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

Hi Katie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

My baby was 3 weeks old, crying in the middle of the living room and I couldn’t care less. Six weeks postpartum, I was cuddling with my partner. I felt like I might explode from the immense loneliness and guilt, knowing he was feeling closeness and I was feeling nothing. Three months postpartum I lay awake at night envisioning myself hanging from the stairwell. Four months postpartum, I bring my son to the grocery store after planning exactly how to do the shopping in the quickest way possible. Upon entering the store, a clerk touched his elbow while saying how cute he was I screamed at her “Don’t touch my baby!” and ran away crying; we left the store without groceries, and didn’t leave the house for another week. I finally decided a walk in the park would be okay. Every car that passed us swerved to hit us, the UPS truck was absolutely out of control, and it seemed like every person at the park reached in to try to take the baby from me. I ran home crying. This was my clue to get help. I found postpartum support international who helped me find a perinatal mental health therapist, a peer mentor, and virtual support groups. Finally, I began to heal.

I wanted to give back, to fix this major gap in care. I began researching, and I discovered there were only a handful of perinatal mental health crisis units and they were all in hospitals and found just one that would allow me to bring my baby, but only during daytime hours and it was on the other side of the country. With this new lived experience and research, I realized this story I possess is only mine. I scoured the internet and found a million stories from mothers about their postpartum experience saying similar things, but this wasn’t enough. I really needed to be involved in the hands-on aspect to learn what moms really need in this period. I don’t want to assume what I would have wanted is the only answer. That’s when the vision for Mother Up! was born: a baby-welcome crisis and community center where families don’t have to choose between their mental health and their baby. But, I couldn’t just launch Mother Up! without truly understanding what mothers needed. So, I went back to school for my Master’s in Business and created Wild Wonders Doula, LLC; a perinatal mood and anxiety disorder Doula company.

Wild Wonders Doula, LLC. specializes in postpartum mood disorder prevention for moms in pregnancy, at labor & delivery, and during postpartum. I help families prepare for their birth and postpartum experience by planning ahead, providing coping tools before they need them, and supporting them in utilizing these skills when necessary. My clients are helping me as much as I am helping them. From one client, I learned that Mother Up! must employ a breastfeeding consultant. She had a very hard time finding one that accepts her insurance, and then getting to the office was also a challenge. From another mother, who had an extremely hard time getting the ER to take her seriously, I learned we should have a patient advocate that accompanies clients to their doctors when they need it. This woman felt like she was bleeding on the inside; her c-section pain lasted much longer than normal. The hospital’s receptionist told her, “If you were bleeding internally you would already be dead, I’m not giving you the scan.” Absolutely unacceptable.

In short, Wild Wonders Doula serves to solve the problem of lack of local perinatal mood and anxiety disorder support, and it is the method in which our future business will see success.

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.

Wild Wonders Doula, LLC. offers birth and postpartum support focused on preventing mood disorders. We also offer breastmilk jewelry, and placenta art and encapsulation.

I help my clients plan for the postpartum period during pregnancy so they have guidance as they enter this phase—because it happens in an instant, and trying to come up with a plan while on fire doesn’t work. I teach my clients deep breathing and how to advocate for themselves and their child, unapologetically. For many, this is the first time they are speaking up for someone else from a place of complete authenticity. I teach my clients that taking care of themselves is in fact taking care of their child, and that this is the absolute best way to do so. What I tell my mom’s in postpartum is that we must start putting ourselves first. Your worth is not measured in how much you sacrifice, how much you suffer, or how little you can make yourself. Please take your shower and eat your meal, even though it might be cold.

During prenatal visits we work on their birth preferences, discuss what happens when emergencies arise, what their power is in their birth, how to advocate for themselves, induction methods, and coping skills and comfort measures to thrive in their birth experience however they want it. Many doulas believe physiological birth is the only birth worth supporting. I disagree. If a mom comes to me and says she wants any type of birth—whether it’s vaginal unmedicated, medicated, or c-section—my answer will always be the same: “Great! Let’s plan for that.” My job is not to change their mind. My job is to provide support where they are at. Yes, a vaginal unmedicated birth is the most physiological normal plan to have; that doesn’t make it the best kind of birth. You don’t get a gold star at the end. You may feel a sense of pride for getting the birth you planned for, and that’s the same sense of pride any mother will feel if her birth, as she wants it, goes according to that plan.

