Let’s meet Amanda…
Hello! I am Amanda. I married Brent, my high school sweet heart, in 2004. Together we have been blessed with 6 beautiful children. We have 5 little girls ages 12, 11, 8, 6 and 9 months, and one spunky little boy who is 3! We live on the small farm that my husband grew up on. These 14 acres keeps us all busy!
I was 20 when our first daughter was born. I gave birth after a “routine” induction with an epidural. I came away slightly traumatized but hey, I had the beautiful, healthy baby girl I had prayed for, so I moved on. Seventeen months later our second daughter was nearly born by c-section after my epidural affected us both negatively. It was then that I began to question what was normal about giving birth.
For our 3rd baby, I hired a doula and had a wonderful water birth with a Midwife at the hospital. I had babies number 4 & 5 at home with midwives. Both births were good experiences that I am so grateful for.
When my son was almost 2, we found out I was pregnant again. After a bit of shock, I felt so blessed. I began planning our birth, but at 8 weeks, the day after Thanksgiving, I found out that our baby was gone. I had an early miscarriage after our second child, but loosing Emerson nearly broke me. I battled postpartum depression and anxiety for several months.
In January 2017, we found out we were expecting again. My pregnancy with sweet baby Abigail started off rocky and I decided to hire an OB. Throughout the pregnancy I occasionally pondered having another home birth but something in my gut kept saying no. Abigail was born by emergency surgical birth after her cord prolapsed.
As weird as it may seem to say, I am thankful for the lessons each child has brought with them. The lessons about pregnancy, birth, parenting, schooling, depression, all of it. I am thankful that I have been given the opportunity through Birth Boot Camp and through my work as a doula to give back and help new parents get through these challenges.
What first got you interested in birth work?
I started birth work after having a doula assist me with our 3rd baby. I knew I wanted to be able to help moms like I had been helped that day.
I had been a doula for about 2 years and had seen moms who had taken childbirth classes and moms who hadn’t. From that experience, I could see how much of a difference it made for the couples who knew what to expect. In our small community, there was no out of hospital childbirth education options so I decided to change that. In September of 2012, I became a certified Birth Boot Camp instructor to be able to help the new parents in my community prepare for parenthood.
Do you have any particular passions concerning birth?
ALL OF IT, lol
Why did you choose Birth Boot Camp as your certifying organization?
I choose Birth Boot Camp as my certifying organization because I loved how modern everything is. Birth Boot Camp has done a wonderful job of keeping us up to date with the latest information. I also LOVE the support system I have with BBC. If I have a question, day or night, I know that I can go into one of our groups and get feedback from other instructors, doulas, and our leadership team.
Tell us a little about your Birth Boot Camp training experience?
I got to train with the wonderful Sarah Clark and Donna Ryan! Our training was so much fun, but also quite intense. It pushed me out of my comfort zone, in the best way possible, and helped me learn how to be the best instructor I could be.
What Amanda’s students are saying about her!
We hired Amanda as our doula and childbirth educator for our first pregnancy. Her gentle guidance and support gave us the courage to find a care provider that supported our birth plan. Her knowledge and resource base regarding all things related to birth helped us make educated, evidence-based decisions for our family. She was a pillar of strength during a long, hard labor and just having her present made it so much easier to fight for the birth we wanted. Had she not been a part of our birth story, we would have endured a medically unnecessary induction and, likely, C-section. Because of her passion and dedication to her clients and students, we were able to have our birth on our terms, welcoming our little boy into the world after a 43 hour, unmedicated labor. We would have happily hired her to attend us for our other births, had we remained in the area! ~Tracy Knight
My husband and I took a Birth Boot Camp class from Amanda leading up to the birth of our first. It helped me so much in feeling prepared and confident for my unmedicated hospital birth. And I made a dear friend. I am now preparing for my third birth, with Amanda as my doula this time. We also just did the Comfort Measures class as a refresher, and it was a great help. ~Annie Lynch
You can contact Amanda through her Facebook page, Ever Altered Birth Services.
