Co-Owner | Birth Doula | Postpartum Doula | Childbirth Educator | Photographer
I think, maybe, I was born a doula. As the eldest of 19 kids — no, that’s not a typo — I started out with a few more birth and baby experiences than the average gal. I do know that all I ever wanted to do when I grew up was to find a way to nourish others.
When my eldest was born in 2009 I realized that how our culture supports newborn families is badly broken. My husband and I were the first of our families and friends to have babies and it was a terribly isolating time. I remember wanting desperately to have someone to guide me through pregnancy and those early days – not to tell me what to do, but to help me find my own way. I mean, some days I could barely believe that they just handed us a baby and sent us on our merry way without so much as a parenting permit!
I founded Two Rivers Childbirth in 2010 and since then my passion has been encouraging vibrant and resilient families in any way I could, whether that meant birth support, postpartum support or childbirth and breastfeeding education. I realized pretty quickly that what parents needed most was the community of OTHER PARENTS and the Two Rivers Village (originally called the Blue Ridge Village) was born. I love teaching, but I swoon when I get to watch parents learn for themselves, or even better, teach each other. I like my coffee strong and my community stronger.
Babies are some of the most amazing people I’ve met, but it’s their parents I adore. We have so much to teach each other and I want to always honor the innate knowledge already inside us all. I am so honored to be invited to walk these journeys with new parents as that quiet, supportive guide. I never want a single parent to feel as alone as we did.
I married my childhood sweetheart more than a decade ago. We have three undomesticated children and I like their wild streaks. We live on a small farm in Lovettsville, Virginia just a stone’s throw from where the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers meet.
I hold a Bachelors of Fine Art from Shepherd University. After putting down my camera for almost 10 years I am falling in love with photography again and slowly but steadily heading back to my roots. Birth photography fills my soul with joy.
I can’t promise to always keep my language clean, but I do promise to always try to speak the truth.
I have more browser tabs open than is probably healthy.
(Oh, and my name is pronounced more like Burg-in than Bur-jin. It’s a tricky one.)
