Name: Sarah E. Thayer
Age: 35
Location: Simsbury, Connecticut
Online homes: website // twitter
Favorite Karina dress: I love my Audrey dress. The Audrey dress is great for summer and can be dressed up for a nice evening out, or worn while I am on summer adventures with my kids. The bright reds and oranges are so happy and fun!
What are your every day, must-reads, online or off?
Must-reads online include: Huffington Post, Jezebel, and entirely too much time reading tweets about politics and birth stuff. I most recently read The Sun Also Rises by Earnest Hemingway with my book club. The next fiction book I am going to read is I Lock My Door Upon Myself by Joyce Carol Oates. I am also reading Optimal Care in Childbirth: the Case for a Physiologic Approach by Henci Goer and Amy Romano.
You’re a doula. What’s the single most important thing for first time mothers to know?
The most important thing for first time mothers to know is that their bodies are good; women have the capacity to birth their babies and raise them well, even though it can feel really hard sometimes.
There’s been a huge resurgence and interest in doulas in the past several years. Why do you think that is?
People want to have a satisfying birth experience and are seeking out ways to have their own best birth. It is the job of the doula to help women & families have the most positive birth experience possible for their unique birth. Every family and birth is different and special. Doulas provide physical and emotional comforts that take into consideration the specific needs of their clients. It is never the same job twice!
Nurses, doctors, and midwives have the job of making sure everyone is healthy and well during birth, but the doula is there to make sure that the mama is having a good experience. While care providers often do care about a good experience, it isn’t the primary scope of their job. As more and more families have received care from doulas, word has spread about the numerous studied benefits. Doula-supported childbirths are statistically shorter, have fewer medical interventions, are less likely to require surgery, and are reported by mothers to have been better experiences than non-doula-supported labors. With such noted benefits, who wouldn’t want a doula?
If you could give your 16 year old self advice, what would you say?
Don’t be so worried about what other people think. March to the beat of your own drum loudly and proudly! Also, take more math classes; you are going to need it.
Your perfect day. What would it look like?
There are so many things I love to do, I could never fit them all into one day! A perfect day starts off with a cup of hot coffee on my deck admiring my very small garden and the woods behind our home. It would also involve my husband’s signature breakfast-making skills with our 8-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son. I love riding my bike with my family, especially when there is an ice cream destination involved!
No great day would be complete without some knitting with friends, some time at my weaving loom, creating and eating delicious food, and spending some time with expectant families. Because I enjoy so many things I always try to work something creative and pleasurable into my busy family and work life so that every day has some sweetness. When you can get called out to a birth at a moments notice, you develop the ability to be flexible and present to the joy of right now.
Thanks so much for sharing, Sarah!