Pregnant women are not stupid women; they can educate themselves. I provide unbiased researched information about the topics that they are interested in. They can learn from it what they want. For instance, if a woman contacted me and said she wants the epidural as soon as possible because she is so scared of the pain, I will ask her a series of questions: “Why are you afraid of labor pain? What stories have you been told? What do you know about the epidural process and how it works?” If she says she’s just heard so many negative stories about how badly labor hurts, I will validate those feelings—labor is not comfortable, and it is felt differently by every person who experiences it. If you could minimize the pain without medication, would you like to explore those options? In this, I am letting her know that excruciating pain is not the only option. If she says no, not even a little bit, then we move forward planning for a medicated vaginal birth. I will still teach her and her birth partner comfort measures, positioning, and how to advocate for themselves. The only thing that truly changes is the way we talk about comfort measures. She’s not necessarily going to need hip squeezes, but she will need repositioning, massage, and to feel comfortable in her experience. In this pre-baby stage we also try to set up clients with a therapist, get them registered with a support group, and get crisis numbers in their phones.

During birth, I follow through with what we discussed in the weeks leading up to the birth. I will have her birth plan with me, I will perform comfort measures, help her advocate for herself, and be willing to support her in any changed decisions that happen in the moment. When we support a mother where she is at before birth and during it, we are laying the groundwork for surviving, and hopefully preventing, postpartum mood disorders.

During postpartum I provide the normal dishes, laundry, and baby care that is expected during this time, and I spend a heavy amount of time talking to the mother about her experiences. I do not hold the baby until the mother hands the baby to me or asks me to. I always start every visit with checking in with her. I ask questions like: What have you eaten? When? How much water are you getting? Tell me what overnights look like. Have you talked to your best friend this week? How did that go? How are things with your partner? I’m always nervous these will feel intrusive, but in my experience people within their intimate circle always ask about the baby. I want to be at least one person who is totally focused on the mother because she matters. Nothing sucks more than feeling invisible. After checking in with mom and doing a chore or two, I ask the mama to schedule one selfish thing every week until we meet again, and I provide any resources she might need based on what we talked about.

Outside of doula support, I also make breastmilk jewelry and process placentas for art and encapsulation. I love making breastmilk jewelry. The creativity helps break up the mundane of everyday life. Some moms want rainbow hearts for their rainbow babies, others want sparkly sky blue for their baby boys. The plain white look is timeless and elegant and if we’re being honest; give me the colorfully loud keepsakes all day long! Made Of Us Keepsakes Co. launched in October Offering the same jewelry as before, and with a mission of providing free breastmilk jewelry to moms in grief. I recently decided to split it out into its own entity as well as being an add-on service through Wild Wonders Doula.

Placenta services remain under the Wild Wonders Doula umbrella, and this work is incredibly meaningful to me. The placenta is an extraordinary organ—it’s the only organ your body creates temporarily and then releases. It nourished and sustained your baby for nine months, and many cultures throughout history have honored it as sacred. I offer placenta encapsulation, where the placenta is carefully prepared and encapsulated into pills that mothers can take postpartum. Many clients report benefits like increased energy, improved mood, better milk supply, and reduced postpartum bleeding. I also create placenta art—beautiful prints made from the placenta itself that capture its tree-of-life appearance. Some families choose to plant their placenta in a ceremonial burial with a tree or plant, creating a living memorial. Whether a client wants encapsulation for the potential physical benefits, art for a keepsake, or both, I approach this work with reverence and care. For many mothers, having their placenta honored in this way is deeply healing and provides a tangible connection to their birth experience and their baby’s first home.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I’ll never forget sitting at my kitchen table as a single mom, staring at yet another claim denial email. The insurance companies owed me over $3,000 for services I had already provided to clients, services that happened months ago. I couldn’t pay my bills. I couldn’t afford to wait another 90+ days for payment that might never come. In that moment, I wanted to quit taking Medicaid clients altogether.

But then I thought about my clients; the mothers who desperately need doula support but can only access it through Medicaid coverage. These are the same mothers who are most likely to experience postpartum mood disorders without proper support. These are the mothers I started Wild Wonders Doula to serve. If I quit, who would be there for them?

So I made a choice. I would fight for my payments, and for every doula who comes after me, and every mother who needs this care.
The battle to become a Medicaid-accepting doula has been brutal. Our state provided a guide, which helped, but it still took over a month just to get credentialed with straight Medicaid. Then came the credentialing process with each individual insurance company which meant submitting the same information over and over again, waiting weeks for responses, and never receiving confirmation emails. You just hope that someday, someone will email you back. Thankfully, they eventually did, and I’m now credentialed with all of them and working on commercial plans as well.

