Jillian Freeland, Doula in Winchester, VA

One of our favorite things is watching this company grow all over the country. Jillian Freeland, doula in Winchester, VA, is just such an example of that! This mom of four certified as a Birth Boot Camp instructor and then went on to take our doula training held in Atlanta, Georgia. We are so excited to have her and her sweet self as part of the Birth Boot Camp family!

Table of Contents

We love to support and promote our doulas- below is a brief interview with Jillian so you can get to know her a little better and figure out if she is the right doula to help support YOUR birth in Winchester, VA.

Introduce yourself!

I am Jillian Freeland, doula in Winchester, VA. I feel so blessed to be the mother of four precious girls. My brave husband is quite adored by all of us.

Jillian with her family.

Currently, we live in Winchester, Virginia – home of the famous Apple Blossom Festival. I have personally experienced quite a variety of births; I have had a birth center birth with a transfer to L & D for an epidural, a cesarean, an induction accompanied by an epidural at 8cm, and then 5 days of prodromal labor followed by a beautiful, all natural birth! My hope is that through education, more families will feel capable and knowledgeable in their birth decisions and have AMAZING births!

What first got you interested in doula work?

Each of my own births journeyed me further in my education and understanding of birth. I learned something new every time and I wanted others to be able to share in the knowledge I wished I had known from the onset of this season of life.

I honestly had never heard of a doula when I was pregnant with my first two children. I remember clearly thinking, there has to be a person out there who can help moms during labor. I heard the term doula when I was pregnant the third time, but I didn’t think I would want some unknown person in my birth space – silly me because there were about a bazillion unknown people in my birth space…

But it was at my last birth, when I finally felt empowered, and supported by a doula, that I knew serving families during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum was exactly what I wanted to do.

Do you have any particular passions concerning birth, if so, why?

I love supporting families in whatever choices they have concerning their birth… my hope is that they will walk away having a joyous memorable experience, not a memory that was full of stress and confusion.

With that said, I LOVE attending natural births. I love watching a woman dig down and find out how strong she truly is. I love watching her husband see that strength rise in her, he looks at her with a new found awe and love.

Click here to learn about how dads and doulas can work together seamlessly.

I love lending my strength to the mom, be it physically holding her, showing comfort measures, words of encouragement, or simply through eye contact – eyes that says ‘I know, I’ve been in your shoes, but you’ve got this, you can do this, I am here for you!’

With so many doula trainings out there, why did you choose Birth Boot Camp DOULA training?

After attending Birth Boot Camp Childbirth Education training, I knew I wanted to attend their Atlanta Doula training. One thing I loved was the Supporting Arms booklet. It is filled with such excellent information and I knew I wanted my clients to get their hands on it!

Doula training!

One other thing I desired was extended support. Birth Boot Camp Doula stays connected with you even after the training. I never feel like I am in this alone, I have a safe place to ask advice and seek professional counsel. The leadership team at Birth Boot Camp Doula is fantastic!

Tell us about your training experience and your favorite parts.

Jillian and Birth Boot Camp regional trainer, Carmen Calvo, learning some key doula moves at Birth Boot Camp DOULA training in Atlanta.

What I loved most about the training was the hands on skills I learned. We spent a lot of time practicing techniques to help with comfort during labor, we learned how to assist moms who have epidurals, how to assist with comfort during a cesarean. We role-played through many different scenarios – there is no way you could leave training and not feel prepared! I also loved all the business training – I felt set-up for success!

How is doula work going for you? What is your favorite part about it?

This year I was able to serve as a doula to 13 families! I would love to triple that amount next year – I like to dream audaciously! I have found my sweet spot and that is being a doula!
I feel so honored to be invited into a person’s birth space. It is impossible for me to leave a birth and not feel like I have left a part of myself there and like I have taken a part of them with me. I feel, on a deep primal level, a sisterly/motherly connection with these precious women – and that is something so beautiful in and of itself. But my absolute favorite part was already mentioned above – the moment when a woman finds out how strong she truly is and when her partner watches in awe of that strength!

How did your training prepare you for actual birth attendance?

The Birth Boot Camp Doula training was phenomenal! I feel confident that I have the tools to help a woman in labor, no matter her situation or circumstances. I am prepared to encourage that confidence in her and her partner.

How do you feel you are having a positive impact with your doula clients?

Over the year, I have had moms get the birth they hoped for, and moms whose birth plan was completely derailed – and yet they all have walked away from their births feeling supported. They felt they had a safe place to rejoice and cry. I have seen mothers find confidence as they learned to advocate for themselves and for their new baby.

Jillian the doula, doing some amazing work.

Many of the mothers found their postpartum recovery to be easy and less stressful because they had a safe place to ask questions and seek evidenced based information.

To close, how do you believe doulas can make a positive difference in the birth experience for women?

Doulas create trusted relationship – like having a mother, sister, or best friend present – with the added knowledge of the labor process. Doulas have witnessed labor and have seen its many normal variations and know how to help a family encounter them; be it fast labor, slow labor, back labor, or one of the many other variations. Doulas help bring a sense of confidence to the laboring mother and her support team.