Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Austin.
Hi Sarah, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am a birth doula and childbirth educator. I became a doula before I ever had my own children. I saw a documentary in college called “The Business of Being Born” that really opened my eyes to what birth could be like. I was the type of 19 year old who thought I would 100% want an epidural whenever I did have kids, and that labor is something to endure, not the journey or gift I see it as now. That documentary breaks down how birth has really been taken out of the hands of birthing women and put into the hands of the medical industrial complex, increasing (often unnecessary) c-section rates, increasing inductions of labor, increasing management of labor without better outcomes for moms or babies. 1 in 3 women experience birth trauma in this country. That doesn’t have to be the case; I fell in love with that hidden side of birth- the side where labor isn’t seen as just a terrible trial, but a natural unfolding of love, moving your baby down and out and Earthside. That isn’t to say I don’t like epidurals-I had one with my first baby. Each birth is different and requires different strategies that can change moment to moment in labor, but my goal in my work is to provide women and their partners with safety, stability, and grounding in a very out of control place. Labor is unpredictable. That’s one thing that makes it so scary for some people.
Having a trusted face in the room, who can discuss all the options available without a personal agenda, who can offer different comfort measures, who can use her expertise to suggest positions that can shorten the length of labor, someone who will help the partner be a better partner to the person in labor–that is my job and my passion.
In 2016, I began my doula journey training with Doulas of North America (DONA) and taking births. I am certified with Birth Arts International and continue to add to my education with different workshops and courses for birth workers. It’s been ten years since I started and I still love birth so much. It’s an honor to be trusted with such a sacred space as the birthing room. I’m invited into women’s lives at such a monumental moment and I truly feel privileged to get to do this work.
After working as an independent doula and agency doula for years, I started Safe & Sound Births in 2024. I wanted to start my own business to be able to help women with childbirth education, birth, and beyond. And it has brought me such tremendous joy to know people are choosing me solely on my reputation and my work ethic. I’ve been a doula for a few doulas; I’ve been a doula for an OB; I’ve been a doula for nurses, for VBACs, IVF moms, older first time moms, surrogate pregnancies, planned csections, single moms, the sole support for moms with their partners overseas in the military, and many more other special cases that have filled my soul with such love. Being there for the moment a person arrives into this world–seeing the love of the parents for this little being really is magic. And I’m even more excited to see someone transform into a parent. There’s no one moment that makes you a mom. But once the baby is here, motherhood has arrived and it plays out in intricate and complicated ways that are at the same time so baseline simple- it comes down to love. And, at the moment of birth, more often than not, love is just overflowing.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Being an on-call birth doula is not for the faint of heart. I think one of the hardest parts of labor for the expecting couple is the unpredictability. This also means a doula’s life is unpredictable because you never know when a baby is going to come, and, when you walk out the door to head to a birth, you don’t know when exactly you’ll be coming back. Now that my children are school age, the childcare factor has been made much easier. But my go-to answer when invited to parties or dinners with friends is always ‘yes, unless I’m at a birth.’
It’s also scary leaving an agency with guaranteed work to start your own business. But I have felt so proud of the work I’ve done since starting Safe & Sound Births. My past clients continue to be my biggest source of referrals because they’ve seen first hand the ways in which a good doula can absolutely change how a birth unfolds. And seeing women in labor being brave inspires me to keep being brave in my own life.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Safe & Sound Births ?
My business name is my goal for every birth–I want everyone to feel safe in their labor and I want every single mom to feel heard. The rates of birth trauma continue to be too high and that absolutely needs to change. I am a person who wants very much to work within the medical systems that be to help foster that change.
What sets me apart from other doulas is my experience. I have been at this for a decade now with hundreds of births under my belt. By starting my business, I was able to slow down more and I only take 3 births a month. This way, I can truly concentrate on my clients in a way I couldn’t when I worked for an agency.
I want readers to know that every doula is different. I tell people I bring a Stevie Nicks-meets-April O’Neil-meets-Fairy Godmother vibe to the room (a witchy, birth investigator, loving caregiver). But some people think that’s too dated, so I also say, let me be the Sam to your Frodo. Could Frodo have made it to Mt Doom alone? Maybe. But it certainly would have been more difficult without Sam by his side. (And who knows how he’d have gotten away from Shelob, but let’s not get into LoTR lore right now).
I am a certified HypnoBirthing instructor as well and love incorporating mindfulness techniques into birth prep and into labor. A calm mom is a calm baby. Research shows when a birthing person is in a fight/flight/freeze nervous system response, labor slows down and can stop altogether. Being able to help women pivot from a scared response into a calm nervous system makes such a big difference in not only the physiological progression of labor, but also the way moms remember their experience of the birth.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
In the words of Bob Dylan, A Hard Rain’s A‐Gonna Fall. There is a crisis in health care. Several, actually. But the biggest change in birth is that hospitals are already understaffed and it’s going to get worse. Nurses are way overworked, as well as providers. I regularly work at one of the biggest hospitals in MD that has a kindergarten class a day born on their L&D floor. With cuts to funding for access to nursing degrees, I am fearful hospitals will become more and more understaffed. What that might look like for women in labor remains to be seen. I am fearful AI will play a role in constant fetal monitoring that will not increase better birth outcomes, and will in fact cause csection rates to continue to rise. The NYT recent article The ‘Worst Test in Medicine’ is Driving America’s High C-Section Rate’ dives into this more than I can here.
We are lucky in most of Maryland that we have access to nearby hospitals, but in rural areas, hospitals are closing at an alarming rate across the US. The last freestanding birth center in Maryland closed in 2021. Women are running out of options instead of gaining more. I think that puts people into a precarious position where they’re forced to make some choices they wouldn’t otherwise make if they had access to more and different kinds of care.
Doulas will always be needed where there are births happening, so I’ll be available- come what may.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.safeandsoundbirths.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/safeandsoundbirths/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Safe-Sound-Births/61571431815133/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/safe-and-sound-births-lake-shore