But credentialing was just the beginning. Then comes the real uphill battle: submitting claims, dealing with denials, fighting underpayments. I now understand why so many providers refuse to accept Medicaid. The system is designed to wear you down until you give up.

I refused to give up. I pivoted my business model. I diversified my income streams. And every single week, I write emails and make phone calls to push the system along. Sometimes I’m nice. Sometimes I’m not. But I’m relentless. The current system isn’t designed to support care providers who want to serve vulnerable populations. It punishes us for choosing to care for those who need it most. But if we all walk away, nothing changes.

So here’s what I want other doulas reading this to know: They don’t care if you’re paid. In fact, it’s a benefit to them if you aren’t. Do not settle. Fight. Call, email, report the insurance company to your state Medicaid umbrella. It’s easy to push us around because we are typically our own billers, while hospitals hire trained billers to do their fighting. It’s not the guy answering the phone; try to be nice to him. It’s the system. It will not be fixed if we aren’t continuously asking for it to be fixed. Help your future generation of Medicaid doulas by fighting for your payments!

We’re still here. We’re still providing doula support to those who need it most. That’s resilience.

Have you ever had to pivot?

The pivot happened when I couldn’t ignore the math anymore. Medicaid owed me thousands of dollars, and as a single mom, I was drowning. I had two choices: quit serving Medicaid clients altogether, or find another way to keep the lights on while I fought for what I was owed. I needed to get creative.

I started offering placenta encapsulation, placenta art, and breastmilk jewelry alongside my doula services. These weren’t just add-ons to make extra money, they were meaningful ways to serve families and set myself apart in a crowded field. My clients received a discount, and I extended the same discount to any Medicaid mama, whether she was my client or not.

Then something unexpected happened. The breastmilk jewelry took off. And with its growth came heartbreaking requests. Mothers who had lost their babies reaching out for bereavement pieces. I started making them for free because how could I not? These mothers were already paying the highest price in grieving the unimaginable. But I quickly realized this wasn’t sustainable. I was pouring money into materials and time into creating pieces that, while deeply meaningful, were bankrupting my business.

That’s when I made my biggest pivot: I spun the jewelry business into its own entity; Made Of Us Keepsakes Co. We preserve breastmilk, hair, umbilical cord, placenta, and ash in jewelry, keychains, and display pieces. But I refused to walk away from my mission to serve grieving families. So I built a buy-one-give-one model. For every sale, 10% goes to a bereavement fund. Customers can add tips, and generous souls can purchase gift certificates that go directly into the fund. Families grieving a child one year old or younger can fill out a form, provide proof of loss, and choose any design from our catalog. Their order goes into queue until funds are available, and bereavement pieces are “sold” at cost so donations stretch as far as possible.

I’ve launched the site at madeofuskeepsakes.com, though it’s still a work in progress,I’m doing a lot manually right now, like writing client emails. Once Made Of Us is running smoothly, I’m considering spinning placenta services into their own business as well. Each pivot requires investment—time and money I don’t always have—but each one brings me closer to sustainability.
I’ve also added birth plan building sessions and postpartum planning sessions for $50 each, with plans to eventually host free and paid postpartum planning classes. That’s really the space where I want to live; helping families prepare before crisis hits.

The most recent pivot? Joining a network called Pacify. They match me with clients for virtual and in-person support and handle all the paperwork, claims filing, grievances, and accounting. I just get an email saying I’ve been matched with a client, and then I do my doula thing. It’s taken a massive load off my shoulders and filled in income gaps while I wait for Medicaid to pay what they owe.

These pivots weren’t part of some grand business plan. They were born out of necessity, creativity, and a stubborn refusal to abandon the families who need support most. Each pivot has taught me that sustainability doesn’t mean compromising your mission—it means finding innovative ways to fund it.

Contact Info:

• Website: wildwondersdoula.com, madeofuskeepsakes.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/wildwondersdoula
• Facebook: fb.com/katie.douglas.754, fb.com/wildwondersdoula, fb.com/madeofuskeepsakes
• Youtube: Made of Us Keepsakes Coming soon

Image Credits
Images of me in the pink shirt are professional headshots done by Kelsey Slusser of Soulful Shots Photography in Christiansburg, VA. all other images are done by me.