Episode 52: Doulas are for Every Birthing Person: Interview with Kathryn Courtoy

In today’s episode, I speak with Kathryn Courtoy of 3 Hearts Doula.

Thank you so much for listening to the Finding Your Village podcast, before I get into the details about today’s episode. I wanted to let you all know that in the month of May, I will be publishing a series of podcast episodes all about childbirth preparation classes. As I finish the last steps of getting certified to become a childbirth educator myself, I wanted to feature different preparation philosophies and some popular classes.

My opinion about birth preparation is that it is important, but it is also not one size fits all. I compare it to exercise programs. Exercise is important for everyone, however, not everyone likes the same kind of exercise class. Some may prefer yoga, another person might like Crossfit and another may be a pilates gal. Similarly, I believe that birth preparation is important, no matter how you are giving birth and that some people may resonate with one philosophy over another. So I will be featuring an interview with a birth educator from Birthing From Within, Evidence Based Birth, Hypnobirthing, The Bradley Method and Hypnobabies. So tune in for that series in May!

In today’s episode, I speak with Kathryn Courtoy of 3 Hearts Doula. Kathryn has 3 children that she calls her 3 hearts and named her business after, a son, a daughter and an “angel daughter”. She is a Cappa Certified Labor Doula offering Childbirth Support in the North Metro Atlanta area. Kathryn believes there is no great transformational time in a person’s life than bringing another human in the world and that every birth has a story. Kathryn and I discuss what labor doulas do and how they support all birthing people.

In this episode we discuss:

Labor Doulas are for every birthing person who would like support
You do not have to be planning an unmedicated birth or a vaginal birth to have support from a Labor Doula
What a Labor Doula does before and during birth
“Doulas catch the mom and Midwives catch the baby”
I think of Labor Doulas as “birth consultants”
Doulas don’t just get paid for being present during labor, but for all the support and expertise that they provide before labor starts
The difference in roles between the support Partner and Labor Doula
What holding space means

How to get in touch with Kathryn: