to help them know all of their options, not only so they feel empowered, but also have the most positive experience possible no matter where they give birth. Education is a huge component in this process, so this year I have also expanded my services to offer a birth prep course in partnership with another local small business, Empower Pelvic Health, in Nassau Bay. They specialize in pelvic floor physical therapy, with the goal of helping women have a healthier birth and postpartum. I am hoping to expand my offerings in the near future with different service packages for future clients as well as stand alone services such as preparing birth plans for women. I am passionate about this work and serving families, but it is also how I support my own family and they are my motivation to help and serve others.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I provide emotional, physical, and educational support during pregnancy, labor, and the postpartum period to women and their spouse/partner in the Southeast Houston area, but I also attend births at the Houston Medical Center if a client is birthing there. I provide a free consult to potential clients to meet and decide if we are a good fit for one another. Then we meet in person for anywhere from 1-3 prenatal visits to get to know each other better, discuss their birthing goals, any fears they may have, and answer their questions. At these visits I provide my clients with educational support to understand whether their provider is truly supportive of their birth goals, as well as understanding interventions that may be offered including their risks and benefits. Through my training as a Spinning Babies® Certified Parent Educator, I teach my clients exercises and techniques for optimal fetal positioning throughout their pregnancy. During labor and birth, I provide comfort and pain coping techniques such as acupressure, which I am trained in, emotional encouragement and support, support of the partner and any other members of their birth team, relaxation, and also help with malpresentation to lower chances of intervention. I am on call for my clients from 38 to 42 weeks gestation, serve them during their birth, and provide one postpartum visit after the birth to discuss their birth, help process any emotions they may have from their birth, and offer recommendations for any struggles they may have, including breastfeeding support.

I pride myself on the amount of time I spend with my clients to get to know them and their birthing goals, as well as teach them ways to stay as low risk as possible. During prenatal visits, I spend anywhere from 8 to 16 hours with my clients and anywhere from 2-32 hours with them at their birth. Once I go to a client’s birthing location, whether it is a hospital, at home, or at a local birth center, I am there to support them the best I can, however I can. Ultimately, I am most proud of my clients because they are the ones who do the real work to bring their babies into the world. I simply support them in their choices, remind them of their birthing goals, and encourage them to know they ARE capable of getting through this moment to bring their baby earth-side.

I believe the empathy I have for the people around me helps me be in tune to my client’s needs during a birth and sets me apart from others. I am also not afraid to ask questions and learn from others, whether it is a midwife, nurse, or OB. Additionally, the communication skills I learned when I was a teacher as well as when I worked in the corporate world, have helped me serve as a mediator for my clients to their healthcare team and provide clarity for my clients when they may not understand something that might be happening.

I am where I am today because of the incredible people who have taught and influenced me along the way. I have learned something from every midwife, OB, labor and delivery nurse, doula, and client I’ve encountered. Being a small business owner is incredibly rewarding, but also incredibly challenging because this is what supports my own family. When a client hires me, they are directly supporting my own children whether it is through the meals we eat or the activities they participate in. I love spending time with my clients and getting to know them. I work hard to find my clients the best, most informative resources I can. The most difficult part of being a doula is living the “on call life” and sometimes having to miss out on previous plans with friends or family due to attending a birth as well as being at a birth for anywhere from 2 hours to 32 hours. For example, when I finally get home at 2 am after a very long birth, there is an exhaustion crash that just hits you. You can never truly be prepared for the physical exhaustion that happens from supporting a Mama who needs hip squeezes with every contraction for hours on end. You also can never be fully prepared for the mental exhaustion from being with someone for say, 27 hours with a few cat naps during their birth, and then having to sleep for a solid 24 hours (or more!) afterwards. Despite all of that, my greatest reward at the end of the day is how grateful my clients are for my presence in the room. During some births, my clients fill MY cup to overflowing!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My response to this question entirely depends on the season! If it’s February/March, of course that means showing them ALL things Houston Rodeo! Like many families in our area, my husband serves on a rodeo committee and we have been blessed to attend the rodeo many times over the last several years. If it’s May, as a former high school AP history teacher, that includes visiting Galveston for the Historical Homes Tour because you never see the same home twice and it’s the only time private historical homes are open to the public for viewing and of course we have so many wonderful museums in our area. If it’s baseball season, of course that means cheering on our Astros. I also can’t forget to mention the Houston World Series of Dog Shows that happens every July at NRG. I LOVE dogs and if you’ve never been with your family, it’s a MUST SEE! Not only will you experience the “typical” dog show, but there are agility competitions, flyball, vendors, and my absolute favorite is the Meet the Breed where at different times breeders bring their dogs to a special area and you can give dogs all of the pets and belly rubs to your heart’s content!

One of my favorite local restaurants is Fish and Chips Houston in Kemah. Their fish and chips is absolute PERFECTION. For other local restaurants, I ALWAYS check out the Bay Area Houston Food Lovers (BAHFL) Facebook group for recommendations on the southeast side. Our local community never steers us wrong for hidden gems in the city for wonderful places to eat! I also LOVE coffee and I’m always torn between visiting Java Owl Coffee House in Nassau Bay or Art of Coffee in Clear Lake. The wonderful people there keep me coming back!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people that I have learned from in my journey as a doula. It began with my own doula, Jodi Rohr, whose quiet assurance and encouragement helped me get through my own births, as well as begin birth work. Shannon Stellhorn, a former Houston area midwife now serving as a missionary in Scotland, was instrumental in providing her doula training, mentoring, and certification. Renee Bratton, of Birth of a Family Doula Services, was also a huge help to me during my home birth and that experience continues to inspire me in how I serve families now. I could also not be where I am right now without Brittany Sudbrook and her incredible team of physical therapists at Empower Pelvic Health. They have given me so much support with referring clients and allowing me to use their space for my birth prep course.

I am extremely thankful to the amazing midwives in Houston who I have had the privilege to work with over the years (or used for my own birth): Jaymee Boughton of In Bloom Midwifery, Stephanie Palacio and Frances Jones-Coleman of Bay Area Community Birth Center, and Darlene Dorries-Scrivner of BioBirths in Webster – thank you for the privilege of working with you and learning from you, whether it is from one birth or several, or simply from online interactions and support. Thank you for all you do to inspire myself and other birth workers in Houston and for how you love families. Our community is lucky to have ALL of you!

I am so grateful to our local doula community who serve as backup doulas for one another or offer online support when we need help. I have turned to you more than once and am grateful to all of you for sharing your stories and providing me with the opportunity to learn more and change my practices to better serve my clients. Finally, I want to give a shoutout to all of the great labor and delivery nurses I’ve encountered at HCA Clear Lake, Houston Methodist at the Medical Center, and Houston Methodist Clear Lake who work with me to advocate for the women we serve and who have taken the time to teach me something new. I am so thankful to ALL of these amazing women who want to help and empower other women to have a positive birth experience!

Last, but definitely not least, I have to thank my husband for his support and flexibility in our family schedules that allows me to do this work to help so many women. It’s not always easy for me to leave unexpectedly, but I am grateful for his help that enables me to do this work that is so very much needed in our community.

Website: https://www.doulightfulbeginningsbirthcare.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doulightfuldoula

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoulightfulBeginningsBirthCare/

Other: https://doulamatch.net/profile/19506/chelsey-whitcomb

Image Credits
Home Birth Photos by Stephanie Shirley Photography.

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