birth doula. educator. advocate
I provide educational, physical, spiritual and emotional support for a person expecting the birth of their baby. I support and uphold the very natural and normal processes from conception to postpartum. I honor the humanity and dignity of birth, the birthing person and the baby coming into this world.
My Intention
I am a ToLabor trained birth doula who believes strongly in this incredibly empowering and challenging journey of birthing and parenting. As a mother of 4, I have personally acquired a devoted skill set of all things birth: prenatal to ‘100 days postpartum’ and beyond. More than 13 years of personal and professional experience has led me to this point: supporting and advocating for you. I intend to help you connect with information, resources, and goals that will make your experience of greeting that new soul of yours as joyous and fulfilling as it can be! It really can be exactly how you want it to be when YOU CHOOSE the Birth Team that feels right for you. My range of personal experiences of birth and the rollercoaster of motherhood and my professional work have equally equipped me to serve you with empathy and non-judgment, with grace and knowledge, with humility and pride. I am so glad you are here!
Providing you with support, evidenced-based information and a safe space to become the parent you need to be…
I am trained to understand the natural processes of birth, and to respect ALL of its aspects. I understand intervening in this process is sometimes medically indicated. I provide suggestions for labor progression, coaching some relaxation and positioning techniques, and provide a sense of normalization and encouragement no matter what this birth has in store for you and yours. This sort of support contributes to the well being of everyone. You employ me, which means I am working for YOU, not your provider, doctor, midwife or hospital personnel.
My Packages
Everyone Deserves a Doula
Not Your Mama’s Doula
Take Me Home, Doula
Willing & Able
About Me
I am Caitlin Walsh Catts. I come from a very large family: my father is the youngest of 9 and my husband’s mother is the oldest of 6 kids. Between our two joined families, we have upwards of 100 people in just our immediate family tree. I have been around a lot of babies. My brother was born when I was 4 and my sister born when I was 11, at prime babysitting age. I left northern Virginia to attend College of Charleston in South Carolina. I met my husband and we moved to his home on St. Simons Island, Georgia. When I found out we were pregnant, I was not prepared! I was 24 and having my own babies was far from my mind! But alas, life had something more in store for me than I had originally planned: the exact first lesson in parenthood. When I realized I was put in my greatest role yet, that I was a strong woman whose body had naturally done the most awesome thing it could do AND that I was going to have to get this baby out of me eventually, I decided the lowest interventions possible would be best. Upon reading What to Expect When You’re Expecting, I knew there was something, however intangible, that I wasn’t being told… What was a catheter?!? In stepped my beautiful best friend cousin who was just 6 weeks ahead of me in her first pregnancy and worked for a midwife in upstate NY. She doula-ed me. She educated me. She supported me. And from states away nonetheless. She taught me that birth is not to be feared so much as it is to be revered, respected. So my journey began and I advocated for myself, and much to my family’s and my husband’s family’s dismay, I chose to travel 100 miles to give birth with midwives at a Centering Birth Center in Savannah, GA. My years of working for attorneys as a paralegal came in handy as I became my own representation in the top decisions of mine and my baby’s life. My first birth did NOT go as planned, per the mysterious ways of birth: my waters broke without any labor started. I transferred to the hospital at 7 cms and received pitocin and an epidural. I labored down and got some much needed rest and truly believe modern medicine enabled me to birth my 9’6’’ eskimo baby vaginally. Had I stayed local, I know in my heart it would’ve ended with cesarean. I learned in that moment to let go of the plan and honor the education and support that I had acquired. I was validated in knowing choosing my birth team was the single most important decision I had made in a situation that unfolded no thanks to any of the expectations I had formed. It was then ten years ago that I looked into becoming a trained DONA doula. With the birth of my second boy in northern Virginia, I hired a doula whose life would become very closely connected to mine in our small little town. Together, we were co-administrators of Loudoun Birth Circle, with monthly meetings honoring the mothers of our community and hashing out all things #birth. We moved to Richmond in 2018 when I was 30 weeks pregnant with my third boy and was recommended by my doula’s best friend, also a doula and mother of 4, to have a homebirth with the legendary Nancy Giglio. As crazy as it had sounded 8 years before, I knew it was the right choice for me. As I gazed into his eyes coming out sunny side up, my experience has served to solidify my passion for the normal processes of birthing a human into this beautiful and hard world of ours. Finally, I very methodically became pregnant with my daughter in August 2022 and her birth has made my heart and my family complete. I have been a lover of birth and an advocate for over 13 years and now I offer my services to others: to serve YOU.
“Asking your husband to be your sole guide through labor is like asking him to lead the way on a climb of Mt. Everest. He may be smart and trustworthy, and you may love him, but in the Himalayas you’d both be a lot better off with a Sherpa!”
— PAM ENGLAND, author of Birthing From Within
“For far too many, pregnancy and birth is still something that happens to them rather than something they set out consciously and joyfully to do themselves.”
— Sheila Kitzinger