About Me
Who I am
Hey, I’m Abby. I’m a doula, educator, researcher, sociologist, wife, mom, Catholic, and geek. Sometimes I take milk in my coffee to feel luxurious. My favorite tv show is Jane the Virgin. I have a tattoo on my left wrist, which is a Bible verse reference in Vulcan calligraphy. My little family lives St. Louis, Missouri. We have a dog (Millie) and a cat (Benedict Cumbercat). We miss our six chickens (Galadriel, Padme, Beverly, Dolores, Buffy, and Wanda) and are hoping to build a new flock soon.
I have two jobs I love. The first job is as a professor of sociology and health care ethics. In really broad terms, I write and teach about family, culture, politics, and methodologies. In specific terms, I study how transitions into motherhood shape our views of ourselves and our social structures, especially in situations of loss and grief.
The other job is a birth worker.
What I do
I help people forming families – and people supporting people forming families – to feel comfortable, confident, and reassured through education, resources, and support. I do what I do because I want to support families being born. That means I serve as a birth doula, walking with parents before, during, and after the birth of a child. I also serve as a bereavement doula, supporting parents through a hello and a goodbye. I teach childbirth education classes, helping families and their support systems grow in confidence through knowledge.
Really, I hold. That’s what I do. From the most exciting of outcomes to the most heartbreaking of outcomes, I hold – space, conversations, energy, emotions, faith, doubt, and most of all parents. I treasure the whole person with my whole heart, no matter age, race, gender, creed, or orientation. Through my training, experience, and creativity, I provide or find the calm and the resources families need in tender moments of transition, and I companion them as they move through those moments.
About my practice
I offer virtual bereavement doula services, so your location is not a factor in your ability to find support.
For local folks looking for a doula, I typically practice within an hour’s radius of St. Louis, MO.
My childbirth education classes take place in a classroom or in your living room, either in person or virtually.
Why I do it
My mission is to provide education, resources, and support to families in formation, in order to help parents feel comforted, confident, and reassured/companioned. I do this through a grief-informed, science-based lens that is informed by faith.
What to learn more? Let’s connect! You can find me on instagram (@abbythesociologistdoula) and Facebook (Abby the Sociologist Doula).
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