The actual move is slated to happen in early June 2014. I will be accepting Greater Vancouver birth clients with due dates up until mid May, and will begin accepting Cowichan Valley birth clients with due dates of mid June or later. My services so far will remain the same.
I feel so bittersweet about this change. On one hand, I think fondly back to the people, memories and experiences I have had here. I have found an incredible group of birth workers here in Richmond and the Lower Mainland that have been wonderful to learn from and depend on. I could never have pursued this career without the support I have had, and while I know that those people aren't going anywhere, I'm sad that I won't be able to work with them anymore! I have been a part of some incredible programs here -- such as the South Community Birth Program and the Doula Services Association-- which I feel are brilliant and so needed in the birth world. Finally, I have had the joy of attending the births of many wonderful, sweet and amazing families, and am sad I will not be present to support those same families through any future additions they may have. Each birth I have attended has been unique and beautiful in it's own right, and supporting and bearing witness to them has helped me learn and grow in knowledge and in heart, and I will forever be incredibly thankful for that gift. I want to take a moment to say a deeply heartfelt thank-you to all who have been a part of my journey as a doula here in Richmond, BC. I would love to stay connected to you all, and will gratefully receive any emails, photos, news... anything from any of you (and I might even write back :)!
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| My first ever birth client and I enjoying her new babe! (Shared with permission) |
Moving forward, however, as I know I must do, I am incredibly thrilled to be headed to Vancouver Island, as I hear that there is a fantastic birth community there! I am looking forward to getting to know new midwives and doctors, and forge new connections and friendships with like-minded doulas in the area. It's an open door for new opportunity, full of experiences and chances just waiting to be realized, and it's incredibly refreshing to know a whole world of new knowledge is there waiting for me. I am grateful that I will be able to remain a member and director with the Doula Services Association of BC -- an organization which does so much to nurture and support new and old doulas alike, and to provide doula services of both the volunteer and paid variety to anybody who wishes to use them -- and am curious to see what that might look like on Vancouver Island. Above all, I am so incredibly excited for the chance to work and share with families that are beginning or growing in the Cowichan Valley. So far, I have only met amazing and fascinating people and I can't wait to meet all of you!
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| An old one of my little family and I in Genoa Bay on Vancouver Island - Steve's childhood home! (Photo Credit: Twiggy Photography) |
On to new things! I will keep you posted with any new developments and announcements as they happen on this blog, and will be sporadically posting valuable information for preparing for birth and the postpartum period as well. I can't promise I'll be posting weekly, or even monthly, as I really want to keep the content on this blog valuable and relevant to my clients and supporters needs, but I will do what I can!
Thank you so much for all of your support, patience and encouragement as we make this transition -- I also greatly appreciate any connections or referrals anybody has for growing my business on Vancouver Island, so don't be shy!
Warmly,
Stephanie Cutler, the TigerLily Doula
