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

Alright, Jamie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I was a stay at home mom with our four young babies for 10 years. When our youngest child started kindergarten, I was faced with reality of: who am I, and what do I do with my life now that all my kids are in school?

I really went through a season of grief and processing this big transition of parenting. I thought carefully about what was meaningful for me and the people in my life, on my motherhood journey.

My kids were born in the years 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014. I was pregnant for some portion of every calendar year for seven consecutive years. I also continuously breast-fed, back-to-back, all of my children. I tandem nursed my first two boys for a few, short, special weeks.

Although I was blessed with help from family in the first week or two of all of my babies lives, the journey of having multiple babies, and a husband that worked overtime, left me in a season of isolation, while simultaneously battling undiagnosed postpartum depression. I felt alone, was chronically exhausted, and dealing with undiagnosed ADHD. So I felt like I was living in a chronic state of chaos and disorganization. I was mentally and emotionally hard on myself for not being able to keep up with housework.

After we moved to a new town in 2016, I was 2 years postpartum and starting to feel like myself again. My kids were all potty trained and becoming more self-sufficient. I was excited to seek and build a new community, where we could put down some roots.

I started hosting potluck brunches in our home, for stay-at-home parents. Moms and Dads would hobble in with babies and toddlers in tow. We’d sometimes be in our sweatpants and always with the messy mom-bun. The coffee pot didn’t stop until we’d all had a few cups worth. We gently and kindly parented each other’s children when disagreements and disappointments broke out. We held each other’s babies so we could eat our food. We shared raw and vulnerable stories with each other that evoked laughter and tears. We didn’t feel so alone on these days. It was magical.

So when I was deciding what I wanted to do as a career, I put all of the pieces together that would put me in a place to serve parents just like me. A postpartum doula. This is how The Village Doula was born.

My mission is to be a safe person that can witness, listen, hold and validate parents in a very raw and sacred season of parenthood. I come with no judgments of the state of their home, of their emotions, or of their abilities as a new parent. I come to serve, and hopefully refresh. I come with years of experience, wisdom, and humbling moments of my own parenting journey. What I wish to give every parent is grace and confidence that whatever their best is—is perfectly enough. I come to take a load off of their shoulders, and hopefully their hearts. I come to hold their babies so they can shower, eat, drink water and refresh their soul. I come to show tips of efficiency and advice for best diaper creams and diet elimination knowledge for babies with reflux. I come with a calm and rested nervous system to evoke a sense of peace when I enter their space. I absolutely love what I do and I’m beyond honored to be invited to do so.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Well, hello! I am just a gal who loves deeply. I believe in the power of connection and community. I feel we are inherently, cosmically, intricately woven together and it just amazes me. My perspective on life and purpose has been impacted even deeper by the recent loss of my mother (September 2023). Her death continues to shape my Earthly experience in ways I couldn’t have imagined. I see everything from a “higher-self” lens, as if I were on the other-side with her. I became untethered from humanness for a while and can feel the eternal love, peace and purity that she is in. I feel like Nicolas Cage after he fell from heaven in the movie, City of Angels. Everything is so precious here.

In 2019, after 14 years of marriage, I went through a divorce. I was, for the first time ever, their sole provider. After 10 years as a stay at home parent, I needed to financially support them. I hired a 16 year old babysitter and paid her to stay with my kids for daytime and overnight shifts. My first summer of work, I was with a family of twin newborns, and 2 toddlers. This was my second home and they became like family.

One of the things I really love about my job, that I feel doesn’t get discussed very much, or is even fully realized by my own clients, is holding space for relationship and marriage dynamics. The way it changes your marriage when you have babies and small children is profound. I am able to hold safe space to listen to each parent—separately, and together, how they’re feeling in their evolving roles. I am a psychology geek. I love offering nuggets of wisdom to couples who are seeking ways to efficiently communicate and prioritize their relationship. As someone on the outside looking in, and from my own lived experience, I am able to give perspective, suggestions and encouragement for ways to nourish and improve their life. This is one of my favorite things to do because it directly impacts the lives of their babies and children. If mommy and daddy aren’t OK, then it’s a ripple effect.

I provide a vast range of services for my clients. I have rearranged and decorated rooms in their homes. I suggest, order, put together, and implement products that more efficiently run their household. I offer breast-feeding and bottle-feeding knowledge to best support parent and baby. I have experience with reflux babies and best positions to hold them in to lessen their symptoms. I have lots of soothing techniques for babies and parents. I promote low sensory environments, especially for toddlers and young children, who are struggling to take naps and get to sleep at a good time at night. I provide overnight services to wake with baby and feed them so parents can sleep, however, I am starting to limit the amount of overnights I work as I’m finding that with my age (40) this affects my overall health more than it did when I was in my 20s. I really love to remind and give permission to parents who are too hard on themselves: this is a season of life and if the house is a mess and your baby is happy, then it is OK. A lot of parents always apologize for the messiness of their home and my response is always: “I wouldn’t expect anything different, you just gave birth.” One way I would really love to transition my services would be to provide virtual and chat support. I feel in just having someone you can talk to, ask questions, vent or get advice from, virtually, is a very helpful tool to have, versus trying to figure it all out on your own.

Finally, but with such passion, I am a candid-moments photographer. These photos capture the raw moments, in the middle of the night, when mom’s really don’t want these photos to be seen by anyone else, but treasure them in hindsight. Always asking permission, of course. These are the kinds of photos that show baby’s little hand nestled on mommy’s chest, a sibling kissing baby’s forehead or the way the husband is looking at his wife with such awe. Give me raw and messy moments over put-together, ANY DAY! I prefer it, because I’ve lived it.

A really proud moment in my life, which I know impacts everyone around me, is that my husband and I reconciled and are successfully partnering this life together. Our transformation overcame addiction, we did childhood healing, developed new strategies for our relationship and have created a solid foundation. We were on and off for 2 years after our divorce and have been solid since July 2021-present (March 2024). Had we not done this very hard work; he wouldn’t have been in the mindset to support me when my mom died. He continues to be a safe-space for me to feel and experience all I have been through. He has evolved to know that just holding me, while I weep, is sometimes all I need him to do. It’s so beautiful and I’m so grateful. I get to pass on the tools we’ve used to re-build our relationship to my clients and anyone who wants to learn and heal as well.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

A local doula agency reached out to me after I had only been in the industry for 1 year. I work as a contract doula for her clients and this is one great way I get to serve families. For The Village Doula, my best source of new clients are referrals they received. It’s usually family members or friends who refer them to me! I have worked for sisters, cousins, and also repeat clients who have multiple children. I love getting to go back to see new siblings and how big the initial baby has gotten! It’s very rewarding.

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

I joined a local birth workers Facebook group. I attended in-person gatherings to meet other folks in my industry and we all cross recommend each other to clients needing specific providers. There are doulas, lactation consultants, midwives, photographers, physical therapists and more.

I also believe that my quality of work and personality is most impactful for my reputation. I promote and recommend other doulas whenever I can. I personally don’t feel like we are a competitive group—everyone seems encouraging and supportive of each other. We won’t run out of people to serve. The market is huge.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamiepike84?igsh=MTdkeWJuOGlxcDBhNw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamiethevillagedoula?mibextid=LQQJ4d