Kristy is an experienced doula and leader in the childbearing community.
She works with integrity, passion, wisdom, and knowledge. The kind of wisdom you can’t train into someone, the kind of wisdom that comes from a reflective human who has spent thousands of hours around a given topic and worked with the grit of life.
She serves the aboriginal community her family belongs to. Kristy’s husband and 5 children are of Penelakut First Nations and BIPOC heritage. One of the ways they have given back to the community has been working with the Nanaimo Native Victory Chapel over the years when called upon.
She has great working relationships with many different health providers in our community. She makes a collaborative culture with integrity: the kind other women want to be part of- free of gossip and where you see the best in the folks around you, lifting each other up. That is Kristy. She is a blessing to anyone who gets the opportunity to work with her.
Kristy knows the birth community in Nanaimo and how to navigate it better than anyone. She has become the expert, offering teaching to new midwives in the community in setting them up properly and supporting their ongoing questions.
She has become recognized for her knowledge in this area, recently being a guest speaker for The University of British Columbia's Midwifery students on how to manage billing, how to create a positive work environment, and what the important questions are to ask when starting a new midwifery practice. She received rave reviews in this and will now be a repeated guest speaker.
She has essentially been living and breathing the childbearing world for the last 7 years. She has much experience in providing prenatal, birth, and post partum support to clients. The thousands of families that went through the midwifery clinic have all come into contact with Kristy. She has been the face of the clinic that is comforting, wise, kind, and giving. She puts clients at ease. She knows pregnancy, birth, and postpartum inside out and knows how to navigate the system gracefully. She has counselled thousands of families throughout the childbearing years.
Kristy assisted with postpartum and lactation clinic days. She would sit with the parents, answer questions, weigh babies… She really ran the clinic day with me doing the medical part. For 7 years she has been part of all the interesting breastfeeding/feeding cases that arose. You would be hard pressed to find a doula more experienced in this area. When new research comes up Kristy is often around for the meetings these are discussed such as new protocol on mastitis or what is the newest best practices. Thus she has an up-to-date practice as a doula and has high expectations of the providers around to be offering this to her doula clients. She offers advice free of judgement, respecting the mom as the expert of their own experience. She truly sees the best in folks and enjoys helping them reach their personal goals.
She knows and understands the boundaries of what questions are best for the healthcare provider and what is best for the doula. This makes her an amazing asset to the families she looks out for. They can trust her to make sure their needs are being met and addressed by the most appropriate person.
I have been at many births as the primary midwife with Kristy as the doula. She tends to the needs of the women she serves-- bias free-- with compassion and the knowledge of someone who has been around much birth.
I am excited for the families she will advocate confidently for, and grateful for her gifts. She is Gem of a human that you will be proud to have alongside of you.
Sincerely,
Amanda Emsley RM IBCLC
