I Took Two Years Off. Here's Why I Came Back.

I never planned to leave.

In 2023, I was spry. Athletic. The kind of person who took the stairs because they were there.

Then my hips started deteriorating, and they did it at a maddening rate. Within a couple of years, I went from that person to someone who could barely get around. The pain was severe, and it was constant, and it took over pretty much everything.

Doula work is physical. There's a lot of kneeling, leaning, squeezing hips that aren't yours, and standing for hours in rooms that somehow only ever have one chair. It's hard to be someone's steady support when you need a strategy just to get up off the floor.

So I stepped away.

In 2025, I had both hips replaced. Yes, both. If you're going to do something, do it properly.

And now I'm back.

Why I came back

The short answer: I missed it.

I never wanted to leave. I missed being the calm person in the room. I missed the prenatal visits where someone finally says out loud the thing they've been nervous about for weeks. I missed being useful at exactly the moment someone needs it.

The work never stopped mattering to me. My body just needed me to sit down for a while.

What's changed

In one sense, nothing. People have been giving birth since the beginning of time. Babies still arrive on their own schedule, usually an inconvenient one. Labour still has slow parts.

But the conversation around it has shifted. Maternal health is taking centre stage in a way it hasn't before. More people are talking openly about how they're treated in care, who gets listened to, and what needs to change.

I want to be part of that. I want to be on the side of history that supports change, not the side that shrugs and says, "That's just how it is."

What I learned

If the last few years taught me anything, it's this: listen to your body.

When something feels off, "everything is fine" is not an answer you have to accept.

Ask questions. Probe the answers. Ask why, and then ask again. Insist on the care you deserve, even when it feels awkward, even when you're exhausted, even when part of you would rather believe "fine" so you can stop pushing.

That's what I want for the people I support now.

I don't speak for my clients. That's not my role, and your voice is the one that matters in that room. What I can do is help you find your words before you need them, sort out which questions to ask, and remind you, when you're tired and overwhelmed, that you're allowed to ask them.

So, here we are

Two years off. Two new hips. Same doula, with more perspective and a lot less patience for "let's just wait and see" when something doesn't feel right.

I'm really glad to be back.

Let's get to work.