One Year In: What Building Orange County Postpartum Doula Has Taught Me

After months of dreaming, planning, second-guessing myself, and wondering if my website would even work, Orange County Postpartum Doula officially came to life on July 1st, 2025. This week, I'm celebrating one full year in business! And honestly? This mama is a bit choked up reflecting on this past year. It’s hard to put into words just how grateful I am.

This past year has been filled with newborn snuggles, tiny baby stretches, countless loads of baby laundry, warm meals, emotional conversations on nursery floors, and watching parents slowly realize, "Wait... I think I can actually do this."

It has honestly been one of the greatest honors of my life.

Why I Started This Business

People often ask why I became a postpartum doula. The answer is simple. Because I needed one.

When I had my daughter, I walked into postpartum completely unprepared. Like so many mamas, I spent months preparing for labor and delivery, only to realize that birth was just the first half of my Super Bowl. I wasn't prepared for the emotional roller coaster, the sleep deprivation, the identity shift, or just how isolating those early months would feel. I experienced postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, and postpartum psychosis. Looking back, I can honestly say those were some of the hardest months of my life.

What hurt almost as much as those experiences themselves was realizing how little we talk about them… Why wasn't I prepared for this? Why wasn't anyone talking about postpartum with the same urgency they talked about birth? Why are mothers expected to simply "figure it out" after one of the biggest physical, emotional, and hormonal transitions of their lives?

Those questions became my purpose. Orange County Postpartum Doula was born from the belief that mothers deserve better. They deserve education before the baby arrives. They deserve support after the baby arrives. Most importantly, they deserve to know they were NEVER meant to do this alone.

To Every Family Who Trusted Me...

There aren't enough words to thank the families who welcomed me into one of the most intimate seasons of their lives. Thank you for trusting me with your brand-new babies. Thank you for letting me rock them while you finally took a nap. Thank you for letting me fold tiny onesies, wash bottles, prepare meals, answer your endless questions, celebrate your victories, and reassure you during the moments you doubted yourself. Thank you for allowing me to witness your first feeds, your first baths, your first deep breaths after a long night, and the moment you realized, "We've got this."

You invited me into your homes during one of the most vulnerable chapters of your lives, and with tears in my eyes I can say that is something I will never, ever take for granted. 

Watching nervous parents become confident parents never gets old. Neither does watching babies grow, siblings fall in love with their new role, or partners discover just how capable they really are. It’s an incredible privilege every single time.

What My First Year Has Taught Me

Every family has taught me something. Sometimes every day. If there's one thing I've learned, it's this: there is no "normal" postpartum. Every mother's recovery looks different. Every baby has their own temperament. Every family finds their own rhythm. Comparison has no place in postpartum because no two journeys are the same.

I've also learned something that I wish every new family knew from the very beginning: partners want to help! Crazy, I know. Over and over again, I've watched partners ask, "Just tell me what to do." Most aren't lacking the desire to support, they're just lacking the tools, education, and confidence. Sometimes all it takes is showing someone how to swaddle, explaining newborn cues, or helping them understand what their partner is going through physically and emotionally. When we equip the whole family, everyone benefits.

But my biggest takeaway is this: support changes everything. Not because it makes postpartum perfect, but because no one has to carry the weight alone. If you ask me, every single mama should have a postpartum doula assigned to them at birth.

My Mission Gets Stronger

If you had told me a year ago how passionate I'd become about postpartum care, I wouldn't have believed you. I thought I was passionate then. Now I'm fired up. The more I read, the more families I serve, and the more stories I hear from mothers, the more convinced I become that mamas in America deserve better care.

We have normalized sleep deprivation, isolation, burnout, and telling moms to "push through." We celebrate the baby (which we absolutely should) but forget the mother who just experienced the biggest transformations of her life. 

That has to change. I want postpartum planning to become just as common as birth planning. I want asking for help to be seen as wisdom, not weakness. Families need to know that rest is productive, healing takes time, and support should never be considered a luxury.

My mission to help rebuild the modern-day village has only grown stronger, and I do truly believe we're moving in the right direction.

Building This Dream

What many people haven't seen are the late nights after my toddler went to bed. The weekends were spent learning, writing blogs, creating resources, answering emails, building workshops, recording content, redesigning my website for the hundredth time, and figuring out every part of running a business as I go. No roadmap. No handbook. No business or nursing degree. There was just a dream and a deep belief that mothers deserve better.

Some days were exciting. Some days were exhausting. Some days I have questioned whether I am cut out for entrepreneurship at all. But each time a family trusts me with their postpartum journey and every time a parent says, "I wish I had known this sooner," I am reminded exactly why I started.

Looking Ahead to Year Two

If the first year was about planting seeds, I have a feeling the second year is going to be something really special! There are a few exciting projects in the works that I can't quite share yet… but trust me when I say I've been counting down the days until I can.

One thing I can share is that virtual postpartum support is coming soon. This means I'll be able to support families not only here in Orange County, but across the country. The thought of helping moms all across America navigate those early weeks fills me with so much excitement, and I truly can't wait to bring that vision to life!

As Orange County Postpartum Doula enters its second year, my goal remains exactly the same as it was on day one: To make sure fewer mothers feel alone. To help families enter postpartum feeling educated instead of overwhelmed. To remind parents that there is no prize for doing it all by yourself. And to continue rebuilding the modern day village, one family at a time.

To every single person who has supported this dream, referred a friend, attended a class, shared a post, trusted me with your baby, or simply cheered me on from afar… Thank you.

You have helped turn one of the hardest chapters of my life into one of the most meaningful.

Here's to Year Two... and to the waterproof mascara that's about to earn its paycheck.