Hi! I’m Rachel (she/her), a sci-fi/fantasy geek who’ll happily re-watch Firefly anytime while loudly quoting my favorite lines, a passionate human rights in childbirth advocate, and a human being deeply interested in what, exactly, makes us human.
I’m the owner and co-founder of Five Elements Birth Services. We offer birth and postpartum doula support, as well as private prenatal education, community events, and water birth supplies to families in and around Calgary.
The birthwork bug bit me after having my twins almost 15 years ago. Long story short, I had a doula for that birth, she was amazing, and I knew I wanted to offer that same support to other families. The process of transformation that people undergo as they become parents is endlessly fascinating to me. After more than a decade in this field, I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of what there is to know and understand.
While my twins were born in hospital under OB care, my youngest was born at home with midwives. It was an incredible experience and cemented my desire to support midwifery in Alberta as often and in as many ways as I possibly can.
My husband and I will be celebrating our 21st wedding anniversary this October. After that, I’ll have been married longer than I was single, which is kind of weird to think about. Nobody can make me laugh as much or as long as he can. But you have to get to know him before his genuine sense of humor appears.
Other random facts about me: 2SLGBTQIA+ and trans rights are deeply important to me, I prefer white wine to red, and will take fall/winter over spring/summer any day of the week. I like to pretend I’m crafty, HATE small talk, and can’t wait to get to know you all!