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 in South Bend, Indiana, but we are moving to St. Louis, MO, before August 2023. We have one dog (Millie), two cats (Spencer and Benedict Cumbercat), and six chickens (Galadriel, Padme, Beverly, Dolores, Buffy, and Wanda).
I have two jobs I love. One is a sociologist. 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.
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 South Bend folks looking for a doula, I typically practice at Memorial Hospital (South Bend), St. Joe Medical Center (Mishawaka), and Elkhart General Hospital (Elkhart).
My childbirth education classes take place in a classroom or in your living room, either in person or virtually.
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.
You can find me on instagram (@abbythesociologistdoula) and Facebook (Abby the Sociologist Doula)
Abby the Sociologist Doula 