About me
My name is Johanna and I am an English-speaking birth doula that also offers childbirth preparation and postpartum classes for international families in Germany. I am 38 years old and currently pregnant with my third child. As I come from an international family myself and am now married to a wonderful man who is half American, half German, I have a soft spot for multicultural families. I aim to support pregnant women of all cultural and religious backgrounds during the perinatal period.
My mission
My goal is to enable women, and their families, to have the most gentle, nurtured and informed entry into parenthood as possible. I believe in evidence-based practices during pregnancy, labor, and after birth as well as in the importance of emotional support. My aim is to provide adequate resources for you and your partner. I want to hold space for you during the birth of your child and try to make sure you get the time to make informed decisions. I believe on-going consent and bodily autonomy are essential to a positive birth experience. If you feel confident in your abilities, and empowered to make decisions, you are most likely to look back on your birth with happiness and pride.
My doula path
Originally, I am a biologist with a doctorate in biomedicine. I work in research promotion at the medical faculty of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich. I enjoy my job a lot and I am grateful to work in the always inspiring university environment. But something was missing. Something I only discovered after the birth of my second child.
My first birth was a planned birth center birth. However, after many hours, it ended with a transfer to the clinic. I was completely overwhelmed by this change of events as I haven’t mentally prepared for this to happen. A lot of unpleasant interventions, a pediatrician that really challenged my sanity and trouble with breastfeeding left me feeling lonely and depressed during the postpartum period.
When I was pregnant with my second child I knew I needed more this time: more courage, more flexibility, more choices and more (and better) information. I found an amazing homebirth midwife (who is a co-founder of the new birthing center in Munich). Having her by my side made all the difference during my pregnancy (which wasn’t always easy) and during birth.
Seconds after my baby was born in our bathtub, I could feel that this experience transformed me. I felt so empowered, so thankful. Sure, it was a quicker, easier birth in general and I felt comfortable as I was in my own home. But the biggest difference for me was the feeling that I was loved and supported at anytime. This feeling of connection empowered me to own this birth and every decision around it. A couple months later I registered for the GfG Doula training and never looked back.
My doula philosophy
I don’t have a personal agenda for how you should give birth or parent. For me all birth is natural. But I want you to get the choice and support you need to feel safe, to own your birth and to look back on it with a peaceful mind.
As a birth enthusiast, I passionately collect evidence-based research and best practice about birth in order to provide you with the best information possible to make the decisions that are best for you and your family.
I strongly believe in the importance of community especially during the perinatal period and I always try to encourage the families I work with to reach out to others to build their tribe.
