Team Member Spotlight: Meet Amy Durham!

Amy is a birth doula and placenta encapsulation specialist serving Northern Virginia and DC, as well as a trained postpartum doula. She has been with Doulas of Capitol Hill since our opening in 2016.

1. When did you find your Passion, or when did it find you?

I have always loved babies and children, from the time I was young.  I was the neighborhood babysitter for everyone, and nannied extensively during my college years. After graduating from college with a dual degree in child development and psychology, I struggled to find a career that I truly enjoyed going to day after day.   It wasn’t until years later that I had a doula at my own births, and I saw what an enormous difference she could make in the life of a woman on one of her most vulnerable and yet powerful days--that’s when the lightbulb went off for me. I felt respected, empowered, confident, cared for, loved, and safe.  My doula knew me, and what was important to me, and she was there to help me reach those goals. I knew from then on, that someday I wanted to provide that same kind of support for other women. I knew that women deserved better than the care they were being given. And I became passionate about providing that.  Getting the chance to hold a new baby doesn’t hurt either ;)

2. If a kid walked up to you asking for your advice and you only had a few minutes to give ‘em your best tip, what would it be?

Don’t sweat the small stuff (and it almost always is small stuff).  If it isn’t going to matter a year from now, it’s not worth stressing yourself out about now.

3. What makes you proud of yourself?

When I come across a challenge or an obstacle in my life, and I work through it.  When I don’t hide from it, or throw up my hands and and say it’s too much. My mantra this year is “I can do hard things.”

4. What do you love about your life?

My family and my home.  Being in the company of my 4 children and my husband, in our cozy home, where people know each other and love one another anyway,  is a gift. Being able to have my guard down and just laugh, relax, and to be myself with them is so nice.

5. What did you want to be when you grew up?

The CEO of a big company.  Ha! I used to dream of wearing designer suits, living in a McMansion, with an assistant, a driver, and a personal cook.  And no children. Anyone who knows me know would laugh about that! This is the furthest from who I am now as a person. Give me jeans and a tee shirt, and a squishy baby anyday!

6. What are your top three values?

Kindness.  Trustworthiness.  Determination.

7. Tell me about your favorite book or movie.

I am a major book worm.  My husband eyes my book collection and says I have a problem.  I say the only problem is where to fit another bookcase ;) I’m not sure I can choose just one favorite.  But I can tell you that I really enjoy historical fiction. Reading about the lives of people who have come before me, the adversities and challenges they have overcome, the lessons that history shows us for our current times, and going on adventures vicariously through their eyes beyond my little suburban neighborhood, is exciting!

8. How do you like to be told you’re doing a good job?

When people tell me that something I did  for them made a difference in their life, or when they notice a specific thing I  excelled at and let me know, it is very rewarding! My Love Language is definitely “words of affirmation”.

9. How would you describe your (doula) style?

I believe birth is a blend of  art and science. I work using using a balance of holistic, intuitive care and evidenced based knowledge.  I am very much a hands on doula, who enjoys providing massage, Rebozo work and positioning techniques with my birth clients.  I also try my best to connect with people heart to heart, as this is what keeps them feeling calm, safe, encouraged and positive during labor.

10. Describe yourself in 5 words

Compassionate

Respectful

Creative

Open minded

Easy going