From Mommy to Birthworker

Hello, My name is Lisa Stoner. Owner of SweetPea Doula Services. I spent 33 years married to the same man. I gave birth to 7 children (from 7lbs - 8lbs 13 oz). Four of my children are boys and three are girls, they range from 30 down to 16. In addition to my live births I experienced, I had 4 miscarriages, from 8 weeks to 20 weeks. All of my births were completed vaginally with only one stitch-up on the first one. I attribute this to my amazing caregivers and medical professionals who’s priority was to keep a woman’s perineum in tact. My husband and I became educated in natural, unmedicated, low to no intervention birth and decided that was our desire. We took birthing classes and our provider, a doctor trained by midwives, educated us on preparing for birth, including perineal massage. We worked on coping strategies like breathing and visualization (hypnobirthing type of practices). I gave birth in the hospital, because that was where I was comfortable. My last birth was when I was 42 years old having experienced 10 pregnancies and 6 live births. I had gestational diabetes, Hyperactive thyroid, and was old…lol. The last month of my pregnancy was filled with sugar monitoring, walking, food prep, doctor appointments, specialist appointments, blood draws, monitoring of the baby, ultrasounds to check on him, and lots of stress. The appointed birth day came and my body was not helping with labor. Ultimately, we decided to induce with Pitocin and deliver him the day after his due date. Due to my mental and emotional load and being in a new community, I was not able to “handle” labor and made the choice for pain meds. I received an intrathecal, which is a one time shot in the spine (not many hospital do this anymore). I was so grateful for the pain meds. They allowed me to enter my first moments with my newborn son, fully present and relaxed.

Breastfeeding was not something I had learned about growing up. It was something those “hippie” women did. Lol! Well my first born was breastfed because his Dad was raised by one of those “hippie” women and he strongly advocated for this for our child. I ended up breastfeeding all my children varying from 2 months to 2 years. Some of my children came out knowing exactly how and some needed to be taught. I have one child who was tongue tied. As I got older my body didn’t make milk ‘til 4-5 days after delivery, so I chose to use a supplemental nursing system for those initial feedings until my milk was fully in. I am a huge advocate for breastmilk. Of course fed is best and if a parent cannot or chooses not to offer breastmilk then there are alternatives. I do not ever advocate for shaming or coercion. The benefits for baby are amazing though and we learn more everyday. Support for new moms no matter what their choices are is most important to me.

In 2023, after 31 years of marriage and being a full-time home school mom, my husband was diagnosed with a massive brain tumor. We were separated at the time due to abuse and just too much stress. I spent 6 weeks at OHSU with him while they did 3 surgeries to remove the tumor. He lost cognition with each surgery. After they had done all they could, he came home with us with an “uncurable” diagnosis and needing 24 hour monitoring . We cared for him for just over a year before it grew back and claimed his life. Before he passed, two of my daughters had babies. One of my daughters wanted me with her every step of the journey, and I played the role of birth doula and post-partum doula. (Both her births were high risk, in the hospital, with newborn complications. Maybe a later blog post) My other daughter chose to birth at home with a midwife and was more comfortable with me coming after baby was born. I played the part of post-partum support for her. It was through these experiences that I realized that I wanted to help women plan and achieve the births that they wanted. I am flexible and a strong advocate for my clients. I do well at pivoting and reconsidering options as the situation changes. Due to my own lack of postpartum support, I am passionate about helping after birth. Assisting parents to get proper nutrition, rest, relaxation, support with baby, feeding support, housework, food prep, and baby care.

I am recently officially starting my business as a doula, but I have years and years of experience being a mom, encourager, researcher and learner, teacher, and friend. I am excited about the path I am on and look forward to wherever it leads me.