By Pat Lawrence
Debi Ellis |
Debi Ellis is a doula. She’s President of the state Doula Network
and a former state representative for Doulas of North America. For
years, she was the only doula in West Virginia. She loves her work,
though it is anything but 9-5.
A doula supports women through labor and delivery. “I nurture,
soothe, educate, empower, support and advocate. I support the woman
emotionally and physically, in many ways including massage, position
changes, and aromatherapy.
Debi provides in home support during early labor, then follows the
mom to wherever she has chosen to deliver. She remains “by the
mother’s side until about an hour after the birth, helping and
answering questions.” Debi believes doulas are essential for
a “woman who chooses hospital birth, because she will have many
staff members attending her who don’t know her in any way. I’m
a constant for her through out delivery.”
A staunch believer in informed consent, Debi encourages each woman
“to ask her provider many, many questions and find one to give
her the birth experience she wants.” She helps with the birth
plan, a process where the mom and the baby’s father plan their
ideal birth. “It includes their thoughts things like walking
or laying down, pain medication, breastfeeding, labor stimulation
and positioning to ease labor pain. They take the plan and discuss
it with the midwife or doctor to open up communication and clarify
everyone’s expectations.”
Debi teaches “cool, not boring!” birth classes, infant
care, and breastfeeding classes and facilitates a mothers support
group. She especially enjoys her work at the FamilyCare birthing center.
“The birth center provides the mother and family with a safe,
nurturing environment for birth. We pamper moms. It is how birth should
be.”
Although she planned on being a midwife, Debi entered the doula business
when a hearing loss interfered with nursing school. Born and raised
in Kanawha County, she received her degree in recreational therapy
from WVSC “after raising my kids”. Her own midwife encouraged
her to become a doula. “I had no idea what a doula was!”
She found training in Richmond ,VA and was certified through DONA
and the International Childbirth Education Association. Now, she is
an approved doula trainer. “We complete various educational
opportunities every year to maintain certification. It takes up to
2 years to get certified. It requires prerequisites, reading, training
workshops, and attending three births.”
She says, “Being a doula is fun but it’s hard work. You
often work with no sleep. If you have a family, sometimes it is very
difficult. The shortest labor I have done was 1 hour and the longest
was 59 hours. You sacrifice a lot for this calling, but it is so worth
it.”
Her business is Enchanted Beginnings. “I’m on call for
the mom from when she hires me. I try to attend a prenatal visit with
her, do her delivery and a post-partum visit and give breastfeeding
assistance. Across the US, doulas charge between $200 and $700 for
births, and it is always a bargain!”
Debi says the saddest times for her are birthing with women in unpleasant
relationships or whose provider just doesn’t listen.
Her hearing impairment “doesn't really interfere all that much.
I read lips and am tuned in to non-verbal cues. I pick things up through
my hands during massage.”
“A confirmed birth junkie”, for recreation, Debi creates
belly casts for pregnant women. She remains passionate and excited
about her life. “A woman is truly beautiful during delivery,’
she says. “It is an intimate, spiritual moment. I feel blessed
to be at every birth”.
Contact Debi Ellis at or
304-727-5384.Douladebi@aol.com
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