My name is Rachel Leavitt. I am the mother of five children, all born naturally. Two in a birth center in Tucson, AZ and three in hospitals in Utah. It was at these births that I began to understand the importance of supporting physiologic birth.  Doulas play a big role in this.

I graduated from the University of Utah with my BSN in 2004. Since then I have worked in postpartum, NICU, and Labor and Delivery. I loved my work and felt like it has added a lot to my knowledge base, but I quickly realized that there was a need to help support women more fully who are striving for a normal physiological birth. Thus my attention turned to teaching myself how to support women in labor.

I received my doula certification from Childbirth International in 2010 and in Jan of 2011 decided it was time for me to turn my attention full time to just doing doula work. I have attended over 200 births with many varying experiences. I have supported women who have used the Bradley method, hypnobirthing, lamaze or their own instincts and intuition. Other healing methods I use to help support birth include reflexology, aromatherapy, hydrotherapy, as well as a strong background in research and science.  This, hopefully, will be something that I can help my students learn and enjoy.

My two goals for women that I work with are 1) to attend to women’s mental, physical, emotional and spiritual needs and 2) to help facilitate decision making. Overall, my guiding philosophy is this: “Birth is the experience of a lifetime. Giving birth and being born brings us into the essence of creation where the human spirit is courageous and bold and the body a miracle of creation”.