First off, I want to express my appreciation for you taking the time to visit my website and get to know me a bit more. My name is Savannah. I am a military spouse and mom of two little ones. My oldest, Liviana, is three and my youngest, Isla, is one and a half. I grew up in South Georgia so I'm often told I have quite the southern dialect. I'm in my mid-twenties which leads me to believe that by now, I'm pretty sure I survive off of coffee and true crime videos. I'm a cloth-diapering mom and consider myself a "scrunchy mom," if you will. A mixture of silky and crunchy mom. I'm very much open minded and easily make friends in a crowd I'm comfortable in.
I've had a passion for pregnancy and birth starting from a very young age. Remember "A Baby Story," show on TLC? Yeah, that was my show growing up. My mom would find me in front of the tv, watching it most mornings. I remember learning what Braxton Hicks contractions were from that show. In high school, I knew I wanted to be a Labor & Delivery Nurse after I graduated. I soon started dual-enrollment (where I attended both college and high school) my junior year of high school. Of course, I had my eyes set on becoming a Registered Nurse so that I could hopefully be a Labor & Delivery nurse. Once I was out of high school, I decided to start out with a college diploma. Half way through a LPN program, I decided maybe nursing wasn't for me after all, I couldn't explain it. It just felt like I had a much different call all together. I did settle for a CNA license when shortly after, I became pregnant with our first daughter.
Becoming a mother and experiencing pregnancy and birth for myself changed me, as I'm sure it does many people. For me, the disregard of my wishes and feeling by the medical staff sparked a totally different flare in me. I do realize this is something not all medical providers practice, but I needed to know why. Why did I have the most dismissive birth team? Does this happen to other patients too? Is there a way to remedy this? It felt like someone or something was missing. My husband supported me the best he could, but seeing his partner in pain took its toll on his mental as well. About a year and a half later, we welcomed our second daughter. During my second pregnancy, the term "doula" kept popping up around me. Call me crazy, but when the universe calls, I respond. We hired a doula for our second birth. Since this was the midst of the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, she could not attend the birth with us but did support us while we labored at home.
Then it hit me. So this IS a thing. Not everyone goes through what I did with my first birth because someone has informed of their options. They have someone who can advocate for them when the time comes in labor that they can't anymore. They have a DOULA.
The pieces of the puzzle started to come together for me. Offering that unequivocal emotional, physical, and informational support to families is exactly what I wanted. This is where I needed to be.
I'm now owner of Magnolia Birth Services where I am a Full-Spectrum Doula currently serving Clarksville, Tennessee and surrounding areas. I am a double-certified doula (soon to be triple-certified)[See About tab for more info on my education/training]. I have various trainings and continuing education covering a variety of topics in birth work. I've been trained to support families through pre-conception, pregnancy, labor, birth, adoption, surrogacy, and bereavement. Since starting this journey in mid 2021, I've had the honor of attending several births and supporting parents on one of the most memorable days of their lives. I provide support for a broad, diverse clientele ranging from traditional families to BIPOC and LGBTQ+ families. I take pride in offering non-biased, trauma-informed, evidence-based support to my clients and their families.
I recognize it is an honor to be chosen to witness the birth of a new human. I honor the birthing space. I honor the birthing person.
Thank you for allowing me to share myself and my story with you!