Meet Doula Leah
Meet Doula Leah
Hello!
Welcome to our “Meet the Team” blog series. I’m Doula Leah, founder and head doula in charge. Before I share a bit about why I started Sweet Bee Services, I want to take you way, way back to the beginning.
Most kids play pretend and want to be a firefighter or pilots or artists. I, on the other hand, usually pretended to be pregnant, breastfeeding, or leading an organization that helped pregnant people receive support in vulnerable situations. Little did I know this would become my life.
I learned about doulas, who are birth workers that support families before, during, and after pregnancy, while in middle school. I watched tv shows about having babies for hours on end. One popular show, “A Birth Story” on TLC could keep me enraptured for 7+ hours! Forever an inquisitive and analytical person, I noticed those who had a doula and strong support system reported more enjoyable experiences with fewer health complications. However, I didn’t see any Black doulas and naively assumed that opportunity would not be available to me. I decided instead to pursue a career in medicine.
In my senior year at Roland Park Country School, I shadowed a Black woman OB/GYN and other reproductive wellness health practitioners. Inspired, I began my time at Howard University studying Biology. My path always ordained to vary from the ordinary, led me instead to a dual major in Psychology and Spanish. I examined the intersections of sexual violence against women and the individual versus societal responsibilities for trauma- healing in my bilingual honors program theses. After graduation, I worked as a bilingual crisis center counselor combating Intimate Partner Violence at House of Ruth Maryland.
Providing personal support solidified my desire to ensure efficiency in social care systems and remove barriers those in need too often face. I moved to New York City in 2015 to pursue Macro Social Work, concentrating in Social Enterprise Administration, now known as Management, Leadership & Entrepreneurship, at Columbia University School of Social Work. There, I answered the call to birth work.
In late 2015, I spoke with a colleague who was completing her doula training. She introduced me to a network of other Black doulas, equipped to address the disparate rates of maternal mortality among Black and brown women in the USA. Knowing the alarming statistics that Black women are 3-4 times more likely to die of childbirth-related complications, I decided to act.
I completed my training with Ancient Song Doula Services in April 2016 and spent the next 8 weeks supporting families. Fueled by the adrenaline of finally living out the purpose my soul had always known, I walked with families through incredibly vulnerable experiences, both in the hospital and in their homes. I literally was at a birth ANY time someone called. A broke, but very happy graduate student LOL. I was fulfilled and making a difference in my clients’ lives! By the end of that summer, I confirmed that birth work is my purpose.
As a social worker and doula, I was uniquely equipped to create plans to navigate the challenges clients faced. I helped them process feelings through trauma-informed, person-centered care. Additionally, I am an intuitive birth worker. This means I support clients through instinct, knowledge, and experience. My myriad career and life experiences laid a foundation for me to curate a safe space grounded in empathy, attentive listening, solution development, and wisdom for which I am forever grateful.
I believe everybody deserves a doula. When I moved back to Baltimore in the summer of 2017, I officially launched Sweet Bee Services (SBS) to make sure everyone I knew could have doula options. Today we are a full-spectrum doula agency with a multidisciplinary team on a mission to educate and empower women with female reproductive systems through a unique whole-body approach. Throughout the blog series, you’ll get to meet the incredible folks that help us help YOU!
As CEO and founding doula, I remind women of their inherent power, especially when navigating challenges within reproductive wellness experiences, by educating them on what to expect, how to advocate for themself, and how to have an empowering experience. I also lead our team in continually raising the bar of service excellence, from our internal systems and communications to each client encounter. Clients and mentees come to us with questions and often have endured traumatic circumstances alone. Our team works cohesively with clients so that you can make decisions that fit you best, speak and know your voice is heard, and navigate future situations with confidence.
SBS offers a full array of supports. I’m honored to lead a team that can address clients’ emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual health needs from a trauma-informed, empathic, and empowered perspective. Additionally, I teach and mentor new doulas. I also teach about all things reproductive health to students from middle school through post-collegiate studies. I’m currently accepting public speaking engagements and would love to connect with you!
