My name is Rachael Moriarty. Like you, I have a story. I am one of those types of people who like to share their story, so I was more than thrilled when I was asked to share it with you.

To begin, I am married to an amazing man named John. We have two girls, Sara who is 4 and Maggie who is almost 2. I am also a childbirth educator and doula in the Hampton Roads, VA area. I have been teaching classes now for 2 years and have been an official doula for 1 year, although it seems much longer. I guess it’s the lack of sleep that must altar my sense of time.

I want to give you a bit of background about myself so you understand why I am here and where I believe God is leading me.

When my husband and I became pregnant with our first child, we were excited, but uneducated and not confidence in any decision we were supposed to be making. We joined a childbirth class and became aware of birth as God designed it.  We finally began to feel confident in the decisions we were making. I switched from a hospital to a birthing center birth in Texas and had an amazing experience because God had removed most of my fears concerning childbirth. I know it was through the education we received that we made better choices for our family. I started talking about birth to everyone that would listen because I didn’t want any woman to believe the same lies that I had first believed. I didn’t think my one experience was just luck but rather a result of different choices.

I decided to become a childbirth educator so people would finally take me serious. I knew I had already become the “crazy birth lady”, but if I could gain more education I could then create a business through which I could get the positive birth message out to as many people as I could. I liked that idea! I am sure my students don’t feel any differently about how crazy I am, but they have seemed as appreciative as I was to hear truth so they can prepare themselves for a better birth experience just as I did.

Soon my friends and students started asking me to be their doula. I began attending births with limited knowledge on doula techniques but lots of knowledge on what feels good to most. Can we say “massage”?! I loved birth even more once I got to see it from a coach’s perspective. It was awe inspiring, incredible, well… miraculous! I felt the presence of God at each birth I attended, regardless of the religious preference of the couple. Participating in a birth forced me to reflect on God’s spirit and design and how I would want my own experience of birth to be different.

Through the influence of Heather Johnson, a friend who is a Charis Certified CE/Doula, I discovered there was a birth organization that taught birth from a Christian perspective. You and I know that there really isn’t any other way that birth can be taught, but it helps to title it to clarify where the emphasis is put. I stored that knowledge and filed it away for future use.

Now my future plans begin. My passion is soaring and I am still not getting tired of talking about birth.  Yet I am not satisfied with my current role. I know that God has called me to go further in my education and scope of services. I plan on joining Charis’s second part to their midwifery program after I finish the first part. I look forward to being “deep in the birth world” and, who knows, maybe I will meet you there!

With Love, Rachael