by Rachel Majors
Hello fellow birth enthusiasts!
My name is Rachel Majors and I am fairly new to the ICEA board. I took over the role of secretary in August of 2024 and it has been an amazingly educational and eye-opening experience so far. Being the secretary is a great role for someone who is pretty new to ICEA and to working on a board because it is required that you be very present and ask clarifying questions during board and committee meetings since others will be relying on your notes for reference.
One thing that has stood out to me as I have begun to meet in person and virtually each board member, is what an incredibly rich and diverse set of skills the ICEA board possesses as a whole. Not only is there a wealth of knowledge about pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and lactation, but each board member brings a set of skills from their lives outside of ICEA, and even outside of birthwork, that contributes to keeping ICEA growing, improving, and serving anyone in the childbirth sphere.
With that being said, there are a couple of board position openings that we would love for YOU to apply for! If you feel that you have any skills that could help a working board of people committed to positive birth outcomes, please reach out and let us know. The current open positions are Director of Conferences, Director of Postpartum Education, Director of Public Policy, and Director of International Relations. It is guaranteed to be an informative and community-building experience.
As well as being new to the ICEA board, I am relatively new to birthwork altogether. My background is as a middle school teacher, with a master’s degree in adult education (which I had planned to use to work in school administration before discovering my love for this field of work!) I began teaching Childbirth Education at a hospital near me in Longmont, CO 2 years ago, and from there discovered doula work and have not looked back! The deep bond that I have felt with every expectant parent I have worked with has been absolutely life changing. Getting to work with families in what may be the most vulnerable and transformative moment of their lives is an honor and a gift.
While birth doula, postpartum doula, and childbirth education work is incredibly gratifying, it can also be trying to be relied upon and on call regardless of other commitments. For that reason, building a network of fellow doulas in my area has been a priority for me as I build my business. Not only do I need this network so that none of my clients find themselves without a doula unexpectedly, but I also feel so much better about saying no to commitments that I cannot take on when I can refer an expectant person or couple to another doula who I know to be both compassionate and capable. I’d love to hear from other doulas and educators how you have worked towards building a network in your community!
