Bonnie Jarvis
Certified Birth Doula (DONA)
Early Childhood Educator
doulabonnie@yahoo.ca
604-842-2134

My introduction into the world of birth began in February of 1999, with the birth of my niece, Maya. It was a long process, off and on over three days, which was unusual in our family of fast “birthers”. I loved acting as my sister’s support during the incredible journey she made into motherhood ( I had never even heard of a doula then!) but craved more information: about pregnancy, about labour and birth and about what these mean to a women’s body and mind.

When I learned of the Doula Training Course at Douglas College in 2001, I signed up right away. That weekend changed my life in that it brought home to me the power of informed choice, which I can now apply to pretty much everything!

Nearly seven years later, I have given birth to three children of my own. After an extremely short and powerful labour, my daughter, Faire, was born into the welcoming hands of our midwife, Linda, my husband Jason, and doulamama Sarah supporting me. She held my hands, kept me focused on my breathing, and reassured me when I felt out of control. When my daughter was born, I felt her pride in me as great as my own.

We planned a home birth for my son, Shea, 19 months later, and as I birthed my baby in the bedroom, my daughter was in the next room, drawing him a picture! My family was all able to be there, some in the room, and some not, but all amazed and awed by a birth at home, in a house that is so special to our family.

My younger daughter, Isla, was also born at home in the company of my husband, my doulamama, my family, and a team of wonderful midwives that I consider friends. Fast and furious, but oh, so wonderful to look around the room afterward at a glorious group of birth-lovers, who trusted my intuition and came a-running when I called!

Nothing has empowered me like the births of my children. To give birth how and where I wanted was such a joy! Though every woman will make different choices regarding her own birth(s), I am excited for the opportunity to help her reach her goals and feel empowered by her birth experience. I want women and their partners to look forward to birth with faith, not fear.

I believe the day a woman gives birth is a day she will remember for the rest of her life. It is a magical event that should be celebrated and protected. I feel strongly about the power and the process of birth, the miracle of the event, the respect and the protection it deserves. I am there with the goal of helping a woman have a safe and satisfying birth experience, as the woman defines it. It may be with a doctor or a midwife at a hospital, or a midwife at home. I am there to hold a woman’s hand, look her in the eye, remind her to breathe, change position, drink some water, have a snack…but most of all, I am there to tell her that what she is doing is amazing, that she herself is amazing, that birth is normal and natural and beautiful, and that she can do it.

I am there to trust in a mother’s intuition, and support a family as it blooms into something more.