11. Provider Interview with Army Spouse Michelle: Lessons from a Military Doula and Student Midwife

Today's episode is a provider interview with Michelle, an Army spouse, who is a doula working under Tricare’s Childbirth and Breastfeeding Support Demonstration, and a student midwife. During our conversation she talks about becoming a doula while she and her family were stationed in Germany, and what the experience of supporting overseas families was like. She then talks about her return to the states and her transition into midwifery care. She shares some of the key things her training has focused on so far and highlights some of the ways she feels midwifery care, and especially home birth care, is differentiated from prenatal care in more medicalized settings. We also talk about some of the things that birth workers can do to support their own mental health while they’re supporting others who may be experiencing trauma, and she talks about how different her experience was not having a community of birth workers around her overseas, as compared to the community that now supports her in Georgia. Follow along with Military Birth Talk:Instagram: @militarybirthtalkFacebook: Military Birth Resource Network & Postpartum CoalitionSubmit your birth story!forms.gle/3TT7FyV1QQV3RZGc8