We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dakota Hindman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dakota below.

Hi Dakota, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

I’ve always known that I wanted to be a doula/midwife. Since my own birth, through my teenage years and into my early adulthood, it has called me. And that is what many birth professionals say: it is a “calling”. Because of this unique calling to my profession, I’m not sure I can appeal to the general population of young professionals about starting their own practice, but I can say this: Follow Your Heart! And your intuition, if you’re tapped into it! They will guide you in ways that the brain cannot. They have been my biggest allies in this journey so far and are invaluable. Listen to yourself. Trust yourself. Especially when it is the hardest to do so. The world needs your unique magic and offerings! Keep going!

Personally, I’ve had to move through a lot of fear, practical and financial barriers, as well as deep reckonings on the spiritual level to be able to do this work well and successfully. Being a birth-keeper is not easy work… It has many challenges (social, political, interpersonal, long/random hours, on-call life, etc.), but the administrative part of this world is not why I got into it! So I had to speak with many other established birth professionals about their experience and then figure out the rest on my own! It was definitely an initiation that I look back on with pride and awe.

I’m not sure what I would do differently knowing what I know now… I have a deep trust for the ways in which I came to birth work. I sought all the trainings and apprenticeships I could and still do! I am continually learning in this field – from my clients and their births to my colleagues and peers, but also in my continuing education courses. Remaining open and flexible, rather than getting into set ways of thinking is something I keep learning and could probably tell my younger self to do more of! “Go with the flow! This work will perpetually stretch you past any and all limits you thought you had. And you CAN do it. Just keep trusting and surrendering!”

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am a full-spectrum doula, student midwife and ceremonialist. I support families in the prenatal, labor/birth and postpartum time of their lives in non-clinical (doula) and clinical (midwife) capacities. I provide childbirth education, information and advocacy, comfort measures during labor, emotional and spiritual support and postpartum integration for the full spectrum of experiences in the childbearing continuum (birth, miscarriage, termination and still-birth). I also provide things like placenta encapsulation and postpartum doula services (cooking, newborn care and household tasks) to allow families the space to rest and integrate after birth.

As a ceremonialist, I offer a wide variety of ceremonies and rituals to support these Rite of Passages in a sacred way. Oftentimes in our culture, these aspects of the childbearing continuum are overlooked and undervalued; while historically and in cultures across the world, these initiations are honored and respected. Women/birthing people aren’t just told to “get back to work” or to “lose the weight and get back in those pre-pregnancy jeans”, but are revered for their capacity to birth and are cared for by their communities. They are supported in understanding and integrating what it means to move through such a powerful Rite of Passage and step into parenthood consciously and with support.

So, this is what I hold space for as a birth-keeper and ceremonialist. I see YOU and your family and what it means for you to move through these threshold spaces in a culture that doesn’t understand. I see the layers of fear one must move through to surrender, the soul-stretching impact birth has on us, the deeper layers of identity change that comes when arriving at parenthood and the ways we are forever changed by it. It is too important to be overlooked.

Ultimately, I deeply understand the importance of families feeling educated and empowered during their birthing experience and the impact that can have on the newborn child’s life, the family unit as a whole and the wider community. It is from this place that I advocate for your autonomy and sovereignty during your birth experience. It is from this place that I hold space for ceremony and ritual. It is from this place that I sit with you during challenging moments along the way. And it is from this place that I walk with you, side by side, as you welcome your little one earthside. It is an honor and a privilege to do so.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Honesty and integrity. Communication. Boundaries. Self-care and respect. Consistency. Open heartedness. Connection to my intuition. Working with fear (and emotional intelligence, in general). Owning my mistakes and imperfections/taking responsibility for my actions. Naming when I don’t know something, or I am out of my scope of practice. Staying humble. Charging what I know I’m worth and creating space for a scholarship program in my practice to ensure this work remains accessible. Respecting and advocating for my clients deeper knowing about their bodies and babies. Valuing continuing education and being a forever student of birth. And responding to inquiries and clients alike in a timely manner! ;)

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

Absoutely not! I never want to quit this amazing and beautiful profession that teaches me so much! This is what I was put on this planet to do!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.matrescencedoula.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/matrescencedoula
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/matrescencedoula
• Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/matrescence-doula-services-boulder?osq=birth+doula
• Other: https://www.themotherscenter.org/about-us https://sagebirthandwellness.com/dakota-hindman/

Image Credits
Lucas Dimoveo Media and Nutmeg Photography