Seattle's Own Quiet Jewel

Please welcome our VSG for today, Ms. Rochelle Schoen!



Seattle-born and raised, Ms. Rochelle demonstrates her affinity for, and influence by, this great city of the Pacific Northwest in many ways. Whether supporting KEXP 90.3 or using the cool periwinkle lavender colour of rain on her website, Ms. Rochelle is the epitome of all things Seattle. A relaxed, laid-back soul, she enjoys baking, reading, chasing after two irascible cats and being a full-time wife and mother.



Like many doulas, the pathway to birth did not appear at first. In her first incarnation, Ms. Rochelle attended the Seattle Central Community College and Western Washington University; at the end, she secured her degree to become a practicing social worker.


Using her talents for nurturing and giving, she worked with clients who were low-income and who had chronic medical/health issues. Soon, she found her niche in the social work methodology of "case management, referrals, resource management, short-term counseling and solution-focused problem solving." One of Ms. Rochelle's particular strengths that she brings from this period of her life is the ability to "can look at the big picture surrounding her clients' situations".



Ms. Rochelle worked as a social worker "for many years". After helping countless individuals to find their way in this wide world, she discovered that she herself was carrying life. Closing the door(as she thought)on her social work life, preparing for the arrival of her child, Rochelle took a Hypnobabies class. a decision which Rochelle reports led to "such a wonderful birth experience with my daughter. My daughter's birth was pain-free and I credit that to Hypnobabies."



Just as simply as that, the path to the world of birth opened before her. As her birth experience had been a model of calm and peace, she yearned to help other women achieve such a birth. Fortunate enough to train with Penny Simkin* personally during her doula training, Rochelle blossomed in her role as a doula, plaiting her new skills as a doula with her previous experiences as a social worker. Thus, a formidable blend of compassion, understanding, knowledge and empowerment was forged, and Rochelle was able to meld both her old skills and her new ones into a new profession: that of doula.



Part of Rochelle's drive is to eradicate "all the misinformation out there." It is the one thing she would love to change if she could. "Did you know that if you had scoliosis as a child, you must only have a c-section and never try a vaginal birth? Or that women who need to take antibiotics must stop breastfeeding because it makes the milk sour?" Correcting such misconceptions and replacing them with solid evidence-based facts is part of Rochelle's mission as a birth professional. This is evident in the advice that she gives to every client: "Become educated! Learn your options, do the research, and talk to others. Don't rely on one source for all of your information!"



The best part of being a doula for our Rochelle is "that it allows me to be a stay-at-home mom with my daughter yet still do some work, but with a greater control over how much I work than I had previously. Since I own my own business, I can do a lot of my work(research, reading, phone calls, etc) with my daughter right on my lap." Our Rochelle also points out that one of the drawbacks of being an active birth doula is that being on-call for an expectant mother can be disruptive, but feels "having a supportive husband, friends, and family is important."



In her capacity as a doula, there is often a duality common to most doulas: "When I am in the role of birth doula, my job is to take on the mom's philosophy and help her achieve her goals." This is exactly within the scope of practice for doulas; the role of the birth professional is to provide advice and counsel, and to respect the desires of the mother. "If a mother walks into the hospital at 2cm and wants an epidural immediately, it's my job to support that and help her to have the best birth experience she can, given her own decisions" our Rochelle points out.

However, when Doula Rochelle is "educating people, writing blog posts and living my life outside of the birthing room" she promotes her point of view, which is that "every baby deserves to be born naturally, without drugs or excessive interventions". This philosophy became firmly entrenched when working with Penny Simkin*.
One more famous quote from Ms. Simkin is:

There is a difference between pain and suffering. We can work with pain and use it to our benefit when birthing. However, excessive pain can become suffering and permanently and negatively affect a birthing mom's mental wellbeing. There is a time and place for pain medications in birth and when pain becomes suffering, it may be time to consider those options.


Ms. Rochelle definitely takes this quote to heart, for one of her goals is to expand her doula services by offering Hypnobabies* birth support and education. As a lifelong learner and educator, Ms. Rochelle is dedicated to the care, support and protection of women and their children, and she uses her social work background to good effect.


If you are ever in King County or Snohomish County, Washington, be sure to look up Ms. Rochelle Schoen. If you are giving birth near her, be sure to call her. You will be glad you did!

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Penny Simkin: a physical therapist specializing in childbirth. More information: pennysimkin.com

Hypnobabies: a programme using hypnosis for calm and relaxation during birth. More information: www.hypnobabies.com


To contact Ms. Rochelle Schoen, please contact:

www.birthserene.com

twitter.com/birthserene