Today we’d like to introduce you to Claudia Gonzalez.
Claudia, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
It begins as a young girl, maybe 1998/99, enjoying summer breaks at home and browsing the television until I happen upon the TLC channel. I don’t remember what catches my eye, or why, but I started watching the show A Baby Story and became so fascinated with watching the process of birthing babies that I make sure to catch as many episodes as humanly possible. Water births were the first thing to amaze me because the mothers were so calm and the newborn would seldom cry after they emerged from the water. Learning what a midwife was (compared to an OB) continued to peak my interest for birth and babies in the community aspect. After many years passed, I learned what doulas were and I immediately knew it was something I would be interested in. So maybe two years later, in 2017, I took my first training to be a Holistic Doula and my education and knowledge continues to soar.
Since 2017, I have completed two different trainings as a labor support doula, trained to be a holistic fertility doula, became a pregnancy and infant loss (PAIL) advocate, and I’ve just completed my holistic postpartum doula training. My next goal is to become a Certified Lactation Consultant. And while I have taken the initiative to obtain the necessary knowledge to assist pregnant and new mothers, I can’t go without acknowledging that the community of birth workers that I have been blessed to find, they’ve helped me in so many ways. I’m super appreciative of community.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
This road has not been smooth and there were definitely some challenges. Personally, one of the first things that I had to tackle was “imposter syndrome,” feeling as if I did not know enough to contribute to the community when actually the contrary is true. In regard to doula work, one of the things that we struggle with is getting the community to understand just how valuable we really are. Nonetheless, we are grateful to those who understand how impactful our work can be.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Atlanta Doula Collective story. Tell us more about your work.
The Atlanta Doula Collective is a team of Labor Support Specialists (aka Doulas) seeking to bridge the gap in Black Maternal healthcare throughout the Metro-Atlanta area. We do this by providing by providing affordable labor support options so that we are more accessible to the community at large. We believe that making labor support services both attainable and affordable helps to eliminate barriers and encourage more families to embrace this opportunity to have professional labor support during their birthing experience.
Because our team is so diverse and intelligent, we consist of a wonderful team of birth workers who have many different specialties. It’s hard to list just one of them. I’d say that one of the things we are known for is the monthly Mama Talks session, which is a Sister Sharing Circle. And although each session has a particular topic in mind, in general we ask our attendants to share their birth stories, birthing fears, and fertility concerns so that we can learn and heal together.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I think the better term to use is blessed. We have been blessed to have the group of doulas that we have and their willingness to help in whatever capacity that they can. Again, our diversity is so phenomenal and our passion is so evident. We love working together and, with and for the community. Our founder, Sekesa, has put in a lot of hard work to get our organization where it is right now and because of her we have the opportunity to team up with one another and do the things that we love when it comes to serving families entering into a new level of parenthood.
Pricing:
- Labor Support (Doula) Services $650
- On-Call Doula Service $350
Contact Info:
- Website: https://atlantadoulacollective.com/
- Email: AtlantaDoulaCollective@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atlantadoulacollective/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AtlDoulas/
Image Credit:
KSI Photography
Y’Na Evans
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