Anathea’s Doula Journey

If you talk to a room full of doulas about the beginning of their career, you may find that many have similar answers. ” I never knew exactly what a doula did, but once I found out, the rest was history.” This rang true for the Co-Owner of Bay City Doulas, Anathea Abele, and today she is here to share her journey into doula work.

We hope you enjoy this week’s blog- Anathea’s Doula Journey with the Co-Founder of Bay City Doulas, Anathea Abele.

Where it all started

There is one thing that I knew from a very young age; my favorite thing in life is to nurture. I genuinely care about people and their well-being and have since I was a small child. My favorite things to do as a kid were caring for other people’s children, helping with cooking, and learning as much about people as possible. This grew throughout my life, and again and again, I found myself being a trusting and nurturing person in the lives of my loved ones.

Dipping my toes in

At fifteen, I was offered a job as a preschool teacher’s assistant at a local home daycare in Santa Cruz. I began working 20 hours a week after school and enjoyed my time there. What I loved the most about connecting with the parents and talking about parenthood and their children.

At 18, I shifted my focus and began to nanny for a special needs boy. This was one of my favorite jobs that I ever had, as I loved watching his milestones and achievements. His family and I became very close and worked closely to watch him thrive, and boy did he! It was this job that I began to realize I wanted to support families as a living, but how?

Getting closer

After graduating high school, I started college and simultaneously soul searched for what I wanted to do with my life. I was confused about what I wanted to do, but one thing was for sure, I loved people and working with people and children. Knowing that these were my two favorite things, I spent many days thinking about how I would combine these things.

What’s a doula?

The first time I heard about a doula, I was highly interested; I remember saying: “so you are telling me there is a job where you can care for new moms and babies and make this a career? Sign me up!” I was twenty-one, and while this new journey seemed overwhelming, it also felt extremely exciting. Within weeks of this discovery, I had found an extensive doula workshop on the island of Kauai. I quickly signed up.

Never looking back

From the first day of my doula course until now, I have never looked back. There is no question that I was born to do this work for myself or anyone around me. I have taken different workshops and classes throughout the years to expand my knowledge and continue my growth. One thing has always remained the same; I love being a doula. Being able to support families in one of the most transformative times in their lives is what I know I will spend my life doing.

Bay City Doulas

After working independently as a doula for a couple of years, my vision grew again! I knew that another level of support was needed, and with my fantastic business partner Cosima who had a shared passion and idea, we founded Bay City Doulas. A company based around individualized support. Now I spend my days supporting doulas and families in their doula and postpartum journeys. We feel fortunate to have a company founded on the support of both families and doulas and take pride in watching doulas and families thrive.

Thank you for reading this week’s blog, “Anathea’s doula journey.” Visit our weekly blog for more tips and tricks on pregnancy, postpartum, and parenthood.