Get to Know Doula Kayla

Hello! I am Kayla Wamsley and I am a Doula in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. When I am not helping women with pregnancy, birth, and beyond, I am raising my daughter. She is almost one so I am in the thick of motherhood. I am also a military spouse. My husband served in the Navy for 4 years and then transferred to the Army, where he is now. My time as a military spouse has taught me many things. One benefit is it has allowed me to be aware of the added challenges military families face, especially during pregnancy and birth. Part of what inspired me to be a doula was the desire to help military families with these challenges.  

My path to becoming a doula began when my husband and I were starting to think about growing our family. I have always been the type to seek all the information I can about everything. I love learning and want to know the most I can about whatever stage of life I am currently in. When that stage became pregnancy and birth I quickly realized just how much information was out there. I became fixated on learning everything I could about it all. I was reading books, listening to podcasts, and reading blogs. In this process, I learned about what a Doula was. I remember thinking, "Wow that sounds so incredible, I wish I had heard about this sooner. I wish I could be a birth doula." But it felt like something that just was not realistic for me. At the time I was completing my undergraduate degree in Elementary Education and it felt like that was the path I had to head down. I did go onto graduate with my bachelor's, but then my husband got stationed in Washington State where I was not licensed to teach. Not much longer after that, I got pregnant and my life became totally engrossed in this tiny little human. After not working for a while, I began looking at options. I realized that getting licensed to teach was gonna take some time and some money. Once I did get my license I would be working a job and would be away from my daughter. I began realizing that teaching just didn’t make sense for life right now. This led me to begin looking into becoming a doula. My passion to become a doula was reignited and well that led me to where I am now.

As a doula, my mission boils down to two goals, empowering and educating. I believe these go hand in hand. I think society is leaving women scared of birth and with a lack of belief in their body's capabilities. My goal is to switch this way of thinking in my clients. I want my client to go into birth not fearing it but rather feeling confident in their body and their ability to rock their birth. I think building this confidence in women begins with education. This leads me to put a lot of priority on my prenatal meetings with clients. I want to really take the time to listen to them, hear their concerns and questions, and tailor education around them.  

Whether you are one of my clients or just someone reading my blog posts I hope you can truly see my passion for the work I do and get something out of the blog. Thank you so much for letting me tell you a little bit about me and my role as a doula. If you are in the Hampton Roads area and looking for a doula please contact me at DoulaKaylaWamsley@outlook.com and we can schedule a time to talk more in depth.

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