The journey of labor and birth has always intrigued me. The fact that our bodies can grow, birth, and feed a tiny human still leaves me in awe.

I discovered doulas while pregnant with our first son. The moment I met our doula, I knew she was the perfect complement to our birth team. After his birth, I felt pulled toward doing this work myself. With a nudge from my husband, I took the leap, apprenticed with an experienced doula, and began supporting birthing persons and their families in my own community.

More than 15 years later, that work has grown in ways I never could have imagined. I have supported thousands of families, taught childbirth and lactation education, trained and mentored doulas, built doula networks, and worked alongside hospitals and healthcare professionals to strengthen collaboration with doulas and advance perinatal health.

Family Centered Birth Services has grown too. What began as my individual practice is now a doula agency with a team of birth and postpartum doulas serving families throughout the Gainesville community. Julia Rainer has been part of my team for more than five years, and today we lead FCBS together, mentoring our doulas and making sure the care families receive reflects the values this practice was built on.

FCBS was built from years spent in birth rooms, homes, classrooms, and conversations with families about what they needed. Growing into an agency allows us to bring that approach to more families, building strong teams around our clients so they have the support they need throughout their journey.